Practice
Biodiversity Primer for Landscape Architects
"Any time we shape the land, we impact biodiversity. While protecting nature is essential in addressing the biodiversity crisis, considering opportunities to conserve, enhance, and restore biodiversity at all scales is vital —from site design, neighborhood plans, community and urban planning to regional master plans." — Betsy Peterson Sanford, ASLA.
ASLA and the ASLA Fund have developed:
Biodiversity Primer for Landscape Architects: Essential Knowledge to Inform Meaningful Action
Editor
Betsy Peterson Sanford, ASLA, August Design Collaborative
Contributors & Reviewers
Keith Bowers, FASLA, PLA, Biohabitats
Lisa Casey, ASLA, StudioOutside
David Cutter, FASLA, PLA, Cornell University
Jennifer Dowdell, ASLA, Biohabitats
MaFe Gonzalez, Assoc. ASLA, BASE Landscape Architecture
Weston Henry, ASLA, SWA
Maria Landoni, ASLA, Sur Landscape Architecture
Meghan Mick, ASLA, PLA, Florida State University
Christian Runge, ASLA, Mithun
Grant Thompson, ASLA, PhD, PLA, RDG Planning & Design
About
The primer offers direction on how to mitigate the biodiversity crisis through design and planning work. It provides landscape architects the baseline information needed to support biodiversity through projects at all scales. It introduces foundational information that enables meaningful collaboration with allied fields, such as ecologists and biologists, during the planning, design, and management phases.
The primer introduces a range of biodiversity topics, including:
- The state of the biodiversity crisis
- Global 30 x 2030 goals
- The five key biodiversity priorities
- How to design with landscape ecology principles
- How to design for biodiversity across scales
- How to measure impact
- How to steward a site for biodiversity
This resource is the first of several to support the implementation of the ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action Plan (2026-2030). It will be updated periodically to reflect the shifting state of nature and global priorities and the latest research.
The authors welcome feedback. Please send comments to climate@asla.org.
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