Integrating wildlife conservation into urban planning

Abstract

Conservation of wildlife at the scale of cities and metropolitan areas, particularly for species that are urban avoiders, will require identification, restoration, or preservation of adequate areas of key habitats. Connections between these habitats and to their natural disturbance regimes, all within the context of rapidly changing urban landscapes, must also be maintained. This necessitates the integration of concepts, knowledge, and practice from landscape ecology, conservation biology, and urban planning to successfully engage in local and regional processes that support wildlife-friendly urban growth. In this chapter, we review the broad-scale effects of urbanization on wildlife and relevant principles from conservation biology and urban planning, and propose wildlife zoning within a green infrastructure framework to integrate wildlife conservation into urban planning. Two case studies describing regional-scale urban conservation efforts-the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, and the Chicago Wilderness-are offered as examples of integrative, collaborative efforts to conserve wildlife in large metropolitan areas.