Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Core Links in New Jersey

The CHANJ project represents a strategic plan for wildlife conservation that delineates and provides a common vision for a connected statewide landscape that, if protected and appropriately managed, will restore and maintain gene flow between viable breeding populations of terrestrial, native wildlife species, helping to ensure their long-term viability in New Jersey. CHANJ not only delineates a connected landscape, but also provides recommendations and resources for the actions needed to preserve and restore habitat connectivity for terrestrial wildlife in New Jersey. This initiative is designed to help 1) prioritize land protection, 2) inform habitat restoration and management, and 3) guide mitigation of barrier impacts on wildlife and habitats. We formed a multi-partner, multi-disciplinary working group to inform the development of this project that will help target local, regional, and state planning efforts and ultimately reconnect the landscape in New Jersey. The CHANJ products are intended to allow land-use, conservation, and transportation planners to operate in a more collaborative way, leveraging New Jersey’s open space investment, increasing road safety, increasing permit efficiency, and ultimately improving the prospects for the long-term sustainability of New Jersey’s terrestrial wildlife.