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Looking to the Future:
Climate-Smart Conservation
Naomi Edelson
Director, State and Federal Wildlife Partnerships
National Wildlife Federation
Dual Approach for
Responding to Climate Change
• Mitigation
– Addresses causes of global warming
especially through reducing carbon pollution
– Focus of NWF’s Climate and Energy team
• Adaptation
– Addresses impacts of climate change on
people and wildlife
– Focus of NWF’s Safeguards team
Dual—not dueling—approaches:
Both are essential and complementary
-- State of the Union 2013
We must do more … to prepare our
communities for the consequences of climate
change.. AND MORE RECENT EO (Nov 2013)
The future ain’t what it used to be.
-- Yogi Berra
Preparing for and Managing Change
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not
where it has been.”
--- Wayne Gretsky
NWF’s Safeguards Strategy
• Advance the science, policy, and
practice of adaptation
– NWF widely recognized as national “thought
leaders” on this emerging field
• Promote adoption and application of
climate-smart conservation
– Partnering with federal and state agencies, local
communities, and other organizations
– Influencing conservation and management on
millions of acres
• Connect the needs of people and
wildlife in addressing climate impacts
– Growing emphasis on adaptation in cities and
towns using natural system approaches
Vulnerability Assessment to Action
• May reprioritize:
•
•
•
•
Species
Habitats
Actions
Monitoring
What Constitutes Good
Adaptation?
• Adaptation an emerging field
• Still poor understanding of what climate
adaptation means
• Most guidance still at very high level;
little operational advice
• Danger of existing work simply relabeled as adaptation
• Strong interest in understanding what
truly constitutes climate adaptation
and how to put principles into practice
Building Capacity for Adaptation
• In-Person Vulnerability Training
– Have now held ca. 10 sessions across
country in collaboration with FWS NCTC
• Monthly Webinars w/ FWS
– Linking leading researchers with
practitioner community
• National Climate Assessment
technical input on adaptation
• Integrating CC into State
Wildlife Action Plans
Vulnerability Assessment Guidance
• Successful collaborative process
produced vulnerability assessment
guidance
•
Inter-institutional workgroup with multiple
federal agencies
• Scanning the Conservation Horizon
published in 2011
•
Effort received Secretary of Interior’s
“Partners in Conservation” Award
• NCTC training course
•
Ongoing training, held more than a dozen
times with more than 400 staff trained
But…vulnerability assessment just
one step in adaptation process
Guidance Development Approach
• Expert workgroup convened to
develop adaptation guidance
– Federal, state, and NGO participants
– Publication and training course being developed
• Designed to demystify process
– Through breaking down into understandable and
manageable steps
• Non-prescriptive
– focus on understanding principles and how to
apply
– Encourage innovation and context-specific
application
• Not a recipe book, rather focus is
on “the way to cook”
Climate-Smart Conservation
Expert Workgroup
• Federal Agencies
–
–
–
–
Fish and Wildlife Service
National Park Service
US Geological Survey
Environmental Protection
Agency
– NOAA
– US Forest Service
– Army Corps of Engineers
• NGOs
–
–
–
–
–
–
National Wildlife Federation
Wildlife Conservation Society
EcoAdapt
Nature Conservancy
Geos Institute
Point Blue Conservation Science
• State Agencies
– Florida
– Maryland
Table of Contents
• Section 1 – Getting Started
– Introduction to climate-smart conservation
– Exploring the climate-smart cycle
• Section 2 – Putting Principles into Practice
– Detailed exploration of steps in climate-smart cycle
• Section 3 – Making Adaptation Count
– Special topics (e.g., uncertainty, communications) and key
resources (e.g., tools, data sources)
Current Status
• Publication
– External review
• USGS formal peer review
• Broad array (>35) of other external reviewers
– Publication date late April 2014
• Training
– Training in collaboration with FWS/NCTC
– Pilot training at NCTC October 29-31
– Sacramento last week!
Major Themes
• Act with intentionality
— link actions to impacts
• Manage for change, not
just persistence
• Reconsider goals, not just
strategies
• Integrate adaptation into
existing work
Key Characteristics of
Climate-Smart Conservation
• Actions linked to
climate impacts
• Forward looking goals
• Broader landscape
context
• Robust in an uncertain
future
• Agile and informed
management
• Minimizes carbon
footprint
• Climate influence on
project success
• Safeguards people and
wildlife
• Avoids maladaptation
Climate-Smart Conservation Cycle
Step 3
Review/Revise Conservation Goals
Intended Outcome
Adoption of climate-informed conservation goals
and management objectives
Inputs
•
Existing goals/
management objectives
–
•
From Step 1
Understanding of
system/target
vulnerabilities
–
From Step 2
Outputs
Review/ Revise
Conservation
Goals
•
Agreed-upon set of
climate-informed
conservation
goals/management
objectives
Step 4
Identify Possible Adaptation Options
Intended Outcome
Identify broad array of possible options for
reducing key vulnerabilities
Outputs
Inputs
•
Key vulnerabilities
–
•
From Step 3
Factors contributing to
those vulnerabilities
–
From Step 3
Identify
Possible
Adaptation
Options
•
Specific actions capable
of reducing key
vulnerabilities
•
Explicit rationale or logic
model for how
identified actions link to
climate-related impacts
Step 5
Evaluate and Select Adaptation Actions
Intended Outcome
A set of operationally feasible actions that collectively help
meet climate-informed conservation goals
Outputs
Inputs
•
Agreed-upon climateinformed goals
–
•
From Step 3
Set of possible adaptation
actions
–
From Step 4
Evaluate and
Select
Adaptation
Actions
•
Set of adaptation actions
most appropriate to
implement
•
A coherent plan based
on selected actions
•
Metrics for use in
tracking action
effectiveness
Step 6
Implement Priority Adaptation Actions
Intended Outcome
Successful implementation of selected strategies
and actions
Inputs
•
Priority actions for
implementation
–
•
From Step 5
Implementation
challenges identified
during strategy and action
evaluation and selection
–
From Step 5
Implement
Priority
Adaptation
Actions
Outputs
•
Set of actions put into
practice
Step 7
Track Action Effectiveness and Ecological Response
Intended Outcome
Inform needed adjustments in adaptation
strategies and actions
Inputs
•
Adaptation actions
selected for
implementation
–
•
From Step 4
Possible evaluation
metrics
–
From Step 4
Track Action
Effectiveness
and Ecological
Response
Outputs
•
Management-relevant
changes in ecological
resources documented
A Central Question:
How to Connect Vulnerability to Adaptation Actions?
“Kim’s Brain”
Connecting Vulnerability to Adaptation Actions
Version 2
“Susan/Jordan’s Brain”
Connecting Vulnerability
Connecting Vulnerability to Adaptation Actions
Susan/Jordan’s
Brain
to Adaptation
Actions
Identify
what’s of
concern and
why?
Key
Vulnerabilities
Vulnerabilities
Identify
broad range
of options
General
Strategies
Evaluate,
compare, and
select actions
Which best
achieve
conservation
goals?
Possible
Options
Which
achieve
other
(social/econ)
goals?
Which are
climatesmart?
Specific
Actions
How
practicable/
feasible are
they?
From Adaptation Strategy
to Adaptation Action
General
Strategies
Possible
Options
Specific
Actions
General Adaptation Strategies
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reduce Non-Climate Stresses
Protect Key Ecosystem Features
Ensure Connectivity
Restore Structure and Function
Support Evolutionary Potential
Protect Refugia
Relocate Organisms
Striving for “Mindfulness”
in Adaptation
• Adaptation Intentional
– Designed to address specific climate impacts
– Focuses on reducing key vulnerabilities
• Adaptation Consistent
– Consistent with general adaptation principles, but not
linked to specific impacts or vulnerabilities
• Adaptation Neutral
• Maladaptive
– Actions that increase vulnerabilities or undermine
ecosystem resilience