Climate-Wise Habitat Connectivity Takes Sustained Stakeholder Engagement

Morgan Gray, Elisabeth Micheli, Tosha Comendant and Adina Merenlender
Additional contact information
Morgan Gray: Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Elisabeth Micheli: Dwight Center for Conservation Science, Pepperwood, Santa Rosa, CA 95404, USA
Tosha Comendant: Dwight Center for Conservation Science, Pepperwood, Santa Rosa, CA 95404, USA
Adina Merenlender: Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-21

Abstract: Well-managed and connected protected area networks are needed to combat the 6th mass extinction, yet the implementation of plans intended to secure landscape connectivity remains insufficient. The failure to translate planning efforts into effective action (i.e., the research-implementation gap) hinders our ability to conserve biodiversity threatened by ongoing climate change and habitat fragmentation. Sustained collaboration between researchers and practitioners to co-produce conservation strategies can bridge this gap by providing end-users with implementation guidance based on legitimate, relevant, and trusted information. However, few case studies capture methods for the co-production and use of climate-wise connectivity knowledge. Here we describe the framework for sustained engagement used by a multi-jurisdictional practitioner network to co-produce climate-wise linkages for the interior coastal ranges in Northern California. We found iterative co-production shaped ecological objectives, input data, analytical methods, and implementation priorities. Stakeholders used both co-produced and local socio-ecological (e.g., development threat, management priorities) knowledge to finalize corridor implementation plans. Priority corridors afforded greater climate benefit and were more likely to connect lands managed by participant organizations. Our results demonstrate how collaborative partnerships can bridge the gap between connectivity research and implementation. Lessons learned, outcomes, and future plans provide insights to advance landscape-scale resilience to climate change.

Keywords: climate change; habitat connectivity; conservation planning; knowledge use; permeability; research implementation gap; sustained engagement; wildlife corridors; protected areas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/11/413/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/11/413/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:11:p:413-:d:435848

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().