One of the keys to creating sustainable landscapes is ensuring that those landscapes are part of healthy ecosystems. Healthy ecosystems provide dozens of functions that are essential to human survival but too often these functions are underestimated or ignored when making land-use decisions. Once ecosystems are damaged and loose their capacity for air purification, water retention, food production, climate regulation, filtering pollutants, wildfire protection, and erosion control it can be difficult, expensive, and sometimes impossible to restore them. By protecting existing ecosystems and regenerating ecological capacity where it has been lost, sustainable landscapes support natural ecological processes that are essential to our survival.Sustainable landscaping is not limited to a single type of use. The best sustainable landscaping practices can be used in any setting, from a backyard garden to a state park, and engage its users on many levels: physical, aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual. By modeling our landscapes on healthy natural ecosystems and managing them responsibly we can ensure that future generations can reap the same benefits from these inspiring, beautiful outdoor spaces that we currently do.