Great Island Master Planning

A holistic planning process protects habitat, enhances resiliency, and creates opportunities for the community to connect with the ecology of the Long Island Sound on a private property turned public park.

In 2022, the Town of Darien, CT, acquired Great Island; a 60-acre private island that features more than two miles of coastal shoreline, historic buildings, and ample space for recreation. As part of a team led by Reed Hildebrand, Biohabitats helped develop content for the Great Island Master Plan that focused on the protection of Great Island’s ecological assets, identified opportunities for habitat enhancement, and recommended nature-based solutions for resiliency. Biohabitats also identified new opportunities for public access, activities, and community facilities.

Biohabitats conducted a desktop analysis of local and landscape ecological context and performed a rapid ecological assessment to ground-truth findings from the desktop assessment. Biohabitats then identified and characterized ecological communities to serve as a model for the conservation, restoration, and enhancement of the island.

Biohabitats developed an overlay diagram that highlighted opportunities for integrated ecological uplift and resilience and included high-level recommendations for long-term conservation and restoration. This provided the foundation for understanding the compatibility of proposed public access with Great Island’s ecology while identifying opportunities to enhance the overall ecological function and health of the site. Biohabitats also prepared meeting materials for stakeholder and public meetings and developed narrative content for the master plan.

The strategies developed in the Great Island Master Plan support the Town’s goals of ecological uplift, conservation, habitat enhancement, integrating landscape restoration into stormwater management, and providing new ecological interpretation and education opportunities along the island’s shorelines. Biohabitats also provided recommendations for potential partnerships that the Town may pursue to improve ecological education.

TAGS

• Analysis+Planning
• Climate Adaptation + Resilience
• Conservation
• Ecological Restoration
• Resilient Water Systems