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.
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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
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
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
2009
Beyond Seasons' End describes the impacts of climate change on fish, big game, upland birds, and waterfowl and how these species are responding to impacts. The report explains what can be done to protect fish and wildlife populations and sporting traditions under changing climate conditions, including case studies of successful adaptation and conservation projects. It presents a number of projects from fish and wildlife professionals about actions that the human community can take to assist the wild community adapting to climate change.
Related Organizations: Trout Unlimited , Coastal Conservation Association, Ducks Unlimited , Bipartisan Policy Center , BASS/ESPN Outdoors, Izaac Walton League of America, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) , American Sportfishing Association, Pheasants Forever Inc., Boone and Crockett Club
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
May 2019
This handbook was designed to support climate-smart meadow restoration projects in the mountain meadows of northern California. The report offers guidance on incorporating climate change impacts into a meadow vulnerability assessment, and adaptive measures into restoration planning and design. The report describes how to conduct a vulnerability assessment, and how to apply Point Blue’s climate-smart restoration principles to address those vulnerabilities with adaptation measures. The guide describes desired meadow restoration outcomes, climate projections for the Sierra Nevada region, and includes a summary of a climate vulnerability assessment for four riparian meadow restoration projects in the northern Sierra and southern Cascades.
Related Organizations: Point Blue Conservation Science (PRBO)
Author or Affiliated User: Marian Vernon
Resource Category: Planning
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April 25, 2019
The Wildlife Conservation Society partnered with the Climate Resilience Fund to offer this guidance for investors funding conservation projects - such as private foundations, public agencies and local governments - on how to consider climate change risks inherent in their investments. Climate change is causing dramatic and unpredictable effects on ecosystems and natural resources - creating uncertainties for conservation funding decision making and the future outcome of investments. This guidance for conservation investors supports intentionality in anticipating and assessing climate change risks, which in turn safeguards these investments to advance conservation goals.
Resource Category: Funding
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Resource
October 2018
Prepared by representatives of the Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance, Missing Pathways addresses food security, protecting human rights through land rights, and preserving and restoring natural ecosystems from climate change impacts. Carbon sequestration solutions are identified that increase the biodiversity and resilience of terrestrial carbon stocks, by ending deforestation, and enhancing restoration, regeneration and transformative agricultural practices. It prioritizes securing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities to land, and empowerment of these communities through resilient food systems, and healthy biodiverse ecosystems solutions.
Related Organizations: Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance
Resource Category: Solutions
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October 2018
This U. S. Forest Service report develop provides an assessment of the vulnerability of forest ecosystems in the Mid-Atlantic region and was designed to help resource managers incorporate climate change considerations into management practices. The report synthesizes the best available scientific information on climate change and forest ecosystems, focusing on a study area including 60 million acres of land across eastern Maryland, southern New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Of this area, about 32 million acres are forested.
Related Organizations: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) , USFS Northern Research Station
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
September 7, 2018
California Governor Brown’s Executive Order (EO) directs the state Department of Food and Agriculture and Department of Fish and Wildlife to work together to protect ecosystems, plants and wildlife while restoring and building climate resilience in habitats across the state. The order also supports the state's new California Biodiversity Initiative, an action plan to protecting the state's ecosystems and diversity of wildlife and plants. The Executive Order and Initiative will improve understanding of the state’s biological diversity, and identify and implement strategies to protect the state’s biodiversity from climate change.
Related Organizations: State of California, California Department of Fish and Wildlife , California Department of Food and Agriculture
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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Resource
2017
Monitoring and evaluation of implemented projects plays a pivotal role in conservation, and is important while having additional challenges for climate adaptation projects. This report from the Wildlife Conservation Society offers context and considerations around the process of monitoring and evaluation of climate adaptation projects.
Related Organizations: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Resource Category: Monitoring and Reporting
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