Explore Land Conservation
Land Stewardship and Resource Protection
Protecting land is only the first step in ensuring it has conservation value forever.
What is Land Stewardship and Why Does It Matter?
Stewardship is based on long-term thinking, a scientific understanding of ecology, and a commitment to improving land to better support plant and animal life.
Today, we need active stewardship of protected natural lands or they will degrade, filling in with invasive plants and losing ecological value. Responsible and sustainable management of land is essential to its health, productivity, and ecological integrity for future generations. It involves natural resource protection and fosters biodiversity, understanding the interconnectedness of soil, water, plants, animals, and humans.
Heritage Conservancy’s stewardship efforts include protecting sensitive species and habitats, establishing pollinator meadows and riparian buffers, managing invasive species and forest regeneration, and improving habitats for wildlife and ecosystem services.
Native trees and shrubs planted since 2023
We own and manage about 1,500 acres of land in Bucks County (and Lehigh County), including farmland, public nature preserves, and fragile habitats.
Learn more about protecting the land in your local community:
Pollinator Meadows
Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are vital to the agriculture that feeds us. We have planted over 24 acres of pollinator meadow, and we maintain over 60 acres of pollinator habitat on our properties.
Native Plants
Native plants offer food and shelter to local wildlife. In our native plant nursery, we grow around 50 different native plant species that are planted on the preserves that Heritage Conservancy manages as part of our efforts to replace invasive species.
Reforestation
Every year, Heritage Conservancy plants 300 or more native trees and shrubs in Bucks County. Our efforts are essential to maintain local forest health now and for the future. This includes protecting seedlings from deer and planting riparian buffers.
Deer Management
An overabundant population of white-tailed deer threatens the future of our forests by overbrowsing emerging trees and understory. We work to manage local deer populations to support the long-term health and future of our woodlands.
Articles on Best Practices
Nature Notes
Heritage Conservancy biologists and other experts share land stewardship information and best practices with landowners and the general public with the goal of inspiring people to move toward sustainable land management practices.
