Acting Locally - A Working Model

David Foster, Director of Harvard Forest and Bill Labich, Regional Conservationist of Highstead lay out the arguments and successes of creating a working model to think globally while acting locally. For New England and most of the eastern United States, there is a direct link between effective forest protection and management and the global environment. As a consequence of sub-continental reforestation and growth since the 19th Century, residents across this region have a second chance to determine the fate of their natural landscape. The forests that blanket this region are young and growing rapidly, storing globally important amounts of carbon and thereby thwarting global climate change. Protecting these forests and managing them to produce products and store additional carbon will bring immense benefits to local communities and the world. The Wildlands and Woodlands proposal to protect and manage 50% of southern New England in forests provides a mechanism for achieving such ambitious local and global goals. See the entire chapter below.

Foster, D.R. and W. Labich. 2008. A Wildland and Woodland Vision for the New England Landscape: Local Conservation, Biodiversity and the Global Environment. Pp 155-175. In R.A. Askins et al. (eds.), Saving Biological Diversity. Springer.