Land Trust Alliance

Bald Head Island Conservancy: Catalyzing Small Changes in Climate Change Adaptation

Erin Derrington — 2013-03-05T01:55:00Z

Bald Head Island is a barrier island located off the coast of North Carolina. Its low lying elevation and shifting sand dunes make it acutely vulnerable to sea level rise and other impacts of climate change such as storm surges and changes in oceanic currents. The Bald Head Island Conservancy has developed a comprehensive public outreach campaign to help educate community members about the potential impacts of climate change to the island and individual choices that can help improve the socioecological system’s resilience. Staff work with community members to identify tangible solutions to future problems. The Conservancy has attained funding to build a research and educational facility and is developing a knowledge sharing network, the Coastal Barrier Island Network, with other barrier islands to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and lessons learned as communities begin to adapt to climate change.

Read the full CAKE case study here.

The State of Marine and Coastal Adaptation in North America: A Synthesis of Emerging Ideas

Erin Derrington — 2012-12-07T01:49:54Z

This report from EcoAdapt summarizes climate change impacts to marine and coastal zones, discusses adaptation approaches, and highlights climate change response trends and opportunities throughout North America. The paper highlights adaptation projects that exemplify how communities have worked to overcome real and perceived barriers to climate adaptation action.

Wetland and Stream Mitigation: A Handbook for Land Trusts

Erin Derrington — 2012-12-07T01:15:00Z

Thanks to the support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Law Institute and the Land Trust Alliance have released a new resource, Wetland and Stream Mitigation: A Handbook for Land Trusts, which was designed to provide land trusts with a starting point for understanding the opportunities and liabilities associated with taking on a compensatory mitigation project. The handbook provides readers with:

Background on Section 404 of the Clean Water Act,
An overview of the different phases of a compensatory mitigation project,
A discussion of the different roles that a land trust can play in compensatory mitigation,
A framework for land trusts to assess their participation in a compensatory mitigation project, and
Technical guides on site protection instruments, long-term management plans, and long–term financing mechanisms.

Download the Wetland and Stream Mitigation: A Handbook for Land Trusts as well as other resources from the ELI website.

The Climate of Conservation in America: 50 Stories in 50 States

Erin Derrington — 2012-11-09T02:35:00Z

This series from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides state-by-state narratives of how accelerating climate change is impacting or may impact fish and wildlife, as well as collaborative efforts to respond to these impacts across the nation.

EPA National Water Program 2012 Strategy

Erin Derrington — 2012-11-09T02:25:00Z

The National Water Program (NWP) 2012 Strategy addresses climate change impacts in the context of EPA’s water programs, reflecting the recognition that adaptation “requires a collaborative, problem solving approach, especially in a resource-constrained environment.” The NWP 2012 Strategy was designed to build upon other initiatives, such as the recent Coming Together for Clean Water strategy and the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Sustainability Policy. It also details EPA’s commitments deriving from three climate change strategic plans currently under development within the federal government:

for freshwater resources by the ICCATF Freshwater Work Group;
for the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes by the National Ocean Council (NOC); and
for fish, wildlife, and plants by the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Workgroup.

Specific goals, which include building collaborative networks to take effective adaptation measures, as well as making hydrological and climate data projections available, and strategic actions are highlighted in the executive summary and explained in the body of the report. The strategy also summarizes climate change impacts to water resources based on recent literature and outlines plans to achieve its mission to protect and restore aquatic ecosystems in the United States.

Coastal Climate Adaptation Website