Over the past several decades, POST and our partners have made great progress in protecting large areas of core habitat – places where we can experience a sense of wonder and awe, knowing that we share these lands with a remarkable cast of wildlife. More recently, we have added a focus on connecting those areas in order to best support wildlife and the ecosystems they are part of.
As important as it is to protect and connect open space, we also need to make sure that habitats are healthy and robust, and that the landscape is permeable so that wildlife can move safely past infrastructure like roads and railways.
This is why much of our work today is focused on protecting and improving landscape linkages – broad areas of land that support the movement of plants and animals. We often use the term landscape linkage, rather than wildlife corridor, when our focus is on connecting habitats that suit the needs of a full suite of native animals and plants, both now and into the future.
Click on the points below to learn more about the fundamental characteristics that make for a healthy and functional landscape linkage in the Bay Area:
The underlying goal of this work is resilience. By creating healthy landscape linkages, we’re supporting the plants and animals in our open spaces and helping ecosystems to be resilient to changes in the environment.
The abundance and availability of habitats, food and water will change in the coming decades, and plants and animals need access to the resources they require to adapt, migrate, reproduce and thrive. The more we can do to support healthy ecosystems, the more resilient these species will be to change.
If you are interested in greater detail, the Coyote Valley Landscape Linkage report offers an in-depth, place-based example of how these principles relate to our long-term vision for Coyote Valley.
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About Post
Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) protects open space on the Peninsula and in the South Bay for the benefit of all. Since its founding in 1977, POST has been responsible for saving more than 87,000 acres as permanently protected land in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Learn more