Designing Nature's Half: The Landscape Conservation Podcast Rob Campellone and Tom Miewald

Dr. Amanda Sesser, the Coordinator of the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) Partnership, discusses the need for inclusive design and decision-making processes that involve diverse stakeholders and empower communities. By bringing together various sectors of society, such as transportation, energy, and conservation, sustainable landscapes can be co-designed, created, and managed for people, planet, and prosperity. The episode emphasizes the need to balance human well-being and ecological integrity – a challenge that requires a new governance model that breaks down silos in traditional planning and decision-making. It addresses historic patterns of inequality and injustice to create a more inclusive and equitable society and highlights the concept of reciprocity and the importance of engaging indigenous and other disenfranchised people.

Willem Ferwerda, founder of the international non-governmental organization Commonland and former Director of IUCN Netherlands, dives deep into the innovative landscape restoration approach he developed, known as the 4 Returns framework, discussing its potential to inspire hope and drive sustainable change across large landscapes.

Alex Wright is a Landscape Science Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Science Applications Program in the Midwest region. In that role, he facilitates partnerships and develops tools to help coordinate voluntary conservation actions and investments across the Midwest vis a vis the Midwest Landscape Initiative. The discussion revolves around the collaborative efforts of the USFWS, state fish and wildlife agencies, and other interested parties to collaborate in the co-production of the Midwest Conservation Blueprint, a basemap of priority lands and waters for conservation in the Midwest.

Hugh Possingham, Professor of Mathematics and Ecology at the University of Queensland, Australia, shares his expertise in biodiversity conservation, spatial planning, and decision science in protected area networks and Marxan, a spatial prioritization decision support tool.

Special guest Pat Comer, Chief Ecologist (retired) for NatureServe, shares his insights about conservation planning at ecoregional scales, conducting landscape assessments, and their role in landscape conservation design (LCD).

Dr. Ronald J. McCormick, a field naturalist and systems ecologist, shares insights on complex systems theory, including its application in landscape conservation design (LCD). The discussion provides practical advice for stakeholders interested in LCD—highlighting conceptual modeling as a valuable step and stressing the importance of boundaries within any model used for decision-making processes. The episode serves as a reminder that successful landscape conservation hinges not only on scientific rigor but also on integrating holistic perspectives—including economic realities and cultural values—to resonate with diverse stakeholder groups involved in LCD truly. Tune into this enlightening conversation packed with expert insights perfect for anyone passionate about sustaining nature through thoughtful planning and collective action!