Last summer and fall, the Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity (Parks Institute) facilitated a collaboration to explore conservation and natural resource issues, frame a vision for 21st century conservation policies, and accelerate progress towards ambitious conservation goals. The "Conservation Conversations" webinar series hosted experts from eight natural resource centers and institutes, associated with nine universities across the Western United States.
Now the group has released a new report that compiles summaries, key observations, and policy recommendations from the series into a single document. The report, titled "Addressing 21st Century Conservation Challenges to Benefit Our People, Economy, and Environment," outlines key findings from the series while asking top professionals and academics to identify conservation policies for the incoming Biden-Harris administration. The series and the report cover a wide range of issues, including climate change and biodiversity management, rural economies' relationship to conservation, carbon sequestration, climate justice in cities, transboundary conservation, and resource co-management with Native Americans tribes.
"Our hope is that this document will be helpful in framing the conservation agenda for the Biden-Harris administration or other conservation efforts at the state level," says Jon Jarvis, the chair of the board and former director of the Parks Institute. "In addition, we have suggested that this collaboration between the centers is a viable model for addressing complex conservation issues as they arise."
The first webinar in the series was hosted by the Parks Institute in July. Jarvis moderated a panel featuring faculty from the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Justin Brashares and Patrick Gonzalez, which focused on how to acheive the "30 by 30" biodiversity conservation target. Past talks in the series can be viewed at the Conservation Conversations website.
The Conservation Coversations series is a collaboration between the Parks Institute and institutes at Boise State University, Colorado State University, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, the University of Colorado, the University of Montana, the University of Wyoming, and Utah State University.
Learn more: