Preserving biodiversity in the exurban region: Barriers and opportunities for landscape ecological planning in the rural municipality of Springfield

In recent years there has been a growing recognition that regional land use regulation may be a key component in the preservation of biodiversity. Forman (1996) has identified landscapes as the optimum scale for biodiversity conservation and planning. Eagles (1984) identified municipal governments as the first-line decision-makers in matters of land use. Thus it is appropriate that solutions for biodiversity conservation be identified and implemented at the local level.;The objectives of this thesis are to uncover barriers to and opportunities for the implementation of Forman's model of regional landscape ecological planning in an exurban context. This research uses a case-study approach and surveys the opinions of three different community groups in the Rural Municipality of Springfield, in southern Manitoba. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis are conducted. The findings reveal that as well as explicit barriers to the implementation of the model, there are also hidden and unexpected ones.;The research concludes that biodiversity preservation and landscape ecological planning are complex subjects and that there are varying levels of acceptance of a landscape ecological planning model. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...