Biodiversity and Ecosystems Law and Policy
This tab includes strategies for how to avoid or reduce climate change impacts to ecosystems. It also includes any laws, legislation, regulations, agency guidance, and executive orders relevant to biodiversity and ecosystems.
Resources are automatically presented by rating, but can be sorted by date or title. Apply additional filters to narrow by resource type, state, region, impact, or jurisdictional focus.
49 results are shown below.
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Resource
March 4, 2009
This report describes observed and potential effects of global climate change on species and ecosystems. It reviews climate change adaptation plans and other planning approaches from the United States, Canada, England, Mexico, and South Africa. The report also includes sixteen possible adaptation strategies, all proposed in scientific literature and public policy documents, that directly address the conservation of biological diversity. These strategies are grouped into four broad categories: land and water protection and management, direct species management, monitoring and planning, and law and policy.
Related Organizations: The Heinz Center
Authors or Affiliated Users: Jonathan R. Mawdsley, Robin O'Malley, Dennis S. Ojima
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
October 15, 2010
As the lead agency in Maryland for climate change adaptation efforts, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued this policy to “provide direction and guidance regarding the Department’s investments in and management of land, resources and assets in the face of climate change.” The policy is “to make sound investments in land and facilities and to manage [DNR] assets and natural resources so as to better understand, mitigate and adapt to climate change.”
Related Organizations: Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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Resource
2017
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation created the WCS Climate Adaptation Fund to “incentivize new and innovative efforts to help wildlife and ecosystems respond to climate change. ” As of 2016, the WCS Climate Adaptation Fund awarded more than $12 million to 66 adaptation projects across the United States. This report presents 14 climate change adaptation strategies or “solutions” for sustaining wildlife populations and ecosystems, with examples of projects supported by the Climate Adaptation Fund that exemplify each solution.
Related Organizations: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
June 10, 2016
New Hampshire Senate Bill 376-FN requires the Fish and Game Department to identify existing and needed wildlife corridors connecting wildlife habitats in the state, and to make recommendations for legislative changes. SB 376 is designed to help improve wildlife corridors and thereby support wildlife resilience in light of climate change and development pressures.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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June 18, 2015
A report from Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE), “Living Shorelines: From Barriers to Opportunities,” provides a national assessment of institutional barriers that are preventing broader use of living shorelines, and gives recommendations and strategies for progress.
Related Organizations: Restore America’s Estuaries
Resource Category: Solutions
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From the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE), the Delaware Estuary Living Shoreline Initiative (DELSI) is a pilot project designed to stabilize eroding shorelines of tidal marshes. PDE with Rutgers University has developed the "DELSI Tactic" of living shorelines which uniquely uses a combination of native wetland plants, natural structures, and intertidal shellfish to trap sediment and absorb waves. The DELSI Tactic provides an economical approach to communities that are struggling to combat the erosion of tidal marshes.
Related Organizations: Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Rutgers University
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
July 2010
This policy brief discusses the economic value of natural resources and ecological systems, the impacts climate change will have on natural systems and the wealth they generate, and the difficulties in pricing ecosystem goods and services. This brief focuses on two broad questions: 1) What kinds of adaptation challenges will be created by climate‐driven changes in the form, scale, and location of ecosystem goods and services. and 2) How should climate adaptation policies protect and manage natural wealth as its delivery is affected by climate change.
Related Organizations: Resources for the Future (RFF)
Author or Affiliated User: James Boyd
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
February 2010
This issue brief recommends a number of short- and long-term changes in federal land management policy to adapt to climate change. Policy recommendations include the use of vulnerability assessments and strategic planning, development of effective monitoring systems, implementation of adaptive management and ecosystems management, coordinated research programs, and use of public lands planning and management processes to test adaptation strategies and tactics.
Related Organizations: Resources for the Future (RFF)
Authors or Affiliated Users: Joel B. Smith, William R. Travis
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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Resource
2010
Evidence suggests ocean acidification will have negative effects on corals, shellfish, and other marine life, with wide-ranging consequences for ecosystems, fisheries, and tourism. This report, requested by Congress, reviews the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, the chemistry of seawater, and the physiology of marine organisms. The report reviews the current state of knowledge and identifies gaps in understanding, and provides scientific advice to help guide the national ocean acidification research program.
Related Organizations: National Research Council
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
December 2009
This issue brief discusses key elements of marine environment adaptation policy, including rights, resources, and governance. The brief recommends establishing better-defined rights and responsibilities for commercial and recreational fisheries in order to create an adaptation portfolio for marine and coastal resources. In addition, the report suggests establishing a broader ocean governance framework that includes comprehensive planning, allocation of dominant use zones and user rights within zones, and ecological standards.
Related Organizations: Resources for the Future (RFF)
Author or Affiliated User: James N. Sanchirico
Resource Category: Solutions
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