None The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming Press Releases Search All Press Releases Kerry Brophy-Lloyd Email: kbrophy@tnc.org Phone: 307-335-2135

New Study Highlights Urbanization's Impact on Natural Resources 

By 2030, Expanding Urban Areas Will Fill 350,000 Square Miles

ARLINGTON, VA— June 23, 2008— The Nature Conservancy and Harvard University recently released a new study examining the effect of staggering urban growth on nature and people that finds we must improve urban planning now.

“As a species we have lived in wild nature for hundreds of thousands of years, and now suddenly most of us live in cities—the ultimate escape from nature,” says Peter Kareiva, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy and co-author of the report. 

The study, titled “The implications of current and future urbanization for global protected areas and biodiversity conservation,” was published in the current issue of Biological Conservation and is the first-ever global analysis of how urbanization will affect rare species, natural resources, and protected areas in proximity to cities.

Even Wyoming has been alarmed by the impact of rapid growth, especially in rural areas where sprawl threatens scenic vistas and wildlife, says Brent Lathrop, the Conservancy’s Southeast Program Director. “We saw this issue come home to Wyoming when 500 people gathered for Governor Freudenthal’s ‘Building a Wyoming We Want’ conference in January,” says Lathrop. “And we all agreed with the Governor that in twenty years we want to be able to look at our kids and say we did it right.”

In 2007, the United Nations revealed that at least 50 percent of the world’s population is living in cities. By 2030, that number will jump to 60 percent, with nearly 2 billion new city residents, many migrating from rural areas.

Wyoming’s urban areas are growing, too. According to the Wyoming Center for Business and Economic Analysis, Cheyenne has gained more than 3,000 homes since 2000 and 1,250 in the past year, a much higher growth rate than in recent history.

Kareiva and the study’s lead author, Robert McDonald, applied scientist at The Nature Conservancy, built scenarios of urban growth and examined how, at the current pace of urbanization, natural resources and ecosystems could be severely damaged by 2030. 

Economic concerns will also emerge with rapid urban growth, according to the new study. For example, accidental or intentionally started fires will increase, costing additional dollars and resources to suppress the flames that threaten homes, businesses and buildings. Water quality is also becoming a grave concern, as urban areas pose significant threats to the health of freshwater systems. 

“This is yet another vivid example of why conservation cannot simply be about sequestering nature in parks and reserves,” says Kareiva. “We can set up all the reserves we want, but if we do not take care in where we place our cities, how we grow our cities, and how we live in our cities, we will fail in our mission to protect biodiversity.”

Fortunately, there is hope for turning back this tide of destruction, say the report’s authors.  Governments, city-planners, landowners and conservationists can work together to predict and plan in advance.

“Even here in Wyoming, a largely rural state, we need to shape the growth of our expanding towns while we still have a chance to make a difference,” says Lathrop. “We Wyomingites can speak up to support sustainable city planning. We have a voice and need to be engaged in the process.”

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.