I just returned from the World Conservation Congress (or IUCN, as it is also known) in Barcelona, Spain. There is clearly a circuit of these international conservation and development meetings, with a set of individuals who travel from one meeting to the next. Sadly, I am now in this group. Walking around, recognized many faces from other recent, previous meetings, such as the Stockholm World Water Week (described in Meet the Banks and Meet the Press). Strangely, a few people even recognized me. There is a small hierarchy of what I can only assume are professional conference-goers. And in this hierarchy, there are the Eco Stars: those people known to all, who exist as Names and Contacts. Read More...

Tags: travel, climate adaptation

After 15 hours on planes and in airports, I was finally back in Oregon. The descent was beautiful: deep forests, snow already covering some of the higher mountains, a smoking volcano. We landed and passed quickly into Homeland Security’s border control area. The line was gracefully short. Within 15 minutes, my passport had been stamped, gratuitous questions asked, and I was through and on my way to customs. Normally, I rarely look at my passport, but for some reason I did this time. Read More...

Tags: travel

This entry will be the first in a series over the coming weeks. I have a series of talks and will be attending a number of unrelated events that are focusing on wetlands as a theme, so I will in turn inflict some of these thoughts on you, gentle reader. A serious contradiction exists with protected areas — places likes natural reserves and parks — and climate change. On one hand, these places have been designated because they are “special” and unusual parts of the landscape, having qualities that make them distinct from other places and thus worthy of being a protected area (or PA). Think of this as the spatial element of a PA. On the other hand, these areas are generally special because some mixture of climate, geology, and biological history combine to make them distinct during some window of time. At a different period in either of those three elements, the special qualities may exist in a very different combination at that place, or even over a different range of places. Think of this as the temporal element of a PA. Of all the most common types of PAs found worldwide, wetlands may be the most climate sensitive. And that has very important implications for how we define and protect wetlands PAs everywhere. Read More...

Tags: climate adaptation, wetlands, policy, climate refugia, ramsar