The National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation

October 22 - 24, 2014

Wildlands and Woodlands: A Vision for the New England Landscape was released in 2010 by 20 authors from the Harvard Forest and academic institutions across the region, documenting how New England is losing its forests to escalating development pressure and calling for conservation of 70 percent of the region in forests and an increase in farming to conserve the many ecological, economic, and cultural benefits these landscapes provide. Today, the W&W Initiative is comprised of a growing number of diverse partners working together across the region to double the current pace of conservation and achieve the W&W vision while we still have the chance. In this workshop, W&W partners from the nonprofit, academic, and funding communities will highlight key W&W strategies that add value to ongoing conservation in the region, including: (1) compelling regional vision; (2) advocacy on behalf of working farms and forests as a pivotal part of our regional fabric and future; (3) use of scenarios analysis to showcase the ecosystem services of our forested landscapes and how that might change depending on the decisions we make today; and (4) strategic support of the  innovative “regional conservation partnership” trend in our region as practitioners work to achieve collaborative conservation across sectors and borders. New England has considerable conservation challenges, but also a history of significant conservation innovation. W&W showcases new approaches to large landscape conservation that are tailored to the east coast but also applicable nationally.