Public education is central to the mission of Hudsonia. Our Biodiversity Resources Center provides Biodiversity Assessment Courses and Professional Workshops, and produces Biodiversity Resource Materials to inform and educate people involved in land use decision-making in the Hudson Valley.

Upcoming Programs

• Biodiversity Assessment Short Course: March 9-11, 2010

The Biodiversity Assessment Short Course is a 3-day intensive course of discussions, hands-on exercises, and field visits introducing participants to ecologically significant habitat prediction and identification as well as land-use planning concepts.  More information about the upcoming Short Course can be found here.

Biodiversity Resource Materials
The centerpiece of our education program is the Biodiversity Assessment Manual for the Hudson River Estuary Corridor, written by Hudsonia scientists and published in 2001 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Manual profiles 38 ecologically significant habitat types of New York’s Hudson Valley, discusses the plants and animals of conservation concern each habitat may support, and provides recommendations for protecting the biodiversity values of those habitats.

In New York State, as in many other states, municipal agencies (e.g., town councils, town planning boards) have substantial authority for land use planning, for environmental reviews, and for issuing regulatory approvals for development projects. Most such decisions, however, are made without the benefit of good biological information or knowledge of potential impacts to biological resources. Consequently, biodiversity resources are disappearing at an accelerating rate in the rapidly developing Hudson Valley due to loss, fragmentation, and other degradation of habitats. The prospect of regional biological impoverishment was a primary impetus for creating the Biodiversity Assessment Manual and other resources for biologists and for the non-biologist members of town agencies, land trusts, and others whose land use decisions will shape the ecological landscape for the foreseeable future.

Hudsonia has distributed the Manual free of charge to municipal conservation commissions, land trusts, and public libraries throughout the region. In 2001, we developed and implemented a training program (10-month Biodiversity Assessment Training) to instruct local agencies and NGOs in using the Manual to identify the biodiversity resources at greatest risk and to help establish policies and practices for biodiversity protection. The program brings together community groups and municipal agencies to learn assessment techniques and jointly undertake a large biodiversity assessment project or their own.

• Habitat Fact Sheets: Several of the habitats in the Biodiversity Assessment Manual are also profiled in our series of fact sheets available for free download.

• Transfer of Development Rights:  We have produced an overview of transfer of development rights (TDR) programs.  TDRs are an important conservation tool to help communities guide development to the best areas and away from biologically sensitive habitats.
• LEED and Local Biodiversity:  LEED (Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design) building system is a widely used standard in “green” building that has advanced the cause of building more environmentally-friendly buildings.  We have examined how LEED incorporates local biodiversity into their rating system, and have created this critique.  LEED does a poor job of addressing local biodiversity due to the vague and unstandardized criteria that are used.

Biodiversity Assessment Training
We offer (free-of-charge) to local decision-makers a 10-month training course in biodiversity assessment. Participants use the Biodiversity Assessment Manual to learn to predict the occurrence of important habitats using map analysis and aerial photo interpretation, and to verify the presence of those habitats in the field.

Participants learning to identify habitat types in the field	Click on the map to see where our 10-month program participants (past and present) are from.

Participants also learn about the kinds of habitats used by rare and declining species of plants and animals, the importance of spatial relationships among habitats in the landscape, and how best to protect habitat complexes that support local biological diversity. We are concerned with a broad array of common and rare habitats important to biodiversity such as upland meadows, upland forests, woodland pools, fens, kettles, and carbonate crests. We have worked with over 180 participants throughout the ten-county Hudson River Estuary in this program, and we offer continued technical assistance and follow-up grants to past trainees.

The Biodiversity Education Program has been funded by the Hudson River Estuary Program of NYSDEC, the Educational Foundation of America, the Dyson Foundation, and the Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation.

In 2009, our Biodiversity Assessment Training groups included more than fifteen planning board and conservation advisory council members, as well as members of many other municipal committees.  Two intermunicipal groups, one from the Town of Ulster and the city of Kingston in Ulster County, and the other from the Town of Red Hook and Village of Tivoli in Dutchess County participated in the ten-month training.

Town of Red Hook and Village of Tivoli	City of Kingston and Town of Ulster

Biodiversity Assessment Short Course

Started in 2004, the Short Course provide another way of equipping municipalities with biological information. Addressing many of the same issues as the 10-month course, it requires a relatively small time commitment and is open to individual community members. In three days, the Short Course introduces map analysis, aerial photo interpretation, habitat prediction, field visits, and the use of biological information by municipalities for habitat conservation. In 2010, we are offering a Biodiversity Assessment Short Course session in March.  Please see the Upcoming Programs heading at the top of the page for more information.  We will notify those who’ve previously expressed interest in the course.  If you’d like to be notified about the dates of future Short Courses please contact Andrew Meyer (845-758-0600, ameyer at bard.edu).

Click on the map to see where our past Short Course participants are from.

Biodiversity Conservation Roundtable
Hudsonia offers annual Biodiversity Conservation Roundtables for all past participants in our Biodiversity Assessment programs. The half day programs are a way for people to come together and learn from others that are involved in similar conservation struggles in their communities. This forum provides a great opportunity to discuss the successes and frustrations of their biodiversity-related efforts.  Attendees feel energized knowing that conservation progress is being made in many places throughout the Hudson Valley.

In addition to discussions and updates from past participants, each Roundtable also focuses on a particular conservation issue. Past Roundtables have highlighted topics such as wetland ordinances, GIS information and training, and communicating the benefits of biodiversity to the public. Slides from this communication workshop can be obtained upon request. Agendas and topics for future Roundtables will be posted when the next event is scheduled.

Our 2009 Roundtable took place on December 8th, at the NYSDEC Region 3 Headquarters, and was a great forum for attendees to share concrete ideas that have proven successful in their communities.  The Rhinebeck step-by-step guide to using townwide habitat information can be found here

One-Day Biodiversity Workshops

Hudsonia offers an array of workshops that focus on various aspects of biodiversity conservation and municipal land use decision making.  Below is a selection of the recent workshops  that have been offered.

• Biodiversity Conservation and Site Plan Review
• Site Plan Design and Biodiversity Conservation (a workshop for professionals)
• Columbia County Biodiversity Assessment for Land Use Decision-Makers
• Incorporating Biodiversity Conservation into Local Ordinances and Procedures
• Biodiversity Assessment workshop for Land Use Decision-Makers: Hudsonia offered workshops for the Environmental Leaders Learning Alliance based at Teatown Lake Reservation in the Lower Hudson Valley and for planning board members, land trust staff, as well as others at the Five Rivers Environmental Center in Albany County.

Hudsonia, a tax-exempt not-for-profit corporation of the State of New York, classified 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service, relies on the generous, tax-deductible contributions from members of our community to sustain our research and education. We appreciate your support of our work.