2010
is the International Year of Biodiversity, declared
by the United Nations to celebrate life on earth and urge people
to take action. Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life.more
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Photo: E. Banner
A
Wild Celebration Evolutionary biologist Olivia Judson
invites us to celebrate the weird, the wonderful, and even the
unknown forms of life in 2010. She notes that we don't pay for
much of what nature provides, but we pay for it when it is lost.
more
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Photo: Xerces Society
Online
Pollinator Resource Center
This Xerces
Society project supplies information for pollinator protection
and management on farmlands, golf courses, parks, wildlands,
gardens and elsewhere. more
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Photo: CDC
Biodiversity
Integral to Public Health A new analysis reveals that the emergence of many infectious
diseases is related to loss of biodiversity. The paper brings
together epidemiology and ecology in a new way. more
>
Call: 1-877-
9-INFEST
Washington
Invasive Species Council Resources A hotline for reporting new infestations, eradication
success stories, events, and other resources are available on
the Invasive Species Council's newly revamped website. more
>
Fact
sheet on the Conservation Opportunity Maps
Find out more about this tool developed for the Biodiversity
Conservation Strategy. more>
Stewardship
Matters
Photo: CLC
Parker Ranch
The Parker sisters, who own a historic ranch in Kittitas County,
are part of a growing network of private landowners across the
state whose stewardship efforts are contributing to biodiversity
conservation in Washington. more
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Archive
Want to see previous items from this column?
Find them on the
archive page.
Check out our brochure
This
brochure outlines why biodiversity is important to all of us,
and how the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy will help sustain
Washington's natural heritage.
Download the brochure (500 KB pdf)
or contact us and
we'll be happy to send you a copy.
The WASHINGTON
BIODIVERSITY PROJECT is an effort of the Washington
Biodiversity Council to address one of the most pressing environmental
issues of our time: How to conserve our state's native plants, animals,
and ecosystems for current and future generations. more>
Watch Our New Video
Celebrate the richness of life
in Washington State.
Global climate change captured the world’s attention
during the 2009 United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. While the outcomes
of that conference continue to be debated and analyzed, there is plenty
of consensus in 2010,
the International Year of Biodiversity, that biodiversity conservation
and climate change adaptation are inextricably linked.
Climate
Change and the Future of Biodiversity of Washington
Average annual temperatures will rise at a rate of up to
1.0°F per decade.
In general, it looks like winters will be wetter and summers
will be drier.
These changes will have profound effects across the state. For example:
Less snow in the mountains will mean less water in streams and
lakes.
Drier landscapes will lead to more frequent and intense wildfires
over broader areas.
Rising sea levels will inundate low-lying coastal areas.
Climate change will alter our lives and disturb long-established plant
and animal interactions. Finely-balanced ecological relationships will
be thrown out of whack.
Setting
the Stage: Ideas for Safeguarding Washington’s Fish and Wildlife
in an Era of Climate Change
This
booklet, produced by the National
Wildlife Federation, summarizes the presentations and discussions
from a workshop held in February 2009 that set the stage for
an ongoing, collaborative, stakeholder-driven effort to develop
a meaningful climate change adaptation strategy in Washington.
It concludes, “ultimately, with the right investments, we can
change the forecast for Washington’s fish and wildlife and ensure
that the many benefits they provide for us all will endure for
generations to come.”
Biodiversity and associated ecosystem services are impacted by
climate change.
Biodiversity can help people mitigate climate change.
Biodiversity is part of the solution to climate change.
Ready to get to work? Listed here are additional
resources for learning more about the links between biodiversity and
climate change, and what you can do:.
Ecological
Impacts of Climate Change
The
National Research
Council convened an independent panel of experts to put
together this report, which explains the general ecological
consequences of climate change and gives examples from across
the United States, including the Western Mountains and the Pacific
Coastline. The site provides ready-to-use presentations and
talking points. more
>
Climate Change: Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit
Photo: PEI
Are
you an educator? A toolkit from the U.S.
Global Change Research Program is designed for both formal
and infomal education settings. It provides fun tools for different
age groups and empowers students with actions they can take
to make a difference. A video, case studies, a greenhouse gas
calculator, and a teacher’s guide are among the resources available.
more
>
Adapting
to Climate Change: A short course for land managers
A product of the U.S.
Forest Service Climate Change Resource Center, this online
package includes video lectures, interactive quizzes, literature
citations, and links to further information. The goal is to
communicate current science relevant to the most pressing questions
faced by forest managers. more
>
Agriculture’s
Role in Greenhouse Gas Mitigation
Agriculture has a critical role to play in
mediating climate change effects according to a report from
The Pew
Center on Global Climate Change. Changes in farm practices
and planting trees on marginal lands could offset up to one
fifth of current U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, while at the
same time creating potential new sources of farming income.
more
>
Harnessing
Farms and Forests in the Low-Carbon Economy
Photo: Shutterstock
This
Farmland
Information Center report details how farmers and foresters
who manage their land to store carbon will have a competitive
advantage. They discuss how a new economy is coming—a low-carbon
economy in which greenhouse gas emission allowances and offsets
will be a commodity that is bought and sold on the open market.
more
>
Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation
Photo: State Parks
This
initiative, abbreviated as REDD, was an important topic in the
Copenhagen talks. As the Forestry
Stewardship Council (FSC) points out, deforestation and
forest degradation account for nearly 20% of all global greenhouse
gas emissions—more than are produced by all forms of transportation
combined. It advocates for the role of FSC-certified working
forests in reducing emissions from forests. more
>
Species
Feeling the Heat: Connecting Deforestation and Climate Change
Photo: J. Cummins
A
new report from the Wildlife
Conservation Society brings to light a number of “unsung”
species at risk from climate change. As Steve Sanderson, president
of WCS, wrote, “The image of a forlorn-looking polar bear on
a tiny ice floe has become the public’s image of climate change
in nature, but the impact reaches species in nearly every habitat…”
more
>
The Washington Biodiversity Council is a public-private
partnership that addresses the links between human well-being and
prosperity and the health of the natural world. Chartered to create
and guide a 30-year
strategy to advance biodiversity conservation in Washington State,
the Council has produced a summary
of its 2005-2009 achievements.
The Council and its partners have funded projects
to demonstrate how the Washington
Biodiversity Conservation Strategy can be used to guide investments
and activities and to better coordinate conservation efforts.
more >
Washington's Biodiversity
Conservation Strategy
This visionary document sets forth a bold set of
recommendations to engage Washingtonians statewide in conserving our
state's precious natural legacy. Request
a copy of this essential tool, or download all or part from
this site.
Three broad initiatives form the heart of the strategy—a
new approach to defining priorities, fostering widespread landowner
engagement, and measuring progress:
Guiding investments on the land, through the
use of a new tool which maps biodiversity value and threats at a
landscape, regional scale;
Improving incentives and advancing markets for landowners
to provide tangible benefits for conservation on working lands and
open spaces, and
Engaging citizens to work with scientists to
inventory and monitor Washington’s biodiversity.
The strategy also includes recommendations in other important focus
areas. more >
More Biodiversity Stories
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Find it in our archive of Biodiversity
Stories.