Climate adaptation interventions for iconic fauna

Abstract

Climate adaptation is an emerging practice in biodiversity conservation, but little is known about the scope, scale, and effectiveness of implemented actions. Here, we review and synthesize published reports of climate adaptation interventions for iconic fauna. We present a systematic map of peerreviewed literature databases (Web of Science and Scopus); however, only nine climate adaptation actions targeting iconic fauna were returned. In the grey and informal literature, there were many instances of practical intervention within our scope, that were not uncovered during traditional systematic search methods. The richness of actions reported in commercial news, government and non-government organization media outlets and other online sources vastly outweighs the limited studies that have been robustly evaluated and reported in the scientific literature. From our investigation of this emerging field of conservation practice, we draw insights and pen a series of recommendations for the field moving forward. Key recommendations for future adaptation interventions include: the sharing and publishing of climate-related conservation interventions, the use of standardized metrics for reporting outcomes, the implementation of experimental controls for any actions undertaken, and reporting and evaluation of both failures and successes.

An inconvenient misconception: Climate change is not the principal driver of biodiversity loss

“…Concern among the public about climate change has been so successful that some conservationists now argue that it is too late to stop this distortion; at best we can only hitch the other horsemen of the apocalypse to this runaway bandwagon (Verissimo et al., 2014); simultaneously, climate adaptation strategies are gaining increasing momentum in conservation practice (Brodie et al., 2021; Mason et al., 2021). In short, there is an assumption that climate change is now the most important “horseman of the biodiversity apocalypse.”…”

Climate Adaptation as Organizational Learning: A Grounded Theory Study on Manufacturing Companies in a Bavarian Region

“…Originally associated with evolutionary considerations [27], the term adaptation in an organizational context covers the ability and volition of organizations to deal with external changes, to anticipate future developments, and to align their own structures and processes with these changes continuously. Anticipatory and reactive adaptation measures and modified behaviors will protect the company from the actual and predicted consequences arising from climate change.…”

Prehistoric pathways to Anthropocene adaptation: Evidence from the Red River Delta, Vietnam

“…While the socio-economic importance of mangrove restoration and governance is well-reported [ 166 , 185 , 193 , 198 ], greater buy-in from all stakeholders, including local communities for whom clear identification and communication of benefits, beneficiaries, and potential risks, involvement in decision-making and subsequent actions will be critical [ 199 , 200 ]. Sediment deficits imposed by the damming, re-direction and channelisation of rivers [ 201 ], increased reporting on adaptive actions [ 202 ], and the enhancement of existing capacity among local stakeholder authorities to systematically define mangrove areas, as well as monitoring and reporting on the progress of forest reestablishment are among the additional challenges still to be met.…”