Flatiron Construction’s Post

I see much opportunity for impactful collaboration between development, nature protection organizations and the private sector. Investments to support communities to thrive economically and sustainably, need to go hand in hand with with efforts to protect natural resources and ecosystems. Funders and investors play a vital role in bridging this area of still underutilized partnerships to help achieve long-term mutual benefits for people and nature. In this article, I am collecting my thoughts on the need for bolder cross sector partnerships and unlikely collaborations. We can only protect vulnerable wildlife and people from climate change if funders, conservationists, and community development organizations establish such relationships. https://lnkd.in/eG5yZdy2

Did you know there are over 325 parks and green spaces across the City of Waterloo? City staff work hard to maintain parks and keep them welcoming and enjoyable for all, but everyone has a role to play. Here’s how you can pitch in and help take care of your local parks! Celebrate Earth Day by cleaning up a local park. Gather your friends, family, coworkers and neighbours to organize your own Earth Day Community Cleanup of your favourite park, or join the event on April 20 in Waterloo Park, hosted by Friends of Waterloo Park. Take the lead on a park stewardship activity and we’ll provide the tools, resources and technical expertise to make your event a success. Stewardship activities include litter cleanups, trail mulching and managing invasive species. Be considerate of those around you, including wildlife! Pick up after yourself and leave the park as you found it. This helps keep the park welcoming for everyone, and prevents wildlife from consuming anything that may be harmful to them. Be a responsible pet owner. Keep your dog on a leash (unless at the dog park) and pick up after them. Look for the Puppy Poop Power units and use them to dispose of your dog’s poop - it’ll get turned into electricity!

Citadel EHS Joins Hands with OC Parks and Irvine Ranch Conservancy for a Day of Environmental Impact! 🌍🌱 Last Saturday, our team at Citadel EHS had the incredible opportunity to partner with OC Parks and Irvine Ranch Conservancy for a meaningful day at Limestone Canyon Regional Park in Irvine. Our volunteers, including the family members of our employees, rolled up their sleeves to make a difference in preserving our precious natural habitat. Our mission? Tackling the invasive Black Mustard (Brassica nigra), a persistent threat to the biodiversity of our local ecosystem. Black mustard can crowd out native plants, and its spread can increase the frequency of fires in chaparral and coastal sage scrub. With dedication and passion, our team joined forces to weed out this menace, one plant at a time. But our efforts didn't stop there. We also took the opportunity to nurture and care for newly planted oak trees, symbolizing our commitment to the long-term sustainability of our environment. By caring for these young trees, we're not just planting seeds for today but laying the foundation for a greener, healthier tomorrow. At Citadel EHS, we firmly believe in the power of social responsibility. Together, we can achieve remarkable things. #CitadelEHS #EnvironmentalStewardship #SocialResponsibility #CommunityImpact #LimestoneCanyon #OCParks #IrvineRanchConservancy #Sustainability #EnvironmentalConsulting #Teamwork #Volunteerism #MakeADifference

This year, Give Local York funds to Friends of Codorus State Park will be used to continue our work to improve the park for the benefit of its visitors, wildlife, and ecosystem. We plan to: 1. Renovate the Landis Barn Environmental Educational Center to expand the hours that it can be used. 2. Remove hazardous trees that are next to the Center, which present a safety hazard. 3. Purchase an educational trailer for presenting environmental programs within the park and throughout the surrounding community. 4. Construct turtle platforms for placement in Lake Marburg. 5. Remove Invasive plant species, which are taking over areas of native plant species, throughout the park

Nils Peterson is another new board member for WakeUP. Nils has been in Wake County for almost 20 years and is currently a Wildlife Professor at NC State. His personal and professional work has been focused on ensuring North Carolina is a better place to live - using his expertise to focus on conservation of wildlife resources in our state while teaching the next generation of conservation students to carry this forward. If you were only allowed one sentence, what would you say about the importance of future planning? What else can we plan for? It's everything. What are Wake County's biggest opportunities/advantages when it comes to growth? Growth itself is an advantage because it allows change. I also think the current status of high tree cover and low density allows our county lots of flexibility when it comes to planning future transportation, conservation, and housing infrastructure. All those interstitial spaces can lead to great things. What is the connection between affordable housing, transportation, and land use as they relate to planning? A bright future requires affordability, and housing and transportation are the two primary and mandatory costs people face. Land use is tricky, because poor decisions can drive down housing costs by reducing desirability of a region. The trick is land use planning that creates desirable places to live paired with policy protecting affordable housing. What makes you hopeful about Wake County in the future? The people are ambitious, future oriented, highly skilled, and optimistic. The people. If you had a magic wand, what is one thing you would change about our community? I would create connectivity between greenways...green ones. #wakeupwakecounty #boardspotlight #wakecounty #thrivingcommunities #beapartofthesolution #sustainablegrowth #urbandevelopment #growwithus #climatechange #landuse #affordablehousing #equity #environment

Super excited today to launch of Forest Love initiative and announce our partnership with Chloris Geospatial. You can learn more about the partnership from the Chloris post below. Bottom line for us is that we really see their technology as a game changer in our collective efforts to understand and better protect, yes, better love our forests and all the magical things they bring us. Why Forest Love? Pond Foundation wants to highlight and nurture the spiritual connection between humans and forests and the word ‘love’ captures how we feel about forests and how we want to inspire others to feel about them. We could have called it the Forest Protection Initiative, or something similarly bland and boring, but there’s nothing bland or boring about forests.   Forests teem with vibrant, magical life; they’re great for the planet, for so many species and for humans too. We see people as being integral to forest ecosystems, not separate from them and not a part that should ever be separated by political or forest management decisions. We acknowledge, deeply respect, and love the role that indigenous and local communities play in protecting forests the world over. A central part of Forest Love’s work will be to help communities secure the resources they need to continue their work to both protect their forests and grow their communities. Another part is to help people who have become disconnected from forests to find reconnection to that most ancient current.   Our goal. So many forests are under threat – from logging, fire, mining, agricultural clearance, pests, and disease and most insidiously, from climate change. If we lose them, we lose life itself. Our goal is to support the protection of as many hectares of forest as we possibly can. We'll share more about Forest Love in future posts, but for now, we're celebrating this partnership with Chloris Geospatial that will underpin this work.  

We should always celebrate the biodiversity all around us! At Open Space STL , our different programs help enhance the natural areas and waterways in the #STL region. These include: Operation Wild Lands The Operation Wild Lands (OWLs) program works with volunteers of all ages to restore and maintain public lands throughout the St. Louis region. Volunteers assist with the proactive management of public open spaces to improve wildlife habitats and nature-related outdoor recreation. Community Stewardship Alliance This collaborative partnership, led by Open Space STL, is an exciting conservation program intended to provide focused, trained, volunteer leadership to restore and maintain the natural areas within our St. Louis County Parks. The goals of the program are to: Restore, protect and actively manage vulnerable natural areas to maintain and enhance the St. Louis region’s biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by our public lands Foster regional partnerships between public land managers, community members, and local organizations to align restoration efforts across priority natural areas Adapt successful local and national stewardship models to develop a coordinated program for the St. Louis region to achieve standardization of restoration techniques, management plans, reporting, monitoring, and communication Empower community members to become leaders invested in their local parks. Embrace #biodiversity #openspaces

Is Jackson Hole the next Vail? Part 1. As we contemplate how much development and human activity to place at Stilson, a critical wildlife corridor and habitat, it’s important for us to examine places where they’ve gotten it wrong – like Vail, Colorado. Elk populations in Vail are declining. Their population in Eagle County, Colorado dropped by 50% in a decade, and now they are struggling to rebound. The culprit?? Direct and indirect cumulative impacts from humans. 🏘️ Direct impacts, like houses and roads, take away habitat and put barriers or risks to wildlife in their place. 🔊Indirect impacts, like recreation and noise, cause animals to use excess calories, experience increased stress, and/or avoid valuable habitat. This should be a warning to us here in Jackson Hole, where our local wildlife are also experiencing increasing levels of direct and indirect impact from humans. So what does this mean?? Part 2 of this conversation drops on Wednesday, and we wrap up with Part 3 on Friday... let us know what you think below 👇 #conservation #responsibledevelopment #keepjacksonlocal #JHCA #vail This is a miniseries adapted by a blog post written by our Conservation Director, Kevin Krasnow, Ph.D.

🌿 Exciting news! Central Park’s lush lawns are now beginning to open for your enjoyment! From Cherry Hill to Sheep Meadow, lawns make up 30% of the Park’s 843 acres. The Conservancy’s Landscape Management team works hard to keep them durable and healthy. As you plan your next adventure in the Park, let's work together to keep this greenspace thriving. Here are some simple tips to help our #CentralParkConservancy staff maintain the health of the lawns: 🌱 Use blankets and cloth materials for your picnic spread. These options are gentle on the Park's grass. 🌱 Leave tarps, plastic, and inflatable couches at home. These materials can heat up quickly and harm the grass underneath, even in just a few hours. 🌱 Help protect the Park’s ecosystems by carrying your garbage out with you and keeping it out of the landscapes. Remember, Central Park is home to a diverse range of wildlife, and we want to keep them safe and healthy. 🌱 While we know visitors want to soak up as much time as possible on the lawns, Conservancy staff must close them during routine maintenance, after sundown, and following inclement weather. So, when the fence to your favorite lawn is closed, remember that this ensures our staff can care for the lawns before the next day's use. Let's all do our part to preserve the beauty of Central Park for generations to come!

We see giants, they see their home. Elephants, the gentle giants of the savanna, often wander into our communities, sparking fear and frustration. But let's pause for a moment and consider their perspective. They're not invaders; they're simply searching for food and water, just like us. Through community-led conservation efforts, we're forging a new path—one where humans and wildlife thrive together. By fostering understanding, empathy, and sustainable practices, we're creating a future where elephants are not seen as adversaries, but as partners in conservation. #wildlifeconservation #communityLedConservation