Cape Ann already faces ongoing challenges attributed to climate change that will dramatically shape its future. The region’s landscapes are valuable assets, yet they lack the capacity to withstand and recover from disturbances while maintaining essential function, also known as ecological resilience. Cape Ann’s landscapes have been degraded by harmful human interventions and escalating climate pressures beyond their ability to adapt and thrive. Deliberate actions are required to support ecosystems that accommodate human activity to ensure ecological resilience.
Regenerative Landscapes: Beyond Conservation to Adaptation investigates the current and potential future conditions of Cape Ann’s valuable landscapes. These landscapes comprise ecosystems and infrastructures, from saltmarshes and eelgrass beds to temperate forests and cultivated agricultural lands, among many others. They support the biodiversity, economic vitality, and unique character of Cape Ann.
Regenerative Landscapes proposes a series of initiatives that pursue ecological restoration and climate adaptation to achieve balance between ecosystem resilience and human activity. With meaningful action, the region’s ecosystems will effectively contribute to flood protection, carbon sequestration, increased biodiversity, reduced urban heat island, public health, and more. The historic identity and future potential for Cape Ann are embedded in and dependent on these Regenerative Landscapes.
The project is organized around four landscape ecologies: interconnected networks of ecosystems, habitats, and organisms within a specific area. Each landscape is composed of Cape Ann’s primary ecosystems: Beach Landscapes (Coastal and Marine Ecosystems), Marsh Landscapes (Estuary, Saltmarsh, and Tidal Flat Ecosystems), Forest Landscapes (Maritime Forest, Deciduous Forest, and Coniferous Forest Ecosystems), and Downtown Landscapes (Impervious Surfaces and Buildings). Additionally, the project explores three landscape infrastructures or physical and organizational networks that support human activities and impact a specific area.