Community Survey: Why do you care about nearby nature?

How does our work benefit Northern Virginians? While the answers may seem obvious to us, we wanted to understand whether people in our service area recognize those benefits and how important they are to them. To find out, NVCT created a community survey to gather insights about residents' perspectives on land conservation and their relationship with nearby green spaces. We also collected demographic information to better understand who we are reaching and engaging through our outreach efforts.

Land conservation is the core of our work, but we have always strived to find ways our work can positively affect the lives of Northern Virginians beyond permanently protecting land. Through our outreach programs and the management of our preserves, we create opportunities for people to get outside, recreate, and become good stewards of the environment. Many of our stewardship events take place on our preserves, where volunteers gain hands-on conservation experience while helping improve habitat for visitors and wildlife alike. The survey responses provide valuable insight into what people value most in public green spaces, helping us improve our preserves and better shape our conservation work.

We had hoped to receive 50 responses and were astounded to get 220 responses from NOVA residents! Of our 220 responses, a majority (76%) of responses came from individuals living in Arlington (40%), Fairfax (21%), and the City of Alexandria (15%). Given that the survey was distributed through our own channels and partners, it was not surprising that many respondents were landowners, or already familiar with NVCT. Our bread and butter is land conservation; most of those who engage with our work are landowners. A majority of survey responses were older adults, homeowners, and either employed or retired. On average, participants had lived in Northern Virginia for nearly 29 years, and 79% were age 45 or older. When asked how familiar they were with land trusts, 132 participants selected 60% “I am aware of land trusts/land conservancies and generally understand what they do”. 52% of respondents already knew who NVCT was.

The first question we asked was whether respondents felt they were close enough to a public or private green space, such as a park, forest, garden, or field. Data revealed that about half of respondents reported having enough nearby green space; the other half either had no access to nearby green space or felt there was not enough accessible to them. The average distance from respondents’ homes to the closest public open space was 1.25 miles, a 20-30 minute walk.

One of the key questions we asked respondents was which issues related to land protection and public open space mattered most to them. Respondents had to prioritize various topics, such as wildlife habitat protection, pollution reduction, and space for children to recreate. On average, protecting habitat for wildlife and native plants was selected as the highest priority, followed by protecting the cleanliness of local streams and waterways, and finally minimizing poorly planned development and energy infrastructure, such as data centers.  

We then listed common benefits of nearby nature and then asked survey takers to rank

options in order of most to least important, with 1 being the most important. Top responses are as follows: Protecting habitat for plants and wildlife (4.44 average score), Boosting my mental and physical health and well-being (4.27 average score), Having places for kids to play in nature (3.88 average score), Accessing places for outdoor recreation (3.87), Making my neighborhood a beautiful place to live (3.8), Having outdoor places to gather with family, friends and community (3.70). 

Finally, we asked how new green space would be utilized. Expanded tree canopy, trails for hiking, walking, and biking, and habitat for wildlife and native plants were ranked highest. This can inform us about how our preserves may be used by visitors or which preserves are best suited to meeting these needs.

We are pleased with the survey results and grateful to everyone who participated. Although most respondents were already familiar with environmental issues or NVCT, the findings still provide valuable insights into how people engaged in environmental work perceive access to open space. While many respondents reported having access to public green space within about a mile of their homes, there was still a strong desire for additional protected natural areas. With a substantial proportion of respondents in the urban core of Northern Virginia, many may be seeking more public green spaces due to restrictions on existing green spaces in the city, such as size.

Providing habitat for wildlife and native plants emerged as respondents' highest priority and as the most important benefit of green space. Habitat conservation was consistently emphasized throughout the survey, including in questions about which features or benefits respondents would value most in new open spaces. Other top priorities included minimizing poorly planned development and energy infrastructure, such as data centers; protecting the health of local rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds; expanding recreational trails; and increasing tree canopy coverage. These concerns are related to one another; for example, improving the tree canopy would provide habitat for wildlife and help keep our waterways clean, given the many benefits trees provide. Minimizing poorly planned development also helps ensure what intact nature we have in our urban areas can continue to grow and expand. With over half of respondents being familiar with land trusts and NVCT's work, we can expect that repondents are aware and believe that taking action to cultivate and steward nearby nature in your community results in all of the benefits we listed, therfore they prioritize it.

This survey is just one of the many tools we use to determine what matters most to Northern Virginians, and it will inform our work. As a small organization, we often have to make tough decisions about where to allocate manpower. Knowing what matters most in our service area helps us make those decisions, leading to more impactful results. As we grow as an organization, we can also determine which departments need extra hands or which of our programs is right for expanding.