Building an inclusive conservation vision founded upon ecological values and social opportunities

We sought to identify areas important to a connected network of ecologically representative native land cover and supportive human communities spanning the length and breadth of the Appalachians and greater eastern region of the United States. We are especially interested in identifying those areas where high social opportunity and high ecological value co-occur while contributing to the fulfillment of an eastern region network of lands and people who care for these lands. We built composite maps using spatial data from existing efforts to measure social conditions constructed around three broad themes: frontline communities, historically marginalized populations, and people vulnerable to climate change. We view these areas as having high social opportunity through improvement of the environmental conditions experienced by these communities of people, and thus their connection and support of this protected network. We also used a combination of ecological data selected around four broad ecological themes: ecological integrity, connectivity, biodiversity, and ecosystem services to identify lands potentially significant to co-occurring and under-served communities while contributing to a national conservation network. We present a broad spatial summary of three conditions: co-occurring high social opportunity and nationally significant ecological value, areas of high social opportunity, and areas of high ecological value. We conclude with acknowledgments of some of the gaps in this analysis, and a discussion of key next steps to ensure that conservation actions are implemented in a way that elevates the concerns of people that have been historically marginalized from conservation efforts.