Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Healey-Driscoll administration on Aug. 21 unveiled a 25-year plan focused on protecting and restoring nature and biodiversity across Massachusetts.
The administration said the plan, “Biodiversity Conservation Goals for the Commonwealth,” is designed to rebuild nature, sustain the health and well-being of residents, improve access to fresh food, and enhance the overall quality of life and economy for everyone.
Gov. Maura Healey made the announcement at Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary in Barnstable, where local leaders and supporters gathered in one of Cape Cod’s most valuable ecosystems, the Barnstable Great Marsh.
The administration also announced its intention to join the International Union for Conservation of Nature — becoming the first state to join — to deepen the state’s commitment to national and global leadership on conservation. Massachusetts is also one of three states to join in the United Nations High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People.
“Our lands, waters and wildlife are at the heart of what makes Massachusetts so special,” Healey said in a prepared statement. “Protecting them isn’t optional — it’s essential.”
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll added that “strong local economies are built on the foundations of healthy communities.”
Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer emphasized the natural environment’s role as the “first line of defense against the impacts of climate change.”
“The more biodiverse our forests, wetlands, and marine environments are, the more resilient they are,” she said.
Following Gov. Healey’s Executive Order No. 618, the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game engaged state agencies, municipalities, Tribes, and community partners to develop a whole-of-government approach to biodiversity.
This is the first time a state has comprehensively set biodiversity targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050, including for coastal and marine habitats. The plan sets ambitious targets to restore 75% of the state’s most important habitats for wildlife by 2050.
Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said a “long-term plan to protect these resources is essential.”
“Acting now,” she said, “helps us avoid much higher costs in the future and ensure a better quality of life.”
Program goals
Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, according to the administration. In just one generation, we have lost over 3 billion birds in North America and seen the decline of iconic species like Atlantic cod and the monarch butterfly.
The biodiversity plan is structured around four key goals — Protect, Restore, Sustain and Connect — each defining specific strategies for action by 2030, 2040 and 2050. The plan also includes governance and innovative funding models to drive action.
The protection goals include preserving 30% of Massachusetts’ lands and waters by 2030 and 40% by 2050, focusing on the most important habitats for wildlife; protecting over 425,000 acres of essential habitats; establishing natural corridors that enable safe movement for fish and wildlife; supporting designation of Cashes Ledge as a National Marine Sanctuary; and reducing pollution, pesticides, and plastics.
Restore goals call for revitalizing essential habitats, enhancing river ecosystems, upgrading 2,500 culverts by 2050 to support wildlife while reducing flooding risks, restoring marine habitats such as salt marshes, and streamlining permitting to advance projects that have immediate benefits for biodiversity and resilience.
Sustain goals include fostering local farming, foraging, and fishing practices, and investing in working waterfronts and marine habitat restoration.
Connect goals include building community gardens, parks, and green spaces in every neighborhood to bolster wildlife and pollinator populations; launching a Nature in the Schools initiative to engage young people in environmental stewardship; and identifying licenses and trainings needed to launch the next generation of the conservation and restoration workforce.
To kick off this initiative, Massachusetts is launching a new public-private Biodiversity Partnership to protect the state’s land and water, with Mass Audubon as the first partner. Mass Audubon is making a $5 million investment to support Massachusetts in achieving the “30 by 30” goal of safeguarding 30% of the state’s natural areas by 2030.
Additionally, the state is investing $4 million from capital funding, part of which will go toward establishing the Local Biodiversity Grant Program, which will provide funding for municipalities, Tribes, nonprofits and community organizations to enhance conservation efforts, as well as for marine habitat restoration.
At the announcement event on Aug. 21, Fish and Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea noted that the grant program “brings biodiversity into local cities and towns and neighborhoods.”
The administration’s recently proposed Mass Ready Act includes $370.5 million for land protection and biodiversity, and $20 million for advancing the biodiversity goals for the Commonwealth. The bill also includes $5 million to restore important marine habitats to support the state’s “blue economy,” coastal resilience, and carbon sequestration.