Designing Nature’s Half:
The Blog
News and education about landscape conservation and design.
World Oceans Day: What Strong Marine Protected Areas Require
What makes a marine protected area strong?
World Oceans Day 2026 focuses on the importance of strong marine protected areas, but the answer extends beyond oceans alone. Drawing on firsthand experience from the management planning process for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, this reflection explores why conservation depends not only on protection, but also on continuity. From marine protected areas to landscape-scale conservation, transformational conservation ultimately requires the institutions, governance systems, and decision processes capable of sustaining conservation across social-ecological systems and through time.
A World Environment Day Reflection: Designing Nature's Half and the Work Ahead
More than fifty years after its creation, World Environment Day continues to raise awareness of environmental challenges. But as climate, biodiversity, water, and human systems become increasingly understood as interconnected, a deeper question emerges: how should society organize decisions across the systems that shape environmental outcomes? This reflection explores that question while marking an important milestone for Designing Nature's Half.
International Day for Biological Diversity: From Land Protection to System Design
Biological diversity depends on connected social-ecological systems, yet many decisions affecting those systems remain fragmented across landscapes, jurisdictions, and time. This International Day for Biological Diversity, the deeper question is not only what conservation protects, but how conservation must be organized to sustain life across the systems it depends on. From protection to system design, biodiversity increasingly reveals the need for more integrated conservation at ecological scale.
🌎The Art and Science of Landscape Conservation Design Using Models – Insights from Dr. Ronald J. McCormick
Dr. Ronald J. McCormick, a field naturalist and systems ecologist, shares insights on complex systems theory, including its application in landscape conservation design (LCD). The discussion provides practical advice for stakeholders interested in LCD—highlighting conceptual modeling as a valuable step and stressing the importance of boundaries within any model used for decision-making processes. The episode serves as a reminder that successful landscape conservation hinges not only on scientific rigor but also on integrating holistic perspectives—including economic realities and cultural values—to resonate with diverse stakeholder groups involved in LCD truly.