Assessing the Trends of a Network for Landscape Conservation

Landscape conservation has grown in popularity over the past few decades and is widely recognized as essential for achieving conservation outcomes. However, there are many challenges to operating at the landscape scale, and little research assesses the trends of Landscape Conservation Initiatives (LCIs) within a network. To address this gap, we surveyed a nationwide sample of LCIs that are connected through the Network for Landscape Conservation in 2016 and in 2021. Our research presents findings on the focus of these initiatives (often wildlife habitat and watershed protection), the strategies and approaches employed to achieve goals (often coordinating community activities and networking/information sharing), the factors that support or challenge the LCI success (ranging from political support to trust/respect), and how LCIs perceive their biggest successes (often a combination of Collaborative, Ecological, and Human categories). The main findings highlight how some of these trends changed over a five-year period and with the age range of the LCI. These findings contribute to our greater understanding of unique aspects of LCIs and changing trends for LCIs within a network and have implications for emerging and established LCIs as they evolve over time.