Abstract

The Adaptation Briefs demonstrate how different adaptation strategies reduce vulnerabilities to key climate stressors and include case studies where these strategies have been implemented. The briefs complement the Climate Adaptation Toolkit, which contains tools to help MPA practitioners evaluate the vulnerability of their sites to climate change and identify appropriate adaptation strategies.

This brief highlights examples of adaptation actions that restore vegetative and hydrological connectivity. It's also available in Spanish & French.

Overview

Many salt marshes, mangroves, and other coastal wetlands have been degraded by losses of vegetative and hydrological connectivity associated with human development. This strategy focuses on restoring fundamental ecological functions and processes that maintain appropriate flooding regimes and water quality for wetland plant communities and associated fish and wildlife, as well as the dynamic conditions that allow these systems to respond to and recover from stressors and extreme events.

Featured Case Studies:

1. Restoring Vegetation and Hydrology in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (Albemarle-Pamlico Estuary in Dare and Hyde Counties, North Carolina, United States)
2. Restoring Tidal Flow and Enhancing Shoreline Resilience in the Nisqually River Delta (Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in the South Puget Sound region, Washington, United States)
3. Restoration of Mangroves and Hydrological Flows in Mexico (Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve, Nayarit, Mexico)

About the Toolkit

This brief is based on adaptation strategies and case studies from the Climate Adaptation Toolkit for Marine and Coastal Protected Areas (MPA Toolkit), an online resource created to make climate adaptation planning a simple, direct, and feasible process for marine protected area managers. The MPA Toolkit contains:

• A step-by-step guide to undertaking a Rapid Vulnerability Assessment for marine and coastal areas
• Structured and searchable adaptation strategy ideas with supporting case studies, reports and tools
• Foundational adaptation resources
• Selected experts who can be contacted for technical guidance

Affiliated Organizations

EcoAdapt

EcoAdapt is at the center of climate change adaptation innovation. We provide support, training, and assistance to make conservation and management less vulnerable and more Climate Savvy. Over the past 200 years, great strides have been made in the world of conservation and now all of that is at risk because of climate change. EcoAdapt is working to ensure the success of these past efforts by delivering a framework for climate adaptation.

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Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Since 1994, Canada, Mexico and the United States have collaborated in protecting North America's environment through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).

The NAAEC came into force at the same time as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and marks a commitment that liberalization of trade and economic growth in North America would be accompanied by effective cooperation and continuous improvement in the environmental protection provided by each country.

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