Since at least the 1988 WWF-sponsored conference on “Consequences of the Greenhouse Effect for Biological Diversity,” biodiversity conservationists have been working to measure, model, and predict the actual and potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems and species. Under the generic rubric of “climate change and biodiversity conservation,” hundreds of peer-reviewed studies now appear each year in a wide range of conservation-oriented journals, several of which focus directly on the relationship between climate change and biology. As this body of scientific evidence builds for the proposition that anthropogenic climate change is having significant impacts on biodiversity, many environmental and conservation institutions have taken on combating and effectively responding to climate change (aka, mitigation & adaptation) as central programmatic organizational goals. A cursory review of these myriad initiatives—be they scientific or advocacy-oriented—reveals not only a marked lack of coordination amongst these efforts, but an apparent mutual ignorance amongst and between the scientists, advocates, and conservation practitioners who have engaged in this arena.
Results/Conclusions
Currently, there are a small number of networking initiatives intending to bring some coherence to this inchoate community. One of these is the Conservation and Climate Change Clearinghouse, which was partially initiated as the result of a 2008 conference on the topic in Washington, DC. The Clearinghouse was established with the intention of providing two practical purposes. First, the Clearinghouse provides access to the latest updates regarding the effects of climate change on land and biodiversity, whether found in journal articles, legislative developments, media coverage, or conferences. Second, the Clearinghouse is sorting through the vast array of work that has been conducted in this arena over the past two decades. Specific resources on the Clearinghouse include: current highlights, institutions (including international organizations, foundations, professional associations, research institutions, networks & collaborations, NGOs, government agencies), regional impacts, ecosystem impacts, taxa-specific impacts, online & multimedia resources, bibliographies, periodicals, reports, books, articles, and “spotlight resources” (e.g., managed relocation, migratory species, and protected areas). In conjunction with other networking initiatives in this arena, an overarching goal of the Clearinghouse is to provide a hub for the growing community of scientists, advocates, and conservation practitioners working on protecting global biodiversity from the impacts of anthropogenic climate change.