Why ecological conservation and restoration matters
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other scientific bodies have underscored the critical need to protect and restore at least 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030 in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. This “30 by 30 goal” was formally adopted as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It represents a bold and urgent global effort to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, halt biodiversity loss and enhance ecosystem resilience, with a relatively short opportunity to do so.
Additionally, research continues to correlate biodiversity and access to local green space with both mental and physical human health and well-being. Thus, this goal impacts not only the health of the planet, but the communities and individuals that inhabit it. While the “30 by 30” goal requires action across multiple sectors and ecosystems, LEED projects are well positioned to contribute meaningfully to this global initiative.
How LEED v5 addresses ecosystem protection
The ecological conservation and restoration impact area of LEED v5 emphasizes strategies and actions that can be implemented at the individual asset level that limit environmental degradation and seek to rehabilitate and restore ecosystems.
LEED’s comprehensive framework considers the interconnectedness of ecological systems and human-built environments, aiming to minimize ecological harm while promoting restoration and biodiversity conservation. They have been developed through thousands of volunteer hours and in collaboration with the LEED committees, along with two rounds of public comment.
This impact area is encouraged through three main strategies:
- Conserving natural habitats
- Restoring natural habitats
- Efficiently using resources that impact natural habitats
These strategies have been designed to be both project-specific (benefiting the project’s ecosystems directly) and impactful on a larger scale (such as reducing downstream impacts from supply chain purchases). They build upon previous iterations of LEED, and are designed to be more accessible for projects of varying density and location.
Let’s delve further into what this means at the credit level.
