The Champlain Valley Conservation Partnership (CVCP), a Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) located in Vermont, has recently worked to establish a focus area to help prioritize conservation and stewardship projects. Now entering their third year as an RCP, the CVCP hopes this area will provide a focus for funding, make it easier to identify collaborators in the region, and help better define their regional strategy. While the partnership is interested in projects of all their surrounding communities, establishing a focus area allows them to direct their efforts in line with their specific conservation priorities.
The focus area encompasses a connected landscape that lies within four Champlain Valley municipalities– South Burlington, Hinesburg, St. George, and Shelburne Williston. It includes both forest and riparian connectivity as well as stream, lake, and pond networks and multiple areas of State Protected Lands. The landscape is focused on Highest Priority areas designated by Vermont Conservation Design for Interior Forest, Connectivity Blocks and Physical Landscape Diversity. Focusing in this region is ecologically relevant due to this designation as well as the threatened and endangered species that inhabit the area and for maintaining connectivity with other larger forests.
In addition to this work, the CVCP has also produced their first outreach material to share with partners and others interested in conservation. The informational handout gives an overview of the partnership and outlines their conservation priorities and projects. The goal is to help others in the region know who the partnership is, what they’re doing, and hopefully drive those to engage in conservation work in the region.
To learn more about CVCP as well as their other projects, you can check out their website here.
