October 2015
Living Landscape Observer - Nature, Culture, Community
In This Issue
Featured Landscape: Grand Pre, Nova Scotia
Mitigation on a Landscape Scale
US Biosphere Reserves
Revealing a Lost Landscape
In the News
About Us
Join Our Mailing List
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Washington D.C.
November 3-6 2015

IUCN World Congress Honolulu HI (Sept 2016)

 Joint National Council on Public History and Society for History in the Federal Government Conference 
 March 16-19, 2016


Grand Pre Nova Scotia 
A World Heritage Cultural Landscape
Tourist brochures on Nova Scotia tout the natural wonder of the 11 meter tides in the Bay of Fundy's Minas Basin as the highest in the world. They also call out the internationally known story of the diaspora of the Acadians; the French settlers who, forced out by the British, carried this distinctive culture across the globe.
 
What the area is less well known for are its significant cultural landscapes. The Acadians, for example, transformed the region's extensive salt marshes into agricultural land from territory that included the homeland of the native Mi'kmaq people. For 70 years, the settlers, using their knowledge of European techniques of dykes, ditches and sluices known as aboiteaux, created over 1000 hectares of farms. 
  
Living Landscape Observer
Mitigation: Now Thinking on a Landscape Scale
In the worlds of both nature conservation and historic preservation mitigation has become a hot concept. How can partners work on a landscape scale to address issues of documentation, setting priorities, and incorporating cultural resources into what has been traditionally a more site-by-site nature-based strategy? New ideas are emerging thanks to the work of partners in the Chesapeake Watershed. Read more.

The U.S. Biospheres Reserve Program: Can the Challenges of the Past Contribute to the Resiliency of the Future
It is easy to acknowledge the current state of UNESCO's international Man and the Biosphere (MAB) program, but neglect to see how it got to this point. As one of the innovators in large landscape conservation, biosphere reserves paved the way for more recent landscape-scale efforts. Yet, most people in the United States are unfamiliar with the term, "biosphere reserve," or assume the program has dissolved because of its long period of inactivity. Some supporters, however, are now trying to change this perception. Read more.
Revealing a Lost Landscape
Urban areas have been and continue to be dramatically shaped by the intersection of human and non-human nature. Yet, these relationships are often hidden, with cities labeled as somehow unnatural or "less-than" areas where the influence of humans is perhaps not as visible. Recent work in Seattle seeks to challenge these narratives through the use of innovating mapping and artistic interpretation.
Read more.
Invisible Landscape: Why Historic Site Interpretation is needed for Today's Narrative
Diversity in the field of historic preservation is something that we are just beginning to deal with, and by understanding the role of diverse people and communities in our past for what it was, we can encourage people to recognize themselves in today's continued narrative. Having visited both Monticello and Mount Vernon quite recently, there was a distinct difference in the atmosphere between the slave memorial and Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon, and at Mulberry Row at Monticello. Read More.
In the News
In Against Nature Timothy Eagan's has written a passionate editorial in defense of the the Land and Water Conservation Fund. He also throws in a pitch for the resources under the protection of the National Historic Preservation Fund, although he does not call the program out by name. 

Dispatch from UNGA: It's done. The 2030 agenda for sustainable development has been approved.The member states of the United Nations launched a process to agree on a new set of sustainable development goals at the Rio+20 conference in June 2012. More than three years later, after perhaps the most intense and inclusive consultation in history with businesses, civil society, and citizens across the globe, governments of 193 member countries agreed on Friday, September 25, 2015 on a set of 17 goals, based on 169 targets. The 2030 agenda for sustainable development will guide development interventions for the next fifteen years.
About Us

The Living Landscape Observer is a website, blog and monthly e-newsletter that offers commentary and information on the emerging field of large landscape conservation. This approach emphasizes the preservation of a "sense of place" and blends ingredients of land conservation, heritage preservation, and sustainable community development. Learn more about how you can get involved or sign up for the newsletter here.  

Our Mission: To provide observations and information on the emerging fields of landscape scale conservation, heritage preservation and sustainable community development.