February 2009

Adaptation 2009: Safeguarding Fish, Wildlife and Natural Systems in the Face of Climate Change, was recently convened by the Wildlife Habitat Policy Research Program and the National Wildlife Federation. The event, which took place February 18-19, 2009 in Washington, DC, was made possible through generous support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.

Organized around four major natural systems (Forests, Grasslands/Shrublands, Freshwater Ecosystems and Coasts/Estuaries), Adaptation 2009 aimed to:

  1. Demonstrate progress in research, management, and policy approaches to climate 
      change adaptation for wildlife and natural systems, and identify unmet needs.

  2. Identify priority management and policy changes required at national, state and tribal
      levels to enable natural resource agencies to address climate change.

  3. Develop estimates of the scale of adaptation funding required to safeguard fish, wildlife
      and natural systems in a warming world.

  4. Connect leading thinkers in conservation practice and science with top experts in climate   
       impacts and adaptation to foster knowledge sharing and networking.

Background research, audio, power point presentations, a summary report and additional educational materials are available on the official Adaptation 2009 website.

To read a recent article in Climate Wire about the conference, click here.