Biodiversity is the base on which the life of the earth and its ecosystems rely on in order to provide us with the products that we need. Its countless plants, animals and microbes physically and chemically unite the atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere into one environmental system which gives us the oxygen, food, water, fertile soil, stable climate and recreation that millions of species, including people, need to exist (ICUN - About Biodiversity). Unfortunately this wide variety of living organisms such as animals, plants, their habitats and their genes have been dramatically shrinking evidently because of man, however, there are organizations and partnerships that have been making biodiversity preservation their main or only focus.  |
| Oregon. |
Oregon, the 33rd state in the United States of America is known all around North America as a place with diverse and beautiful landscape with a variety of fish and wildlife. Thousands of species depend on their old grown forests in the Cascade Mountains and the lakes as well as the swamps for rest, food and raising grounds.
The Oregon Biodiversity Project is a state-wide strategy proposed by the Defenders of Wildlife in 1994. It soon became the first state-wide biodiversity assessment, paving the way for the new generation of conservation plans. Funded by private foundations, federal agencies, corporate contributors, individual researchers, etc. their primary goal was to develop a practical way to conserve Oregon’s native biodiversity. The help of Nature Conservancy of Oregon and the Oregon Natural Heritage Program, the project produced a strategy that included 42 “Conservation Opportunity Areas”, which are areas where there is a possibility of future species endangerment. In order to do so they had to use GIS (geographical information systems) to conduct a state-wide biodiversity conservation assessment (“ESRI Conservation Program Resources”). For the assessment, they determined how well the lands managed to keep their biodiversity. The areas were ranked on a ten-point scale, areas dedicated to biodiversity preservation received high scores whereas other industrialized or rural cities have a lower score. With that score, the organization prioritizes and projects its strategy for biodiversity protection. With all the results, they concluded that they needed to further protect 33% of the state’s land.
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| The areas in green are the Conservation Opportunity Areas. |
Once the areas are found, the Oregon Biodiversity Projects board members work together to try and make “acquisitions, conservation easements, legislation, negotiated agreements, habitat restoration, and changed in management that would directly enhance biodiversity issues”. (“Oregon Biodiversity Project – Defenders of Wildlife”). They also developed products to help refer to the problem and their solution such as a full-colour atlas that outlines major findings and separate publications on landowner conservation incentives. In addition, several members of the project branched out and published 31 environmentally educational books like "A Place for Nature" and "Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation Planning References".
Society has been generally increasing their awareness and concern for the environment, but more people are needed to make a significant change, so why don’t you take the first step?
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Works Cited
1996, By. "Oregon Biodiversity Project - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/biodiversity_partners/oregon_biodiversity_project/>.
"Biodiversity Partners Reports and Publications - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/biodiversity_partners/publications.php>.
"Biodiversity Partnership - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/biodiversity_partners/>.
"ESRI Conservation Program Resources: General Conservation." ESRI Conservation Program:. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://www.conservationgis.org/links/conserve10.html>.
"IUCN - About Biodiversity." IUCN - Home. 1 July 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.iucn.org/iyb/about/>.
"Oregon Biodiversity Projec - Oregon - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/habitat_conservation/habitat_conservation_basics/sprawl/programs_at_work/oregon_biodiversity_project.php>.
"Oregon's Fish and Wildlife." Oregon Wild. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. http://www.oregonwild.org/fish_wildlife.
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