Applying harm reduction and implementation principles to urban species conservation management

Private greenspaces adjacent to residential homes represent habitat that could be used to promote the conservation of species and ecosystem health. However, many practices work counteractive to this goal. Even though the research community has documented the negative effects of traditional lawn management and outreach works to promote alternative practices, the suburban and urban lawn continues to grow, with estimates as high as 36% of urban and suburban areas. We suggest applying a harm reduction and implementation science framework to address the ecological management of private greenspaces that focuses on removing barriers to adoption to promote incremental change across a large population. In this commentary, we review the tenets of harm reduction and highlight the gaps in our understanding of urban species conservation management by private land managers.