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	OUR BIODIVERSITY: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
	WASHINGTON'S ECOREGIONS
	RESOURCES FOR CONSERVATION
	BIODIVERSITY EDUCATION
	STEWARDSHIP AND INCENTIVES
	ABOUT THE COUNCIL

What’s New

San Juan Initiative
Taking an ecosystem approach to protecting environment and community, this initiative published “Protecting Our Place for Nature and People” on December 1, 2008.
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Wildlife watching more popular than football?
The 71 million wildlife-watching participants are more than four times greater than the attendance of all National League Football teams during the 2006 season. more>

Photo: Kelly McAllister

From Cannons to Kestrels
Blueberry farmers who usually scare starlings away from their crop with loud cannons are trying a quieter approach that benefits both their suburban neighbors and wildlife. more>

Photo: Conservation NW

Wolf pair and pups in Okanogan County
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has reported the first documented, resident wolf pack in Washington since the 1930s. more>

Lessons in Conservation, a new online journal
to provide educators with the most current thinking in how to conserve biodiversity. It's new from the American Museum of Natural History. more>

Stewardship Matters

Photo: Thurston GeoData Center

Privately owned lands contribute substantially to the overall biodiversity of our state. Here, we profile individuals whose efforts are part of this contribution.
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Check out our brochure

This brochure outlines why biodiversity is important to all of us, and how the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy will help sustain Washington's natural heritage.

Download the brochure (500 KB pdf)
or contact us and we'll be happy to send you a copy.

Calendar

FAQs

Photo: Islandwood

The WASHINGTON BIODIVERSITY PROJECT is an effort of the Washington Biodiversity Council to address one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time: How to conserve our state's native plants, animals, and ecosystems for current and future generations.
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Early Action Projects Off and Running >>

Explore the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy >>

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Early Action Projects Off and Running

The Washington Biodiversity Council, with contributions from its partners, is funding projects to demonstrate how the Washington Biodiversity Conservation Strategy can be used to guide investments and activities and to coordinate conservation efforts

Biodiversity Scorecard and Citizen Science
Photo: A. Barna	The Council is working with the University of Washington to develop an easy-to-understand scorecard that will help Washingtonians keep track of how the state’s biodiversity is doing. more >

Biodiversity and Hands-on Student Projects
Photo: EEAW	Teachers in Grays Harbor County are learning to incorporate biodiversity field work into student projects with training from mentors at the Pacific Education Institute. more >

North Central Washington Regional Project
Photo: FCCD	The Institute for Rural Innovation and Stewardship (IRIS) is piloting how recommendations in the Washington Biodiversity Conservation Strategy can work in the near-term to help regional planning. more>

Ecosystem Services Valuation of the Nisqually Watershed
Photo: WDFW	The Council hopes to raise sufficient funding to contract an economic analysis of the services provided by the watershed’s natural assets. This analysis would provide a common vocabulary of science-based information, which could then provide guidance for improving conservation markets and incentives and be a springboard for other projects.

Many thanks to the Council partners who provided contributions to fund these projects: The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries, and Department of Ecology.

Washington's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy

This visionary document sets forth a bold set of recommendations to engage Washingtonians statewide in conserving our state's precious natural legacy.

Request a copy of this essential tool, or download all or part from this site.

Three broad initiatives form the heart of the strategy—a new approach to defining priorities, fostering widespread landowner engagement, and measuring progress:

Guiding investments on the land, through the use of a new tool which maps biodiversity value and threats at a landscape, regional scale;
Improving incentives and advancing markets for landowners to provide tangible benefits for conservation on working lands and open spaces, and
Engaging citizens to work with scientists to inventory and monitor Washington’s biodiversity.

The strategy also includes recommendations in other important focus areas. more >