NEW HOPE CREEK BIODIVERSITY SURVEY
In 2021, the Durham County Open Space Program | Durham County (dconc.gov) contracted with the North Carolina Biodiversity Project to conduct a comprehensive biological survey of the New Hope Creek Corridor. This study involved intense field research to tally species in over a dozen taxonomic groups—everything from birds, mammals, and plants to fungi, lichen, and slime molds. Their report is a remarkable achievement. It describes a diverse ecosystem kept healthy by decades of concerted conservation efforts, a landscape home to rare plants, intriguing animals, and—possibly—organisms previously unknown to science. It unflinchingly documents the pressures that threaten the New Hope Creek Corridor and details what must be done to keep them at bay. Finally, in its scope, its methods, and its recommendations, it is an invaluable contribution not only to the protection of the New Hope Creek ecosystem, but to conservation science as a whole.
Survey efforts and report were funded through a grant from the Burt’s Bees Foundation.
GREEN GROWTH TOOLBOX
The Green Growth Toolbox is a technical assistance program led by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. It is designed to help communities conserve high quality connected habitats as communities and developers continue to build new homes, workplaces, and shopping centers. The toolbox will help your community plan for growth in a way that will conserve your natural assets—fish, wildlife, plants, streams, forests, fields, and wetlands.