The ASLA Landscape Architecture Firm Award was presented to Biohabitats in 2023. For over four decades, Biohabitats has excelled in restoring habitat, protecting biodiversity, managing freshwater, and assisting people in improving community resilience. In a time when we face increasing challenges in climate change and biodiversity loss, Biohabitats serves as an example of how landscape architecture, as both an art and a science, is capable of practically addressing these challenges.
We know that in Biohabitats you have professionals from all backgrounds and expertise. How do these teams work together to accomplish your restoration goal?
KB: At Biohabitats, we have a highly integrated working style. Many of our projects involve a landscape architect, one or a couple of scientists, and an engineer on the team. Depending on whether it's progressing into construction, we might even have somebody from our construction unit on the team throughout the design process. I believe that the larger and more complex the projects are, the bigger the team becomes, and more disciplines come together to work on it. We collaborate across disciplines. In instances where we have a project in one part of the country and a team member with very relevant expertise in another part of the country, we bring that team member to the project location to be part of the project team.
Q&A:
2.Biohabitats和傳統的環境工程公司有何不同?
What is the difference between Biohabitats and an environmental engineering company?
KB: We consider ourselves an applied ecology firm rather than an environmental firm. While we are similar to environmental engineering firms in that we employ scientific and engineering principles to solve pressing challenges, there are some key differences in the way we approach our work. Environmental engineering typically addresses the remediation of contamination and often relies on hard infrastructure to solve problems. Our approach is rooted in the principles and scientific knowledge of the ecology of the landscape, and it begins with nature. Rather than hard infrastructure, we turn first to nature-based solutions that mimic ecological systems and functions.
Working with Clean Water Services, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other project partners, Biohabitats helped restore natural flow and regenerate stream, wetland, and floodplain functions along Chicken Creek in the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge in Sherwood, OR. cre. Fred Joe.
Q&A:
3.Biohabitats如何評估項目成果?
How do you evaluate a project?
KB:我認為一切都可以歸結為:我們是在保護和促進生命發展嗎?評估的基準便是生物多樣性。
KB: I think it all boils down to: Are we conserving and enhancing life? Our bottom line is biodiversity.
Biohabitats helped the Geauga Park District restore stability, ecological function, and floodplain connectivity to a channelized Beaver Creek. The restoration enhances water quality and habitat at the headwaters of the Chagrin River, one of only 15 State-designated Wild, Scenic, and/or Recreational Rivers in Ohio. cre. David Ike Photography.
You do master planning projects working with other landscape firms such as SCAPE. Would you like to talk about one of the projects you collaborated with SCAPE on.
KB: We had a great collaboration with SCAPE on the Chattahoochee RiverLands. The Chattahoochee River flows through the city of Atlanta, Georgia. SCAPE was hired to do a master plan for a 100-mile greenway along the river, and part of that effort was to not only move people along the river but to think of it as an ecological corridor. How will species move up and down the river and its floodplain, particularly in light of the changing climate? Especially when we're thinking about climate change and how species will begin to move because of climate change. Taking a landscape ecology approach, we conducted scientific analyses of the 100-mile stretch. We identified vegetative corridors and habitat patches, examined how species would move or migrate in those areas, and considered how the greenway plan could serve as a catalyst for expanding opportunities for species to inhabit and move through the corridor.
As the ecological design and planning consultant for the Chattahoochee RiverLands project, Biohabitats performed habitat conductivity and biodiversity sensitivity analyses for the 100-mile corridor. cre. Jennifer Dowdell.
Q&A:
5.您是如何研究生態走廊,并使設計介入其中呢?
How do you research the corridor for the species and then combine human intervention with that?
KB: First, we select certain species that we know are in the area and are known to migrate or move. We study or research what is known about how those species move in the landscape, whether it is a bird or a small mammal like a raccoon or a pollinator species. We conduct all the necessary research, reviewing scientific studies to understand what is required from a habitat standpoint and what is needed for them to move across the landscape.
Once we get that information, we can use GIS to model the landscape and identify areas where species can move, as well as areas where there are barriers to movement in the landscape—whether it is road, infrastructure, buildings, or similar obstacles. Subsequently, we will present this information and collaborate with landscape architects to determine what measures we can take to help mitigate those barriers. While there will always be some impacts, the goal is to minimize them and, if elimination is not possible, find ways to mitigate them in a manner that minimizes potential long-term impacts.
Biohabitats worked with the Metro Denver Nature Alliance and its founding member, The Nature Conservancy, to develop a preliminary conservation framework for prioritizing open space planning initiatives. The project involved mapping habitat quality across the region. cre. Biohabitats.
We also want to hear about your design-build practice. I saw a lot of stream restoration projects including the award-winning Washington Avenue project. Can you share with us some of the differences between you and a landscape design firm?
KB: What sets us apart from many other landscape architecture firms is that we engage in design-build projects, serving as the general contractor. We assume all the risks in these projects. With our construction practice, we employ two different approaches. First, with design-build, we serve as the general contractor and subcontract the work to local construction firms in the area, overseeing the entire process. Second, we employ our own construction crews and equipment to self-perform restoration work. Our self-perform unit is based in our Cascadia Bioregion office in Portland, Oregon. We do not subcontract this work; instead, our crews specialize in restoring salmon habitat within the major rivers in the Pacific Northwest. They work in big river systems installing log jams, stabilizing riverbanks, and rejuvenating habitat, covering a region from northern California to Canada.
Biohabitats施工團隊幫助Columbia River河口重新與960 英畝的漫灘相連。
Biohabitats Construction helped the Columbia River Estuary Partnership reconnect 960 acres of the Columbia River floodplain. cre. Biohabitats.
We also engage in dam removal work. Many dams, especially low head dams that are not too high, are becoming obsolete or have reached the end of their lifespan, making them structurally unsound. Therefore, there is an ongoing effort to remove many dams, which is crucial, especially in the Pacific Northwest where salmon need to migrate up these streams to spawn. Hence, we are actively involved in dam removal projects, where we remove the dam and restore the river system.
上圖展示了俄亥俄州肯特大壩河修復項目的前后情況。Biohabitats的設計不僅將河流轉變為合格的水生棲息地,而且還為皮劃艇和獨木舟提供活動空間,并修復了大壩上游河岸的植被。The pictures above depict the before and after of the Kent Dam River Restoration project in Ohio. Biohabitats’ design not only transformed the river into a qualified aquatic habitat but also included opportunities for kayak/canoe passage through the stretch of river and bank revegetation upstream of the dam. cre. Biohabitats.
You have some special tribe-led projects. When working with indigenous people, how can you get inspiration from indigenous knowledge? They have a different understanding of nature, maybe they do not call it “ecology”, but they have their narrative.
KB: We do quite a bit of work with indigenous tribes and communities. For us, it is important to acknowledge that for many Indigenous communities, their relationship with the land and nature is fundamentally different from ours, as is their notion of time. It is a much more eco-centric perspective woven into a cyclical time horizon. It changes the paradigm in which you are working, and there is so much for us to learn from that. Nature goes in cycles, always evolving in a certain direction but also looping back on itself repeatedly, much like a Slinky. I’ve found that many indigenous communities perceive nature in this manner, and there is a wealth of knowledge for us to gain, encouraging us to contemplate long-term time scales, cycles, and the intricate relationships between species and people, as well as between different species, plants, and animals.
In landscape architecture, we tend to focus mostly on materials or plants. We often don’t think about ecological processes and functions which are invisible to us, that shape the landscape and support the flora and fauna. While we see the end results, we don’t take the time to understand and work with the processes that cycle nutrients through the soil, move water across the landscape or use chemical signaling to communicate between plants. It’s been my experience that indigenous cultures have a much longer-evolved understanding and appreciation of these processes than we do.
In 2016, Biohabitats worked alongside Tribal members, the Indigenous Environmental Network, Blue Star Integrative Studio, and other collaborators in planning the Oceti ?akowi? camp near Standing Rock. Biohabitats was honored to contribute planning and design services related to stormwater, greywater, and wastewater management. cre. Erin English/Biohabitats.
In China, implementing a big idea only requires educating the leader, whereas in America, it involves educating everyone. Is this accurate for the U.S., and does it necessitate a significant time investment?
KB: We often engage both our clients and the communities involved in and/or impacted by the challenges we are working to address. Some of them are well-informed about the work that we're doing, but many are not. We strive to deeply engage with communities throughout the entire design and construction processes.
I believe there's a distinction between true community engagement and simply informing community members about design intentions and asking for input. We strive to go deeper with community engagement, co-creating a process and outcome that truly reflect communities’ aspirations. This does take time and is never a linear process. Complementing our community engagement approach is advocating for the causes and issues we believe in. We assert that the loss of biodiversity is an epic global crisis, most likely more critical than climate change, yet often overlooked. Our aim is to elevate this message globally and within the communities where we work.
Numerous community and stakeholder engagement events, activities, and discussions informed the development of an ecological framework to guide future growth in a way that preserves, restores, and accentuates nature and creates a citywide green network to benefit all residents of Atlanta, GA.
Q&A:
9.這個目標是在項目開始時就清晰明確的,還是需要被傳達并向客戶推銷?
Is your project goal always clear at the beginning of each project, or do you need to keep communicating that idea and persuading your client?
KB: By goal, if you are referring to the need to halt the loss of biodiversity, reverse and mitigate the impacts from climate change, and right environmental injustices, then yes, it’s clear to us but not always clear or welcomed by our clients. In cases where we sense the client's openness to positive changes or believe we can influence the client in a constructive direction, we have greater confidence that we can achieve these goals. Our aim is to take on projects with the intent of shifting outcomes that support life-affirming actions, rather than causing life-diminishing impacts. I think we're getting to the point right where we may turn down work if it isn't clear upfront that we can achieve, at least in part, these goals.
Q&A:
10.請問您采用何種的評價體系或方法來評估項目建成結果?可否分享近年來的成功案例?
Do you employ specific metrics or methods to assess the outcomes of your projects? How do you gather information, and can you share examples of successful evaluations over the years?
KB: In the initial stages of our project, we invest considerable time in defining our success criteria, outlining what constitutes success for the project. This, in turn, guides our approach to assessing and monitoring the project. Our monitoring criteria are based on indicators of success, unique to each project. For example, a stream restoration project may include success criteria associated with the amount of continued stream bank erosion or the presence of a diverse range of fish and macroinvertebrates species. We first establish the success criteria, develop a monitoring plan, and then perform the monitoring accordingly.
If the project is deviating from the anticipated trajectory of success, we first determine if the divergence is undesirable and if so, if it will result in project failure or if is it a trajectory that will have a different but acceptable outcome. This may cause us to reexamine our assumptions and revise our success criteria. In dealing with a living system— a river, forest, prairie —we continually assess the trajectory, ensuring it aligns with our envisioned path and evaluating the implications of any divergence, determining whether it is advantageous or detrimental.
Biohabitats helped the City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department understand the carbon storage capacity of its 46,640 acres of preserved and protected land in order to better evaluate the potential of nature-based solutions to enhance ecosystem resilience on those lands. cre. Biohabitats.
In China, a growing interest and enthusiasm for engaging in restoration business have emerged. Could you elaborate on the key factors involved in conducting restoration-related operations, such as policy, funding, community involvement, etc.?
KB: Starting in 1982, our business took off following the passage of key environmental acts like the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Wilderness Act by the US government. These acts established stringent standards for water and air quality and designated expansive areas as wilderness. This regulatory push facilitated our ability to secure projects, as it aligned with a broader initiative investing in environmental programs. Without such support and financial backing, navigating the industry would have been more challenging. I'm aware that China is increasingly focusing on sustainability, allocating spaces and funds for parks, and exploring restoration efforts.
There's a big difference between rehabilitation and restoration. For example, rehabilitation of a forested area may include a limited number of species or even non-native tree species. Restoration, on the other hand, aims to reestablish a native forest using a diversity of species proportional to a natural reference system. It requires an understanding of the ecological processes and scientific principles underpinning the restoration approach, along with communicating its value over rehabilitation. Unlike rehabilitation, ecological restoration has a greater potential to reestablish and enhance the ecological processes and functions critical for sustaining biodiversity, increasing carbon sequestration, improving water quality, recharging groundwater and many other beneficial processes.
因此,理解這些相互聯系和各個行動的重要性,對于政策傳達和獲取基金支持是至關重要的。
Therefore, comprehending these interconnections and effectively conveying the significance of these actions is critical to informing policy and acquiring funding.
This year's ASLA theme is 'Scale Up.' In my conversations with various designers, it appears that many firms operate on an architectonic level, making it challenging to envision 'scaling up.' What are your thoughts on this, and how would Biohabitats ‘scale up’?
KB: Scaling up is important. For example, we are currently engaged in the restoration of Sandusky Bay, located on the western side of Lake Erie, addressing the challenges posed by agricultural nutrients entering the bay. Covering hundreds of square miles, this watershed project hopes to restore ecological processes within the bay to treat and assimilate the nutrient levels. We also hope it serves as a catalyst for transforming landscape management practices throughout the watershed. Additionally, we are working on a project in Colorado along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Our focus is on understanding how species will migrate due to climate change, and where there will be potential impacts on these species as they encounter obstacles like roads or developed areas as they move across the landscape.
At Biohabitats, we consistently focus on taking a holistic approach. Even when working on a small site, we prefer to zoom out to a 30,000-foot perspective and think about landscape ecology: asking how the site relates to the surrounding regional landscape and how do plants, animals, nutrients, and water, flow across the landscape. We recognize that any intervention on a site will either impact or reinforce these flows.
For us, scaling up doesn't always entail making individual projects larger. It might involve thinking more about how to have an outsized impact on the larger landscape even though we are bound by the site we are working on. Or it could mean undertaking initiatives that have far-reaching consequences beyond the site and community we are working with.
Biohabitats scientists collecting data as part of an effort to restore 62 acres of Stony Creek Marsh Island for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. cre. Biohabitats.
Biohabitats團隊正在合作開展西南盆地和山脈生物區的規劃項目。
Biohabitats team members collaborating on a planning project in the Southwest Basin and Range Bioregion. cre. Biohabitats.
Keith與Biohabitats成員共同慶祝公司公司所有權轉變為永續信托。
Keith Bowers and members of the Biohabitats team celebrate the firm’s ownership transition to a Perpetual Purpose Trust. cre. Larry Canner.
鳴謝
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
出品/Production: ArchiDogs 筑格傳媒
采訪及文案/Interview & Record: Magic Sun (Coen Partner 景觀設計師), Shuo Yan (Field Operations 景觀設計師)