1. Towards future-oriented conservation: Managing protected areas in an era of climate change
- Author
-
Laura Becerra, Carina Wyborn, Claudia Munera, Nigel Dudley, Michael Dunlop, Lorrae van Kerkhoff, Javier Castiblanco, Carolina Figueroa, Oscar Guevara, and Melissa Abud Hoyos
- Subjects
Conservation of Natural Resources ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Process (engineering) ,Climate Change ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Ecology (disciplines) ,Decision Making ,Geography, Planning and Development ,Climate change ,Ecological transformation ,Colombia ,010501 environmental sciences ,Social value orientations ,Science–policy interface ,01 natural sciences ,Climate adaptation ,Environmental Chemistry ,Adaptation (computer science) ,Environmental planning ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,media_common ,Ecology ,Corporate governance ,Futures thinking ,General Medicine ,Uncertainty ,Conservation governance ,Business ,Futures contract ,Research Article - Abstract
Management of protected areas must adapt to climate impacts, and prepare for ongoing ecological transformation. Future-Proofing Conservation is a dialogue-based, multi-stakeholder learning process that supports conservation managers to consider the implications of climate change for governance and management. It takes participants through a series of conceptual transitions to identify new management options that are robust to a range of possible biophysical futures, and steps that they can take now to prepare for ecological transformation. We outline the Future-Proofing Conservation process, and demonstrate its application in a pilot programme in Colombia. This process can be applied and adapted to a wide range of climate adaptation contexts, to support practitioners in developing positive ways forward for management and decision-making. By acknowledging scientific uncertainty, considering social values, and rethinking the rules that shape conservation governance, participants can identify new strategies towards “future-oriented conservation” over the long term.
- Published
- 2018