Tools for climate-smart conservation

Regional Training Workshop: vulnerability assessments, ecosystem services and structured adaptation planning toward conservation goals

16 to 19 November 2015, Quito, Ecuador

Workshop trains decision-makers and other conservation practitioners in the use of tools for climate smart conservation in the Tropical Andes

The 28 participants from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and different disciplines and institutions exchanged knowledge, information and experiences related to adaptation activities in the Andean region.

The event raised interest on actions fostering regional collaboration and exchanging good practices and lessons learned in the design and development of adaptation projects. Participants acknowledged the importance of having new tools for their work and of generating events such as this workshop to develop specific capacities.

The Ecuadorian Ministry’s of the Environment (MAE) National Director for Adaptation, Diego Guzmán, stressed that this kind of events are important in building public environmental policies in the countries and the region.

Marcella Ohira, Director for Capacity Building, explained that the IAI fosters inter- and transdisciplinary research, and therefore it promotes including scientists, decision-makers and the civil society in the teams to tackle collaboratively policy relevant social-environmental issues, such as climate change and biodiversity.

Participants identified an urgent need in the region for training events around three main topics:
1) Hands-on training in the use of available tools for –ongoing and future- specific initiatives related to conservation and climate change adaptation;:
2) development of new research and information exchange networks in biodiversity and climate change adaptation issues; and
(3) strengthening of the science-policy interface and interactions among different stakeholders.

The event organized by the IAI was one of the training and dissemination activities of the project Climate change impacts on biodiversity in the tropical Andes: climate risks, vulnerability and decision making tools for the planning of conservation funded by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.