New Human Health Long-Term Conservation Goal

For some time, the Partnership has discussed the limited focus of the original long-term conservation goal related to human health. The CCP Stering Committee agreed to task a team to proposed a revised goal statement. Committee members Sally Claggett, Kate Hackett, Kendra Hyson, and Deb Nardone, along with staff, convened twice to prepare a revised draft goal statement for consideration.

Background:
The Partnership’s five long-term land conservation goal statements were developed in 2015-2016 to provide a set of watershed-wide, inclusive, cumulative, and mappable aims to further inform and support land conservation. These goals extend beyond time-based milestones set in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and articulated by the Partnership. The long-term conservation goals are framed and mapped around five topics: Farms, Forests, Habitat, Heritage, and Human Health. Each goal statement consists of a short paragraph outlining the goal itself and a short paragraph providing a rationale.

As originally developed, the Human Health goal focuses on public access to parks and the water as fundamental to health. Partnership discussions at annual meetings and within the Steering Committee have consistently recognized that the other four land conservation goals (Farms, Forests, Habitat, and Heritage) also contribute directly and indirectly to human health. However, discussion participants also identified a need for expanding the health goal itself to address components not otherwise addressed.

Click on the pictures to explore our goal maps further