Conservation and Limited Development Projects A resource for land trusts, developers, planners, public officials, and interested citizens
What are Conservation and Limited Development Projects (CLDPs)? A CLDP is a land project that uses proceeds from limited, environmentally sensitive development to finance the protection of land. CLDPs are most often conducted or facilitated by non-profit land trusts, although they can also be initiated by private landowners or conservation-minded developers. Within the land trust community, CLDPs are often referred to as limited development projects; however, the term conservation and limited development project is preferable because it identifies conservation as the primary goal of these projects.
CLDPs leverage the profit potential of the private real estate market to help finance conservation objectives. In real estate development, substantial profit is usually gained when property is converted from “raw” land (such as an undivided tract of forest) to subdivided, permitted land ready to build on. While real estate speculators and developers typically reap this profit, a CLDP redirects much or all of the profit to fund conservation goals, such as the protection of critical habitats, watershed areas, and working farm and forest lands. In addition, many CLDPs benefit from federal, and occasionally state or local, tax incentives for land conservation. Overall, CLDPs merge the resources and the techniques of the for-profit sector, the non-profit sector, and the public sector into a unique package that simultaneously pursues financial goals and conservation goals.		Pasture and forest in the Mill Hollow CLDP in suburban Philadelphia.
The Controversy About CLDPs: Proponents of CLDPs believe that these projects can help protect natural resources, increase the capacity of the conservation movement, and promote more environmentally compatible and locally acceptable development patterns. Critics, however, question whether these projects provide meaningful conservation benefits and whether they deserve the public subsidies they often receive; in a worst case, they argue, such projects are little more than a marketing ploy to “greenwash” conventional suburban sprawl. These questions have led to recent scrutiny by the media, Congress, and others. To inform the current debate about the relative merit of CLDPs and their appropriate role in land conservation, I conducted a detailed study to evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of CLDPs as a conservation strategy in the United States.
Ridge Valley Creek and protected riparian lands in the Fulshaw Craeg CLDP, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.	Study of CLDPs: My research has addressed three questions: 1) how well CLDPs meet conservation goals; 2) how cost-effective they are relative to other land protection methods; and 3) how they are perceived by local communities and other stakeholders. The study is based on more than 80 interviews, 100 project records, 30 site visits, and 10 detailed case study analyses using an ecologically-based system for project evaluation. This project has two main outcomes that are publicly available: § An evaluation of CLDPs as a conservation strategy. See the abstract for a brief summary or download chapters of the full study. § A synthesis of current knowledge about CLDPs, which is presented as a seven-section guide for practitioners. For additional information, please see my article in the Spring 2006 issue of the Land Trust Alliance’s Exchange magazine, entitled “Using Limited Development to Conserve Land and Natural Resources”.
Where to now? Carrying out a successful CLDP: A guide for practitioners Download CLDP study About this website Practical Ecology Page Author’s homepage
Last updated 17-Oct-2006. Copyright © 2005-2006, All Rights Reserved.