A Framework for Ecosystem Services Conservation Zoning: An Integration into Land Use Planning

The ecosystem services conservation zoning framework offers an alternative to current land use decision processes that present incomplete, misinformed, and unaccountable land use options and alternatives. The framework presents holistic tools to make more informed land use decisions, and begins to integrate ecosystem services into the existing polices that govern land development. The principal goal of the framework is to balance local land development and conservation planning by presenting a comprehensive, multi-faceted, multi-disciplined decision process that frames land use choices around the social, financial, and environmental utility ecosystem services provide human well being. Comments Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Environmental Studies 2007. This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/mes_capstones/13 A Framework for Ecosystem Services Conservation Zoning An Integration into Land Use Planning Joshua Kahan Master of Environmental Studies Capstone University of Pennsylvania Ira Feldman: Capstone Advisor