LAND FOR WILDLIFE
Protecting Woodlands is Essential to Biodiversity
Restoring degraded forest habitats is one of our strongest defenses to reverse species decline
Winnakee is leading regional land trusts in implementing forest management techniques in lands we protect, which have enhanced thousands of acres of habitat for a variety of wildlife species. Read more: Stewardship Case Study at Dutchess Gables.
Sixty-percent of at-risk wildlife depends on private forests for habitat. Winnakee partners with private landowners to ensure NY forests stay intact and builds awareness of forest management techniques that improve habitat and life cycle needs of the species in precipitous declines.
In some watershed areas, 95 percent of at-risk species habitats occur only in private forests. Worldwide, woodlands provide habitat for 90 percent of the plant and animal species that live on land.
Some 95% of at-risk wetland species habitats occur only in private forests, including the endangered Blanding’s turtle.
The Golden-Winged Warbler, a species of greatest concern in NYS that lives at Dutchess Gables.
The New England Cottontail is the Northeast’s only native rabbit species. According to NYS DEC, its range has shrunk by an estimated 86% since 1960 and it can only be found in fragmented areas in NYS around the Hudson Valley – one of which is Dutchess Gables.
Young forests and healthy understories provide critical habitat for at-risk species
Not only does our region face forest loss to development, but most forests that remain are not regenerating naturally with young trees and shrublands, which are critical understory habitats that at-risk species rely on for breeding and foraging.
The Hudson Valley has the lowest regenerative forest rate in the state. Not surprisingly, those factors spell outright loss of habitat and are the main threats to biological diversity in our region. Because of these factors, 53 species of animals and plants in New York are considered at risk of extinction, 37 are threatened and 58 are of special concern (at risk of endangerment). An additional 106 species are considered High Priority Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Read more about Winnakee’s Stewardship-Focused Model.
Winnakee’s land protection strategy also connects large forest blocks to aid species migration
Conserved forests across a landscape make vital connections for wildlife and lifecycle needs to them thrive. Winnakee partners with like-minded groups and private landowners to help protect areas that safeguard connective forest corridors to aid migration of larger mammals. The impacts of a healthy ecosystem have a ripple effect, benefitting wildlife, fish, insects, water, air, soil, working lands and rural economies across the region.