This report provides background to the project by describing how biodiversity conservation is currently carried out by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife; the history, objectives, and methods of the SWAP; and how the climate in Massachusetts has been changing and is expected to change over the remainder of this century.

Funded by a grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences began working in early 2008 with the DFW and other partners, including TNC, to begin to address the conservation questions. The specific objective was to make “climate-smart” the state’s existing State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) – DFW’s “blueprint” for future conservation in the state. The results of this project are presented in a series of reports. This first report provides background to the project by describing how biodiversity conservation is currently carried out by DFW; the history, objectives, and methods of the SWAP; and how the climate in Massachusetts has been changing and is expected to change over the remainder of this century. In subsequent reports, habitat and species vulnerabilities, likely ecological shifts under climate change, and potential management/conservation option are addressed.