Natural areas are scarce in the New York metropolitan region and, when they exist, are often neglected or under threat of development. Fortunately there are governmental and private programs, from local to federal, focused on protecting and restoring habitats for wildlife and preserving open space for human use. However, many of these efforts, while important, are focused too narrowly on particular sites rather than on how the sites fit into the larger ecosystem. In other words, we do not always consider whether preservation and restoration efforts are "sustainable" in the sense that the natural areas we save today will become part of a functional natural system tomorrow. In the sustainability movement arena, sustainable practices, whether they are for infrastructure development, food production, or urban planning, are primarily focused on minimizing the human impact on our environment, and not on ensuring the integrity of ecological processes at a regional ecosystem scale. The goal of this panel discussion is to evaluate the current efforts in natural areas preservation and restoration in terms of ecosystem integrity and sustainability. Does the "sustainability model" enhance the ecological processes at the ecosystem scale? Specifically, we will examine the following questions:
Moderator: Ellen Pehek, Natural Resources Group, NYC Parks and Recreation Rapporteur: Felicity Arengo, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, AMNH Panelists
|
