Every Landscape Is Different

There can be no universal design for biodiversity.

A habitat in tropical Costa Rica develops under completely different conditions from one in Germany or Indonesia. Rainfall, temperature, geology, soils, elevation and evolutionary history influence which species occur and how ecological communities function.

The human context differs as well.

Land use, agriculture, urban development, cultural practices and local conservation knowledge all influence what is possible in a particular place.

For this reason, a project that works beautifully in one region should not simply be copied into another.

Conservation begins by understanding what belongs there.

Which plants are native?

Which pollinators are present?

Where does water move through the landscape?

Which habitats already exist nearby?

Which species are declining?

Which ecological connections have been lost?

And, importantly, which local people and organizations already understand the landscape better than we do?

These questions change the approach from simply making a place look green to helping it function ecologically.

A beautiful garden can be valuable.

A functioning habitat goes further.

It provides the right resources, at the right times, for species that have evolved within that landscape.