You may have a favorite national park, such as Everglades in Florida, Grand Canyon in Arizona, Bialowieski in Poland, or the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

How did these places get to be national parks? What were they before they were parks? Are they the best possible sites for maintaining biodiversity in their regions? Now consider how well the area around you is functioning to sustain native species.

To counteract habitat loss, conservation planners worldwide are working to locate and design protected areas where species' populations can persist. The identification and preservation of core natural areas, buffer zones surrounding them, and habitat corridors connecting them is key to maintaining and allowing the growth of populations. In some cases, as we'll see, degraded ecosystems can be restored as viable habitat for wild species.