A general model for site-based conservation in human-dominated landscapes: The landscape species approach

Abstract

It is widely recognized that parks and preserves cannot provide-adequate habitat for the vast majority of wildlife species, and that alternative strategies are necessary for the long-term protection of biological diversity. Effective-conservation planning often requires balancing a variety of competing interests with limited-funding and creates inherent conflict if the needs of humans are not considered as part of the process. The Landscape Species Approach (LSA) of the Wildlife Conservation Society is an innovative approach to landscape-scale-conservation planning which aims to create wildlife-based strategies for-conserving large, wild ecosystems integrated in wider landscapes of human influence. This chapter describes the-development and steps involved in the LSA approach, its application to the Adirondack Park in northern New York State, and advantages and disadvantages of the process. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.