Designing Nature’s Half

Advancing climate adaptation & biodiversity conservation:

Designing sustainable landscapes during a time of change

The Triple Planetary Crisis

Pollution

Climate Change

Biodiversity Loss

Bear Mountain State Park - target landscapes by Designing Nature's Half for climate change rehabilitations

Giving half of the Earth back to nature has been a long time coming…

…forty-five years by our count, when the science of conservation biology and landscape ecology took root and began to provide the scientific foundations for a transformative approach to conservation. A decade later, the first call for conserving and restoring “preferably at least half – of [the] continent as true Wilderness, with its full complement of native species and ecological processes” was published in a non-profit periodical promoting the tenets of conservation biology: Wild Earth.

The world is grappling with a daunting challenge: the triple planetary crisis - pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss; an interlinked, wicked problem that requires a collaborative, holistic approach to tackle it. Landscape conservation design (LCD) is a stakeholder-driven, participatory process that uses interdisciplinary science to inform decision-making that furthers the practice of landscape conservation, and advances adaptation and the goal of sustainability for current and future generations. In short, LCD empowers landscape stakeholders and facilitates collective impact.

The Four-Legged Stool of Transformation

The Institute for Landscape Conservation Design

Vision & Mission

Farmland landscape design proposed by Designing Nature's Half to help fight climate change

Our Values

We believe in…

  • Inclusiveness. Better decisions are made when communities make them collectively.

  • Interaction. Working together is more effective than working alone.

  • Innovation. New ideas, methods, and tools are more effective to use than old ones.

  • Information. The application of interdisciplinary science can provide a holistic understanding and facilitate decision-making.

  • Iteration. We get better at what we do each time we try it.

  • Idealism. Maintaining a sense of optimism is paramount despite the global challenges we face.

Our Strategy: Design Nature’s Half

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