Collaborative Spatial Prioritization for Flood Resilience, Biodiversity Conservation, and Water Quality Protection in Three Counties of Central Florida, USA

Keywords: Stakeholder Engagement, Local Government, Marxan, Sea Level Rise, Urbanization
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Central Florida encompasses various natural ecosystems with significant ecological, economic, and recreational significance. It is also one of the rapidly urbanizing regions where the change in climatic regime is increasingly interacting with the development pressure leading to a significant loss in biodiversity, degradation of water quality, and more frequent coastal and inland flooding. Green space conservation, such as habitat connectivity, protection of species, and maintenance of rural economies are recognized as the best practice for resilience-based flood mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and water quality protection. In this work, we synthesize the conservation planning exercises carried out in three counties in this region with a special focus on green space conservation. This work encompassed engaging with county stakeholders including staff members, elected officials, non-government agencies, and local people. The focus group discussions and online surveys were used to determine the conservation and resilience targets in these counties to be used with Marxan spatial planning software. We discuss the technical model methodology and results as well as lessons learned from our experience of working with different local government entities. We find that the geospatial optimization for cost as well as ecosystem service-based benefits can assist local governments in targeting high-value low-cost land for various conservation endeavors and can serve as an impetus for collaborative conservation actions. The insights derived from this work can be valuable for collaboration among academics, local governments, and civil society for locally-led and evidence-based land and water conservation.