Chapter 2 The Need for Conservation
Appendix 2-6
development and economic growth to already degraded areas while protecting and buffering intact habitat and wildlife corridors. The program includes a handbook to integrate conservation data into planning activities, training workshops, presentations, model ordinances and incentives, and staff are available to provide technical support to planners. The program also offers the Partners for Green Growth Cost-Share Program to provide local governments with funding to support their green growth efforts. The Green Growth Toolbox’s conservation recommendations outlined in the handbook are based on the habitat needs of species of greatest conservation need and have been compiled in the Conservation Recommendations for Priority Terrestrial Wildlife Species and Habitats in North Carolina . The program also recommends the use of GIS-based conservation data and provides local government planning staff with interpretation of the data and recommendations on its appropriate use in planning. The NC Natural Heritage Program (NHP) has become a fundamental partner in this data sharing component of the program, as the NHP houses and maintains downloadable GIS mapping tools in their Data Explorer. The availability of this data helps to inform planners of North Carolina’s conservation priorities that can be integrated into their planning activities. The information and tools shared by the Green Growth Toolbox have led to many communities successfully implementing conservation-based land use and transportation initiatives and have supported the development and implementation of plans, ordinances, and land use decisions that improve habitat protection in NC’s growing communities.
Examples of Green Growth in North Carolina Communities Chatham County
Our longest relationship with a local government is Chatham County. They started working with staff in the pilot phase of the program and continue to be engaged with NCWRC on conservation priorities. In their recent comprehensive plan, they integrated conservation into almost every component of their plan and created goals and strategies related to conservation and habitat connectivity. For example, Chatham County has set a goal to permanently protect an additional 20,000 acres by 2040. They plan to meet this goal, in part, by utilizing land acquisition and by protecting open spaces in private developments that protect priority natural resources and are contiguous across the larger landscape. In developing the county’s future land use and conservation map, planners identified conservation areas that would buffer and connect protected lands and high priority natural areas. The county’s recent update of their unified development ordinance integrated these identified conservation areas and zoned them so that any major subdivisions proposed for these areas would have to follow their conservation subdivision design standards, which requires the protection of contiguous priority habitats.
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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