In order to develop sound ecological health policies and to guide human actions toward sustainability it is necessary to understand the functioning of the Bioscape as one ecosystem. Our approach is to take a systems viewpoint while studying the region broadly across three dimensions: physical, biological, and human.

The physical dimension includes geological foundations, soil, climate, air, and water.
The biological dimension consists of the fauna and flora that reside in the Bioscape, from the level of genes to ecosystems. The human dimension refers to the human influences on our environment, both today and predicted future effects. Understanding the human dimension requires demographics, economics, sociology, and urban planning.

In many ways, heath and sustainability emerge from understanding these three dimensions and wisely integrating them through  policy, resource management, and personal behavior. This new type of integrated, landscape-level "bioscape management" will require innovative public-private partnerships based on scientific understanding.

The New York Bioscape Initiative strives to provide this kind of critical knowledge to the New York Metropolitan Region. It is our belief that only through improved understanding of these three dimensions, and their interactions, can we learn to share our environmental space with other species of animals and plants, and to safeguard human health. We also believe that health unites all species, and that ecological health is essential to regional long-term sustainability and the quality of life that most citizens envision.

We seek first to understand these dimensions and their linkages - so that through a greater regional sense of place, and by working together with a broad constituency of scientists and engaged citizens, we will create new policies necessary to ensure a healthy Bioscape for both people and nature, forever.