Green Infrastructure

"Green Infrastructure is our Nation's natural life support system - an interconnected network of protected land and water that supports native species, maintains natural ecological processes, sustains air and water resources and contributes to the health and quality of life for America's communities and people. Most land and water conservation initiatives in the United States are reactive not proactive; haphazard not systematic; piecemeal not holistic; single-scale not multi-scale, single-purpose not multi-functional. Current conservation efforts often focus on individual pieces of land, limiting their conservation benefits to the environment and human health. The Mission of GreenInfrastructure.Net is to illustrate that identifying and planning for Green Infrastructure - multi-purpose green space networks - provides a framework for smart conservation and smart growth. A city, county or state would never build a road, water and electrical system piece by piece, with no advanced planning or coordination between different system components and jurisdictions. These built infrastructure systems are planned, designed and invested in far in advance of their actual use. We should plan, design and invest in our Green Infrastructure following the same principles and approaches that are used for built infrastructure. A large coalition of public and private organizations are advancing the concept of Green Infrastructure nationwide."

Green Infrastructure