Richard Weller’s hopeful vision for global conservation is conditional, not complacent: protect more land and water, but judge success by ecological quality, connectivity, effective management and fair governance. In his Earth Day interview published by the American Society of Landscape Architects’ The Dirt on April 18, 2022, Weller argued that landscape architects can turn broad environmental goals into coordinated designs—from individual sites to planetary networks—while treating people as participants in ecosystems rather than an opposing force.
What Weller’s vision means in practical terms
Weller’s optimism rests on two developments. Protected areas have expanded dramatically, and ambitious landscape-scale restoration projects are appearing in many regions. Neither trend guarantees conservation, however. A reserve can be placed in the wrong habitat, poorly managed, fragmented into isolated pieces or governed in ways that displace Indigenous communities. A large restoration scheme can remain a proposal, lack funding or have no measured ecological results.
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His answer is a design discipline that connects ecological decisions across scales. A construction project, district plan, regional corridor and national conservation strategy should not be treated as unrelated drawings. Each should show how water, soil, vegetation, wildlife movement, infrastructure and human livelihoods fit together. Weller summarizes the profession’s distinctive contribution bluntly: “Design, Design, and Design!”
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That does not mean design replaces law, finance, land management or community leadership. It means design gives those commitments a spatial form that can be negotiated, built and monitored. In Weller’s words, “The role of the landscape architect, now more than ever, is to bring the world of development and the world of conservation together over the same maps and serve as a negotiator.”
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Why conservation quality matters more than a headline percentage
In the 2022 interview, Weller reported that only six of the 20 Convention on Biological Diversity targets established in 2010 had been partially met. He also cited growth from about 9,000 protected areas in 1962 to more than 265,000 by the time of the interview, with 16.6 percent of Earth’s terrestrial ice-free surface protected in 2021. He described the remaining 0.4 percentage points needed to reach 17 percent as roughly the area of 150,000 Central Parks—a rhetorical scale illustration, not a formal area conversion.
Those figures show political momentum, but they do not reveal whether protected areas conserve the species and ecological processes that need protection. Weller’s test is qualitative as well as quantitative:
- Representation: Are threatened habitats, endemic species and ecological systems actually included?
- Size: Is each habitat block large enough to support viable populations and natural processes?
- Connectivity: Can plants and animals move between blocks as land use and climate change?
- Management: Are staff, enforcement, restoration and long-term finance adequate?
- Governance: Are Indigenous and traditional territories recognized, and do affected communities have equitable authority?
- Integration: Do surrounding farms, towns, roads and utilities support or undermine conservation?
Small, isolated fragments may count on a map yet offer little refuge for species facing hotter temperatures, altered rainfall and expanding development. Connected networks can provide routes to new climate conditions, preserve genetic exchange and make restoration more durable. Weller therefore says, “The question is one of quality not just quantity.”
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThe policy context changed after the interview
Weller’s interview described an international “Paris Agreement for Nature” as still forthcoming. In December 2022, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It sets four goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030.
Two targets are especially relevant to the design and construction professions:
| Framework target | What it calls for by 2030 | What the target does not prove |
|---|---|---|
| Target 2 | At least 30 percent of degraded terrestrial, inland-water, coastal and marine ecosystems under effective restoration. | Adoption is not the same as completed restoration or demonstrated ecological recovery. |
| Target 3 | At least 30 percent of terrestrial, inland-water, coastal and marine areas effectively conserved and managed, with ecological representation, connectivity, equitable governance and recognition of Indigenous and traditional territories. | A protected-area designation alone does not establish effective management, fair governance or functional connectivity. |
These are policy targets, not achieved outcomes. A credible project should therefore document baseline conditions, ownership and governance, measurable restoration objectives, maintenance responsibilities and evidence of results instead of presenting a percentage as proof of success.
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What are Mega-Eco Projects?
Weller and Rob Levinthal use “Mega-Eco Projects” as a research framing for complex, multifunctional, landscape-scale environmental restoration and construction. The term is not a certified project standard, and the interview does not establish a universally accepted method for judging success. Weller identified four broad types:
Large-scale conservation
These projects assemble or reconnect extensive habitat, often across administrative boundaries. Their value depends on ecological representation, durable management and agreements with the people who live and work there.
Desertification resistance
Landscape interventions may combine vegetation recovery, soil protection, water management and livelihood planning. A successful design must work with local climate and land-use practices rather than impose a single visual solution.
Watershed plans
Watershed-scale work treats upstream land, floodplains, rivers, wetlands and settlements as one hydrological system. Construction choices—such as where to retain floodwater, restore banks or limit hard surfaces—can reduce risk while improving habitat.
Urban green infrastructure
Stormwater parks, wetlands, tree networks and habitat corridors can perform several functions at once. They need an operations plan, not just a ribbon-cutting landscape, because vegetation, soils and water systems change over time.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Weller and Levinthal estimated that more than 160 such projects were taking place worldwide in 2022, including about 40 in metropolitan regions. Many were not advanced enough for their outcomes to be assessed. The appropriate question is therefore not which project has the biggest footprint, but which one can demonstrate ecological and social performance over time.
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The proposed World Park
The World Park is Weller’s proposal to link protected-area fragments across biodiversity hotspots with long-distance trails and restored landscapes. In the April 2022 interview, he described three routes: Australia to Morocco, Turkey to Namibia, and Alaska to Patagonia. Together, the trails were intended to cross 55 nations, connect protected areas and restore more than 160,000 square kilometers of degraded land between them.
Weller said the mapping was complete and that he was discussing a feasibility study with UNESCO. He offered a rough cost of about $7 billion. That figure was an estimate for a proposal, not an approved budget, confirmed funding requirement or completed program. The interview does not verify progress after April 2022.
The concept illustrates several principles useful to any regional plan:
- Conservation should repair gaps between existing reserves, not only add isolated polygons.
- Trails and corridors can connect ecological objectives with public access, education and local economies when communities shape the design.
- International routes require compatible laws, land rights, funding and management across borders.
- Restoration claims need indicators such as habitat condition, species movement, water quality and community benefits.
How cities fit into a global conservation strategy
Weller does not treat cities as ecological substitutes for large landscapes. He discusses biodiversity-sensitive urban design and the Hotspot Cities Project, which maps conflicts between urban growth and remnant habitat. He said more than 90 percent of identified hotspot cities were sprawling on direct collision courses with remnant habitat containing endangered species. That is an estimate reported in the 2022 interview, not a current global audit.
Urban projects can protect remnants, restore waterways, increase canopy, reduce heat and create stepping-stones for wildlife. They cannot erase the impacts of the materials, food, energy and water that cities obtain from elsewhere. Weller warns against imagining a biodiverse city as an “ark” while ignoring its planetary supply chains.
For a construction or redevelopment team, this means drawing a boundary larger than the property line. Ask where excavated soil goes, how stormwater leaves the site, which habitats a new road fragments, where aggregate and timber originate, and whether the project increases pressure on distant ecosystems. A green roof can be valuable, but it is not a substitute for protecting a regional wetland or forest corridor.
The interview cites China’s Sponge Cities initiative as having spent more than $12 billion across 30 trial cities, a figure attributed to Weller in 2022. The initiative demonstrates the scale possible when stormwater management becomes a city-building objective; it does not by itself establish ecological success for every participating city.
Climate adaptation and biodiversity belong on the same map
Weller describes climate change as one pressure among several, alongside development, transport infrastructure, pesticides, chemicals and other pollutants. Climate adaptation and biodiversity planning overlap because species need routes through changing landscapes, while people need protection from heat, floods, drought and fire.
Design can provide those routes and services through connected habitat, shaded streets, restored floodplains, permeable ground, coastal buffers and diversified planting. But Weller presents design research as adaptive experimentation and precaution, not a guaranteed fix. Conditions should be monitored and designs revised when evidence shows that a corridor, planting palette or water system is not performing.
At the Metatron ecology research facility in Moulis, France, Weller described 48 controlled enclosures and experiments conducted since 2015. Connectors between enclosures allow researchers to study how species move through patch-and-corridor-like landscapes. The facility offers a way to test assumptions before applying them at regional scale; it does not prove that any particular corridor design will work everywhere.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A decision framework for conservation and construction projects
Weller’s argument can be turned into a practical review before a project is approved. Use the following sequence with planners, ecologists, engineers, landowners and community representatives:
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- Map the ecological system. Identify habitat cores, waterways, seasonal routes, soils, existing disturbances and links to neighboring jurisdictions.
- Define the living clients. List the species, ecological processes and human communities affected. Weller asks practitioners to consider how a project changes if every living thing, not only the paying human client, counts as a client.
- Test alternatives at several scales. Compare site, district, regional and cumulative impacts. A locally attractive intervention may still block a regional corridor.
- Set measurable outcomes. Specify targets for habitat area and condition, connectivity, water, soil, temperature, species presence, access and community benefits.
- Confirm governance and maintenance. Assign responsibility, funding, monitoring intervals and decision rights, including Indigenous and traditional authorities where applicable.
- Build in adaptation. Establish trigger points for changing plantings, drainage, crossings or land management when monitoring shows failure or new climate conditions.
This approach makes ecological values visible in the same drawings and contracts that govern cost, safety, schedule and performance.
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Bridging scholarship and practice
Weller sees academics as people who formulate questions and methods, while practitioners learn through project work. The partnership becomes useful when each side shares a feedback loop: research identifies uncertainties, projects test interventions, monitoring records outcomes and the next design responds to what was learned.
Whole-city scenarios and individual construction projects can use the same questions:
- What habitat or ecological process does the proposal protect, restore or disrupt?
- How does it connect to conditions beyond the site boundary?
- Who gains access, safety and economic benefit, and who bears restrictions or displacement?
- What evidence will show whether the intervention works five, 10 or 30 years from now?
This is the practical meaning of Weller’s statement, “Humans build networks, and it’s high time to build a green one.” It is also why he calls the contemporary world “a novel, highly integrated, human dominated ecosystem,” arguing that design should improve the symbiotic nature of that condition rather than pretend people can be removed from it.
What a hopeful outlook requires
Weller’s hope is grounded in visible capacity: more protected areas, large restoration proposals, urban green-infrastructure investment and better ecological mapping. His caution is equally important. Area totals can conceal poor placement, weak management, fragmentation and injustice. Mega-Eco Projects and the World Park remain concepts or proposals in the cited 2022 account, not completed programs with independently verified outcomes.
A credible conservation future therefore combines ambition with proof. It protects representative and connected ecosystems, recognizes rights and local knowledge, funds management, measures results and changes course when conditions shift. Landscape architecture’s role is to make those commitments buildable across the same maps used for development. As Weller’s vision puts it, conservation and construction do not have to occupy separate worlds—but they must be designed as one living system.
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