Ecosystem Planning in Florida
Solving Regional Problems through Local Decision-making

While ecosystem management requires looking beyond specific jurisdiction and focusing on broad spatial scales, most planning decisions particularly in the USA, are made at local level. By looking at land-use planning in Florida, this volume recognizes the need for planners and resource managers to address ecosystem problems at local and community levels. The factors causing ecosystem decline, such as rapid urban development and habitat fragmentation occur at the local level and are generated by local land use policies. This book argues that understanding how local jurisdictions can capture and implement the principles of managing natural systems will lead to more sustainable levels of environmental planning in the future.

Chapter 1 Ecosystem Planning at the Local Level: An Introduction; Part 1 The Plan: Conceptualizing and Measuring Local Ecosystem Plan Quality; Chapter 2 Analysis of the Literatures and Concepts Underlying Ecosystem Management and Planning; Chapter 3 Principles of Effective Ecosystem Management and Planning; Chapter 4 Developing a Local Ecosystem Plan Coding Protocol and Measurement Framework; Chapter 5 Measuring and Mapping Ecosystem Plan Quality; Part 2 The Process: Factors Influencing Local Ecosystem Plan Quality; Chapter 6 The Fragmented Landscape: Biological Diversity versus Human Disturbance; Chapter 7 The Role of Biodiversity in Local Plan Making; Chapter 8 Collaborative Environmental Planning and Stakeholder Part Icipation; Chapter 9 Measuring the Effects of Stakeholder Part Icipation on the Quality of Local Plans; Part 3 Plan Implementation; Chapter 10 Evaluating Plan Implementation and the Controversy over “Conformity”; Chapter 11 Does Planning Work? Testing the Implementation of Local Environmental Planning in Florida; Part 4 Planning Implications and Recommendations; Chapter 12 Recommendations for Improving the Process and Practice of Environmental Planning at the Local Level; Chapter 13 Conclusion;