Land Conservation & Protection
Conservation Areas are places where the land and water provide biological functions necessary to the health of
our community. These areas cannot be replaced once lost, and must be protected to maintain ecological
*diversity and health.
Conservation areas can include:
• Lands and wetlands where water is filtered and pollutants removed
• Aquifer recharge areas
• Riparian corridors that protect wildlife and water quality
• Native habitats especially large areas; and areas with a diversity of species or rare species
Conservation areas provide economic, social and recreational benefits. These areas serve as a living shield,
protecting water resources and improving our quality of life.
Biodiversity is the variety of life, from the variations in the genes of individual plants and animals, to
the multitude of thriving species, to the different plant communities that exist side by side, to the whole planet
and all its millions of species.
Biodiversity helps natural communities survive over time and through natural and man made catastrophes.
The members of a natural, diverse community are connected in many ways and while these connections are complicated to the point we will never understand all of them; we do know that the loss of a single species in a community can lead to the loss of more species.
Adapted from An Atlas of Biodiversity, Chicago Wilderness, 2001