Regional Landscape Conservation Planning: Wildlife, Connectivity, and the Florida Model, is a new book (spring 2026) edited by Reed Noss and Tom Hoctor of the University of Florida’s Center for Landscape Conservation Planning.
Published by University of Florida Press, the book uses Florida as a case study to explore the theoretical background, history, and application of landscape connectivity principles to conservation. The Florida model, in which large core protected areas are enveloped and connected by buffer zones and corridors on working lands (such as cattle ranches and commercial timberlands with conservation easements) has already succeeded in conserving 30% of Florida’s land area, thanks to a history of generous state funding for conservation land acquisition.
Noss, R.F. and Hoctor, T.S. eds. 2026. Regional Landscape Conservation Planning: Wildlife, Connectivity, and the Florida Model. University Press of Florida.
Although considered radical and impractical in the 1980s, when maps were first released proposing half of Florida in connected conservation areas, the idea of a statewide network of core areas and corridors, designed around the needs of the Florida panther, black bear, and other fragmentation-sensitive species, has gained in popularity.
Beginning in the late 1990s, the Florida Ecological Greenways Network (FEGN) has served as the basis for much of the state’s conservation land prioritization. In 2021, the three highest priority layers of the FEGN were recognized by the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act. This bipartisan legislation identifies a statewide network of currently conserved lands and conservation opportunity areas, closely resembling the controversial maps from the 1980s. If and when completed, the Florida Wildlife Corridor will cover fully half of the state of Florida.
Although focused largely on Florida, Regional Landscape Conservation Planning applies to large-scale planning elsewhere and is especially relevant to regions with a combination of high biodiversity (irreplaceability) and a high rate of habitat loss (vulnerability). Conservation is increasingly urgent in such regions.
Topics covered in the book include tradeoffs between conserving large, connected properties versus small, isolated sites with concentrated biodiversity; the history of large-scale conservation planning and rewilding since the early 20th century; spatial prioritization methods; population growth modeling; identification of climate refugia; landscape approaches to aquatic and coastal conservation; road ecology and impact mitigation; the role of land trusts in landscape conservation; and the influence of the Florida model on other large-scale planning efforts such as Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) and a network of conservation areas and corridors covering more than half of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
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