6.3 Conservation Opportunities and Incentives
• Promote development and management of greenways as natural areas that are not landscaped and manicured, especially in urban areas. Studies suggest greenways between 100 and 300 meters wide (roughly between 330 and 985 feet) provide the best wildlife habitat and corridors for dispersal when maintained in native vegetation and adjacent to canopy cover (NCWRC 2012). • Provide technical guidance that supports preserving intermediate canopy layers and understory vegetation to beneft wildlife species that utilize open space in urban set- tings. Wide trails that are frequently maintained to remove vegetation and canopy cover may disrupt sensitive species or habitats by creating breaks in the forest cover as well as introducing human intrusion. • Protect and adequately bufer high priority habitats, especially riparian forests, food- plains, isolated wetlands, and sites with known sensitive or listed species occurrences located in urban settings or areas subject to development. • Support stream restoration in priority watersheds and in areas with sensitive species or signifcant aquatic resources (e.g., trout waters). 6.3.3 Education and Outreach Efective conservation can only be an integral feature of human society when it is a pri- ority for most of its citizens. As North Carolina’s population centers become increasingly urban, there appears to be a growing disconnect between people and the outdoors, nature, and wildlife, which can lead to misconceptions, distrust, and fear. Education, outreach, and recreation opportunities are important tools to engage citizens in conservation and improve understanding of our wildlife resources among the general public and conserva- tion stakeholders. Limited funding, personnel, and resources are challenges when trying to meet education, outreach, and associated recreation needs, especially when there are more imminent needs associated with species and habitat protection. Some may view these types of activ- ities as more expendable when balancing limited budgets and manpower. Tere is a criti- cal link to be made between education, outreach, and recreation initiatives that can help address conservation problems. Developing appropriate education and outreach eforts requires identifying diferent target audiences and understanding their respective attitudes and needs in the context of wild- life and natural community conservation. Human dimensions surveys should be used to collect information on attitudes toward wildlife and open space, conservation issues and management options. Further, human dimensions surveys need to identify actions that
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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