Healey unveils ‘nation-leading’ plan on Cape Cod to save what’s wild in MA. ‘Quiet crisis’

• Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced a “nation-leading” initiative to protect the state’s biodiversity.
• The plan addresses the decline of biodiversity, focusing on land protection, ecological restoration, and climate change adaptation.

CUMMAQUID, BARNSTABLE — Standing at the edge of a saltmarsh in Barnstable, Gov. Maura Healey unveiled what her administration is calling a “nation-leading” push to protect Massachusetts’ wildlife and natural landscapes.

The announcement, made Aug. 21 at Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary, builds on an executive order Healey signed in 2023, directing the Department of Fish and Game to lead a comprehensive review of the state’s biodiversity conservation efforts and to recommend long-term goals for 2030, 2040 and 2050.

A steady breeze — part of the dissipating outer edges of Hurricane Erin — swept through the sanctuary as Healey spoke from a spot overlooking Barnstable Harbor. Near the podium, Mass Audubon staff held an eastern screech owl and a box turtle — living representatives of the diverse wildlife at Long Pasture and the biodiversity Healey’s inititative aims to safeguard and restore across Massachusetts.

“Our lands, waters and wildlife are at the heart of what makes Massachusetts so special,” Healey said. “They shape our identity, drive our economy, promote public health and support the way of life we value.”

Protecting them, she said, “isn’t optional. It’s essential.”

What is biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the full variety of life on Earth — plants, animals, and ecosystems working together to keep nature in balance. It helps provide clean water, food, pollination, and protection from floods and disease. When biodiversity declines, those natural systems begin to break down, affecting everything from local wildlife to human health and safety.

Biodiversity has been declining “at an unprecedented rate,” Department of Fish and Game Commissioners Tom O’Shea said.

“It’s a quiet crisis. In just one generation, we have lost over three billion birds in North America, seen the decline of iconic species like Atlantic cod, and rarely see once common and beloved wildlife, like the monarch butterfly, in our backyards,” he said.

Human-accelerated climate change

The Healey administration’s plan aims to stop and reverse loss of species and habitats, with a focus on land protection, ecological restoration, coastal and marine biodiversity, and preparing for shifts in species distribution driven by human-accelerated climate change.

“We are seeing real changes across the state — more flooding, longer droughts and growing strain on the natural systems that people rely on every day, from clean water and fertile soil, to healthy fish and wildlife,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper.

A long-term plan to protect these resources is vital, she said, noting “it’s how we keep our water safe, our farms productive, and our communities strong.”

“Acting now helps us avoid much higher costs in the future and ensure a better quality of life,” she said.

What does the MA plan do?

The plan sets clear targets to protect 30% of Massachusetts’ lands and waters by 2030 and 40% by 2050, focusing on the most important habitats for wildlife. It also calls for restoring 75% of key habitats by 2050 and improving coastal and marine ecosystems, including salt marshes and eelgrass beds.

It additionally includes practical steps like creating safe wildlife crossings, reducing pollution and plastics, removing obsolete dams to help fish migration, and support local farming and fishing.

To jumpstart the effort, Massachusetts is launching a public-private Biodiversity Partnership, with Mass Audubon as the first partner. Mass Audubon is giving $5 million to help meet the “30 by 30” goal − protecting 30% of natural areas by 2030.

Mass Audubon President and CEO David O’Neill said nature is “not only the lowest cost solution to clean our water and our air and address climate change, it’s also a joyful prescription to so many things that ail us.”

The state is also pledging $4 million to create a local Biodiversity Grant Program that will provide funding for towns, tribes, nonprofits, and community groups to boost conservation and marine habitat restoration.

Finally, the proposed Mass Ready Act includes more than $370 million for land protection and biodiversity work, with more funding tagged specifically for advancing the plan.

Healey recognizes First People in speech

During the presentation, Healey recognized the role of the state’s First Nations people as the original stewards of the environment. Thinking about biodiversity, nature, preservation and stewardship also includes thinking about “what it takes to continue a life cycle for future generations,” Healey said.

“We learned that here, from our First People,” she said, and invited tribal members to stand up, telling them, “it is our job in leadership in Massachusetts … to continue on in the ways of all of you, from who we continue to learn today.”

Larry Spotted Crow Mann, a cultural educator and traditional storyteller who is a member of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Tribe and director of the Ohketeau Cultural Center, said he was pleased with the state’s plan.

“We, as a First People, have a tradition of protecting the lands,” he said. “I am really excited.”

‘More support for our work’

Mark Forest, chairman of the Cape Cod Conservation District and also a Barnstable County commissioner and Yarmouth selectman, said he and fellow conservationists are “thrilled” with the Healey Administration’s initiative.

The conservation district has long worked toward restoring and preserving saltmarshes, shellfish habitats and fisheries in every Cape Cod town, including lobbying for federal funding.

“This will provide focus and more support for our work,” he said.

The initiative also helps draw attention to the importance of biodiversity and the region’s environmental issues and, Forest said, “will help us in the long run to get projects off the ground.”

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.