Green infrastructure is strategically planned and managed networks of natural lands, working landscapes and other open spaces that conserve ecosystem values and functions and provide associated benefits to human populations.
The foundation of green infrastructure networks are their natural elements – woodlands, wetlands, rivers, grasslands – that work together as a whole to sustain ecological values and functions. Healthy functioning natural or restored ecological systems are essential to ensure the availability of the network’s ecological services.
Additional elements and functions can then be added to the network, depending on the desires and needs of the designers – working lands, trails and other recreational features, cultural and historic sites. These all can be incorporated into green infrastructure networks that contribute to the health and quality of life for America’s communities.
Just as we must address haphazard development, we must also address haphazard conservation – conservation activities that are reactive, site-specific, narrowly focused, or not well integrated with other efforts. Just as we need smart growth to strategically direct and influence the patterns of land development, we need “smart conservation” to strategically direct our nation’s conservation practices. Green infrastructure provides a solution that ensures environmental protection and a higher quality of life within communities as well as regulatory predictability for landowners and investors.
While green infrastructure planning occurs at a broad ‘landscape scale,’ elements of the over-arching network can be found at all scales, from state-wide, to the county, city, and parcel/site scale. Critical elements of the implementation strategy, such as low-impact development practices (LID), conservation developments, green/grey interface, etc., are necessary components to any successful green infrastructure plan, and are frequently found at the site/parcel scale.
The Community of Practice is a virtual hub of knowledge and ideas – shared among peers – to promote the application of green infrastructure concepts and principles to the nation’s conservation priorities. Learn more »
Series of ten case studies featuring green infrastructure success stories from around the country.
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