Your LEED site boundary needs to be consistent across all LEED credits. 

Restoring or protecting portions of a site is a relatively low-cost option to pursue, and compliance with these requirements contributes to the achievement of other LEED credits such as:

SSc5.2: Site Development—Open Space,

SSc6.1: Stormwater Design—Quantity Control,

SSc6.2: Stormwater Design—Quality Control,
and WEc1: Water-Efficient Landscaping.

Turf grass is an example of a monoculture species that is not compliant with the requirements of this credit. Monoculture plantings are essentially the opposite of a biologically diverse landscape, where only one species is planted over an extensive area. 

Adapted plants are non-invasive species that, once established, can survive in the local climate and ecosystem without the assistance of irrigation and fertilizers. 

Determine whether you will restore or protect portions of your site. You may find that it takes a combination of the two to meet the area requirements. 

Protecting a site involves determining natural site elements that are native or adapted and preserving them. Protecting a site may also involve a covenant or conservation easement.

Restoring a site involves removing non-native, non-adapted, invasive, and monoculture species and replacing them with native or adapted species that promote biodiversity and provide habitat for native animals and insects. 

Walk the site with a biologist, ecologist, or landscape architect to determine whether you have invasive or non-native species (which would need to be removed), and to assess whether the land and water bodies need work to support native habitat. During this walk, note any native or adapted species that you can protect for credit compliance. 

For construction-related E&S controls, review your local stormwater management code for construction codes and standards and the EPA’s Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans for Construction Activities. Use these documents as guides for planning and implementing E&S control best practices during construction activities. Look to them for guidance about communicating the process for planning and carrying out  E&S controls with contractors.

You can also protect or restore water bodies, soils, and other ecosystems to meet the credit requirements. Doing so may require the help of a biologist or ecologist, whereas protecting or restoring vegetation may only require a landscape architect. ”Other ecosystems” is a fairly open-ended term, and a project that tries to protect or restore something outside of the defined list will be approved or denied based on your ability to justify it to the LEED reviewer on a project-by-project basis. 

Minimize site hardscape and surface parking. This generally opens up more area for the restoration of green space, which can be used as an amenity or for natural stormwater management (helping with SSc6.1 and SSc6.2).

Discuss with the landscape architect the possibility of including native or adapted species on the required area of the site.