Conservation Futures

Abstract

Capacity building for protected areas management under climate uncertainty Climate change is bringing new challenges for conservation of biodiversity and the livelihoods dependent upon the environmental services provided by them as ecological conditions change, challenging our traditional vision of conservation and biodiversity management. Managers must be ready to understand, anticipate, and accept the changes in the ecosystems they protect as climate changes. This require building new abilities in order to incorporate long-term change and uncertainty into the planning tools and decision-making processes. Conservation Futures is a largely collaborative process between academy, practitioners, and advocacy organisations that looks to introduce innovative strategies to developacities that help protected area planners and managers mainstream anticipatory climate adaptation thinking in conservation policy and management. Climate adaptation needs governance processes that are prepared for future changes to the climate, focusing on what we can do now to reshape the social, political and practical abilities to anticipate and respond as changes happen. Conceptually, we frame the "decision context" in the values, rules and knowledge that form the foundation from which we make decisions, plan, and manage for conservation. The process is a multi-step, interactive, dialogue-based series of activities that encourages conservation practitioners to anticipate ecosystem transformation and explore alternative management approaches. Here we present preliminary results of the implementation of the methodology in Colombia where we are working collaboratively with WWF Colombia and Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. Show more