Climate-Smart Conservation:
Putting Adaptation Principles into Practice
Naomi Edelson
Director, State and Federal
Wildlife Partnerships
National Wildlife Federation
March 2015
What Does Climate Change Mean
for the Practice of Conservation?
Climate Adaptation
• The process of adjustment to actual
or expected climate and its effects
--- IPCC AR5 (2014)
– In human systems, adaptation seeks to
moderate harm or exploit beneficial
opportunities
– In natural systems, human intervention may
facilitate adjustment to expected climate and
its effects
In other words:
• Prepare for …
• Cope with …
• Adjust to …
What Constitutes Good
Adaptation?
• Adaptation still 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 being
relabeled
• Strong interest in understanding what
truly constitutes climate adaptation
and how to put principles into
practice
Guidance Development Approach
• Expert workgroup convened to
develop adaptation guidance
– Federal, state, and NGO participants
– Builds on previous guidance for vulnerability
• Designed to demystify process
– Breaks down into manageable steps
• Non-prescriptive
– Focus on understanding principles and use of a
general framework
– Encourages innovation and context-specific
application
• Assumes use of existing best
practices
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
Overarching Themes
Climate-Smart Conservation in a Nutshell
• Act with intentionality
• Manage for change, not
just persistence
• Reconsider goals, not just
strategies
• Integrate adaptation into
existing work
1. Acting with Intentionality
• Link Actions to Climate
Impacts
– How will actions address key
vulnerabilities?
– What is the logic model/scientific
rationale for actions?
• Show your work!
– Transparency/traceability important
– Whether novel approaches are
indicated
– Or existing approaches and actions
validated
2. Manage for Change
Not Just Persistence
• Stationarity is dead!
• Adaptation will largely be
about preparing for and
managing change
• Adaptation is a process,
not an end point
A Continuum of Change
From Resistance to Transformation
• Resistance
– Focus on maintaining status quo
– May be appropriate for high-value assets
• Resilience
– Current usage mostly focus on rebound to
status quo conditions
• Realignment
– Facilitate/manage for inevitable shifts to help
achieve acceptable outcomes
3. Reconsider Conservation Goals
Not Just Strategies
• Goals are the ends; strategies
the means
• Goals are a reflection of human
values and can evolve
– Many goals and objectives may no longer
be feasible with rapid changes
• Need for forward-looking rather
than retrospective goals
Aligning Goals and Strategies
in Climate Adaptation
Stage 1
Business
as Usual
Stage 2
•Traditional
goals
•Traditional
strategies
•Traditional
goals
Climate
Retrofit
•Revised
strategies*
Stage 3
•Revised
goals*
ClimateAligned •Revised
strategies*
* Review and revised as needed, based on climate change assessments.
4. Integrate with Existing Work
Not Just Stand-Alone Adaptation Plans
Climate-Smart Conservation Cycle
A Generalized Framework for Adaptation Planning and Implementation
Guidance Document Built Around Cycle
Setting the Stage
Define
purpose/
scope
Assess
Vulnerability
and Risk
Reconsider
Goals
Assessing Vulnerability
Understanding what’s at risk and why
is key to designing effective adaptation
strategies
Components of vulnerability
• Sensitivity
• Exposure
• Adaptive Capacity
Crafting Climate-Informed Goals
Are Changes Needed In?
• What
– Conservation targets/focus
• Why
– Intended outcome or desired condition
• Where
– Relevant geographic scope
• When
– Relevant timeframe
Generating and Evaluating
Strategies and Actions
Be realistic!
Be creative!
Identifying Adaptation Options
Need here is to Identify an array of possible
adaptation options for reducing key vulnerabilities
• At this stage be creative!
– Constraints come in next step
• Several ways to generate
options:
– Components of vulnerability
– General adaptation strategies
– Intervention points
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
New York and NH approach
Types of Adaptation Strategies
General
Near-term
Feasibility
Specific
Long-term
Feasibility
Using vulnerability data to identify
adaptation strategies
1. Identify adaptation planning targets
2. Summarize the vulnerability of the targets
3. Develop full range of adaptation options
4. Prioritize adaptation options
5. Identify potential implementation partners
6. Group, Filter, and Highlight
Stages 1 & 2 (Identify adaptation planning
targets/Summarize vulnerability of targets)
Morning presentations summarizing all statewide
species & habitat vulnerability work to date and
identifying specific vulnerable habitats and/or
species from the work upon which to focus
adaptation planning efforts
Afternoon working groups by system, formation
etc
Stages 1 & 2 (Identify adaptation planning
targets/Summarize vulnerability of targets)
continued:
•Working group participants are given:
• (a) projected climate change assumptions
summary
•(b) vulnerability summaries for each target
•(c) a summary list of current state-driven
efforts to manage the target
Stage 3
Develop Full Range of Options
•Names of the adaptation targets are on poster
sheets around the room
•Participants are given sticky notes. Group spends
XX amount of time writing down as many
strategies for a specific target.
•No talking – this is all about quantity, not quality.
•After the time is up, participants place their
strategies on the target poster
Actions
• Need to think BIG
• Brainstorm wildly
• Old options that seemed impossible may be
viewed differently now
• Existing practices and approaches might need
to be adapted for place, time and technique
• Or Novel approach might be best
Components of Vulnerability
• Reduce exposure: Increase riparian vegetation that
provides shading over open water to moderate
exposure to warmer air temperatures.
• Reduce sensitivity: Reduce water use that depletes
groundwater recharge to decrease sensitivity of
streams to changes in precipitation.
• Increase adaptive capacity: Create adjacent cool,
deep pools to provide refugia.
Intervention Points
• Using the Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT) Framework
(Cross et al. 2012), adaptation options such as the following can
be identified for managing stream flows for native cold water fish
as temperatures warm and flows decline:
Intervention points
 Withdrawals ----------------------->
 Snowpack management --------->
 High elevation stream flow ----->
 Impervious surfaces -------------->
 Grazing practices ------------------>
 Riparian vegetation --------------->
Potential adaptation options
Reduce withdrawals by leasing in-stream water rights
Build snow fences to retain snow in key areas for longer
Slow spring flows with check dams or beaver dams
Reduce/remove roads to reduce sediment runoff
Reduce riparian impacts by fencing or reduced density
Restore riparian areas that provide shading to streams
Evaluating Possible
Projects and Actions
Emphasis on identifying a set of actions that
collectively would achieve conservation goals
Suggested evaluation framework:
• Conservation goals
– Effectiveness meeting stated goals/objectives
• Other goals/values
– Co-benefits for other societal values
• Feasibility
– Cost, technical feasibility, social acceptance, etc.
• Climate-smart considerations
– Based on key characteristics
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
nature
• Avoids maladaptation
Actions Linked to Climate Impacts
• Does the project “connect
the dots” between climate
impacts and proposed
action?
– What’s the theory of change?
– Does it demonstrate
“intentionality”?
• How is project/action
intended to reduce key
vulnerabilities or address
specific impacts?
Forward-Looking Goals
• Is the project explicit about its
goals?
• Are goals climate-informed?
– Have they been reviewed for
feasibility in light of climate change?
– Have they been validated and/or
modified as a result?
– Is time horizon for
benefits/performance explicit (e.g.,
short, medium, long)
• Where does the project fall on
the continuum of change?
– Is focus on resistance or
realignment?
Broader Landscape Context
• Does project/action take into
account broader landscape
and projected climatic shifts?
– How does local action
contribute to broader
landscape conservation needs?
• Are there landscape factors
that could limit/enhance
effectiveness of effort?
• If proposes to enhance
“connectivity”, does it define
for what and consider
climatic/ecological factors?
Housing Density 2010
Source: D. Theobald, CSU
Robust in an Uncertain Future
• Is project/action “robust” across
multiple possible scenarios, or
optimized for one future?
• How sensitive is action to
particular scenarios of change in:
– Climate
– Ecological Response
– Human response
Agile and Informed Management
• Does the project/action allow for
course corrections, or commit to an
irreversible course of action?
• Can clear indicators or thresholds
be identified that would trigger
adjustment or go/no go decisions?
• Are adequate monitoring and
evaluation approaches in place/
proposed to support informed
management?
FWS Strategic Habitat Conservation
framework
Minimizes Carbon Footprint
• What direct or indirect
greenhouse gas emissions are
associated with project/action?
• Does the project contribute to
(or undermine) carbon
sequestration and storage?
Considers Climate Influence on
Project Success
• Is the project designed for
climate adaptation, or an
existing project in need of a
“climate-retrofit”?
• How will climate changes (direct
and indirect) affect likely
performance for project?
• Does the project/action avoid
clearly compromised
investments, or if not, have an
intentional transition plan?
Degrading wetlands, coastal LA
Safeguards People and Nature
• To what extent does the
project/action provide
benefits (or “co-benefits”) to
people and other societal
sectors?
– Natural hazard reduction
– Water quantity/quality
protection
– Climate risk reduction
Avoids Maladaptation
• Would the project/action
increase the vulnerability to
other important resources
(ecological or human)?
• Are there possible unintended
consequences or
unacceptable trade-offs?
• One person’s adaptation may
be another’s maladaptative
response!
What do These Characteristics
Look Like in Practice?
Linking Actions to Impacts
Upslope restoration to provide diseasefree habitat for Hawaiian forest birds
Minimizes Carbon Footprint
Restoring hydrology to keep carbon in
the Great Dismal Swamp
What do These Characteristics
Look Like in Practice?
Strategies Robust to Uncertainty
Construction of fish shelves at varying levels in stream
restoration to account for increased variability in water levels
Putting Plans into Action
Rely on
existing best
practices
Professional Training in
Climate-Smart Conservation
• Accompanying training course
offered through FWS/NCTC
• Guide highlighted in President’s
“Priority Agenda” for Resilience
• Three-day course offered to date:
– Sheperdstown WV (2x), Sacramento CA,
Tucson AZ, Fort Collins, CO, Olympia WA
• Additional courses scheduled:
– New Mexico (Jan ‘15), Hawaii (Mar ‘15),
Navajo Nation (Fall ’15)
NWF resources
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Vulnerability Assessment Guide
New Climate Smart Guide
Associated Trainings
State based reports (VA, NY and WA)
Webinar series with FWS (monthly)
www.nwf.org/climate-smart
edelsonn@nwf.org