Imagine starting a project based entirely on biodiversity conservation

Hello all! I have a (hopefully) fun thought experiment for you. Imagine you were going to start a permaculture project and the way by which you were choosing your site was just biodiversity conservation. In other words, if selecting your site didn't depend on climate, water availability, growing zone, zoning laws, etc... You were just focusing on having the most impact on biodiversity conservation for that region. What things would you be looking for? I for one thought it would be good to consider:

-places with high biodiversity and high risk (I'm in Europe, so I immediately zone in on the Med)
-places with many migratory birds
-places with endangered insect populations
-places with endemic species

Are there other considerations I'm missing? Are there particular locations you would be focusing on? Have you started a project like that already? I want to hear about it, please!

I have thought a lot about Sardinia because it's a large island in the middle of many migration routes, with lots of endemic species, a relatively robust natural environment, and sizeable climatological pressures/risks (fires, drought, desertification, and the like).

I feel that to each of us what we would look for in biodiversity conservation will be very different.

I would pick something in the West Texas region.

That region is desert though there is a lot of life there that people do not see without looking closely.

The reason is that the region is near and dear to me.

The very first concerns are water.

The vegetation is scrub.

Water will bring new life as new plants.

Your project sounds lovely and I can't add anything as I am not familiar with that region.

I am looking forward to what other folks will bring to the conversation.

For biodiversity conservation and any kind of ecosystem restoration, I would probably try for a wetland, if at all possible. The folks in Arcata, California, originally started their project as a better way to treat urban wastewater, but look what it has done:

City of Arcata's website wrote:Located at the north end of Humboldt Bay, the sanctuary is situated along the Pacific Flyway, a major migratory route for thousands of birds that breed in the far north and winter in California, Mexico and Central and South America. The Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary has probably the highest bird populated coastal site between Bodega Harbor and Washington, with literally thousands of birding visitors annually and organized bird walks held at least weekly year-round. The Marsh has hosted over 300 bird species.

                                                                                                                                                                                      --Arcata Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary



I read about this in Jono Neiger's  The Permaculture Promise and was absolutely dazzled.  How I would love to help out with something like this someday!