Gov. Healey’s Executive Order on Biodiversity Conservation

Reservoir Church Garden designed by Jean Devine, photo courtesy of Jean Devine

Happy New Year! We welcome 2024 with hope for our landscapes and excitement about the growing movement of native plants and habitat restoration. We have some good news to share to start the year off—On September 21, 2023 Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts issued Executive Order No. 618 “Biodiversity Conservation in Massachusetts”. This a great step forward towards habitat restoration for our wildlife and pollinators, not to mention solid grounds to combat and mitigate extreme weather effects related to climate change. The Biodiversity Order requires MA Fish and Game Commissioner to conduct a detailed review of biodiversity conservation efforts already in affect in MA, and recommend serious conservation goals and implementation strategies for 2030, 2040, and 2050. These actions are meant to address species and habitat loss through habitat restoration- including coastal and marine conservation. This is a win for the state of Massachusetts pollinators, people, and wildlife! and we will be following along to track the progress of these efforts. For coverage on the order check out WBUR’s September 21st article “Mass. conservationists welcome executive order to protect biodiverse lands and waters” by Lynn Jolicoeur and Lisa Mullins and The Sierra Club’s “Massachusetts Governor Signs Executive Orders Banning State Purchases of Single-Use Plastic Bottls and Establishing Biodiversity Goals” by Bianca Sanchez. While these goals are excellent, we cannot wait around to see how they turn out. We must continue to act in the present and we hope that you, dear reader, your neighbors, and your communities are already working to improve local habitats and ecosystems with native plants.