An official website of the REGIONAL GOAL: Natural systems
This regional goal states:
We protect and restore natural systems We protect, integrate, and restore natural systems to protect habitat and ensure a high quality of life for the people of our region.
About this goal
The quality of all life in the Twin Cities region depends on abundant, healthy natural systems. Natural systems include land, air, water, vegetation, and wildlife as well as their connections within ecosystems, natural cycles, and human society. Abundant and functioning natural systems nurture ecosystem and public health, allow economies to function and grow, and meet the social, cultural, and spiritual needs of people living in the region.
Natural systems are everywhere. However, they may be more connected and healthier in some areas and more fragmented and polluted in other areas. A comprehensive approach to protecting, integrating, and restoring natural systems ensures that large, biodiverse areas are preserved, while we enhance neighborhood-scale natural systems that help connect residents to nature at their doorstep.
Commitments
- Protect: steward and maintain natural systems to preserve their intrinsic, ecological, and human benefits for the present and the future.
- Integrate: incorporate and prioritize the needs of natural systems with human development to achieve harmony between built and natural environments.
- Restore: enhance natural systems degraded by human development to create cleaner land, water, and air that support human and ecological wellbeing.
