HYBRID AREAS CAN INCLUDE NATURAL & WORKING AREAS
Natural Asset Companies (NACs), in hybrid areas integrate natural areas, working areas, and built infrastructure in a single project to increase Ecological Performance across multiple land use types.
IEG is well suited to advise on landscape scale projects with mixed land use contained within the project boundaries.
Project Example: Bay Area
A natural asset’s health – for instance a bay – is determined by the various land uses within its watershed. The area may include agricultural lands, residential neighborhoods, parks, or cities/towns that possess their own natural asset values and also are critical to the bay’s ecological health. Investing in improvements to built infrastructure, such as storm water, sewage, and greenspace systems, would be part of the strategy to improve the bay’s health and ecological productivity.
Project Example: Conservation Area
A hybrid area project could connect conservation areas with wildlife corridors to support biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, and recreation. Agricultural lands within the perimeter of the protected areas could be included to convert farm practices to regenerative methods, including growing alternate crops that better serve the region’s ecosystem and improve the local farm economy.
If implemented broadly, connecting conservation areas with regenerative agriculture on a continental scale can provide wildlife with corridors that would allow for species migration due to changing climate conditions and provide flood control, climate stabilization, and recreational assets.