International climate conservation efforts will be given a major boost at a summit hosted at the award-winning Yorkshire Wildlife Park this week.
Experts from the Climate Change Specialist Group of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation and Nature) will agree the plan for the next stages of a significant new climate change initiative to promote a deeper understanding of climate change, its impacts, and the responses required to protect biodiversity in this rapidly changing world.
This work follows on from groundbreaking and award-winning initiatives by the group funded by the WildLife Foundation in producing the ‘Guidelines for Assessing Species Vulnerability to Climate Change’ for global use by conservation professionals.
The guidelines were developed by the Specialist Group, which is a volunteer network of nearly 60 scientists from across the globe. The guidelines can be applied to any species from plants to polar bears.
On Wednesday 15th January, the IUCN will be launching the release of the ‘Guidelines for Assessing Vulnerability to Climate Change’ into Spanish which provide step by step guidance and information across a variety of different species’ case studies enabling the conservation researchers to apply best guidance to their chosen species. This will be of great value especially to Spanish speaking countries in South America which face many challenges.
Climate Change Specialist Group member Nicolette Roach said: “The release of the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA) in Spanish is a great step toward increasing inclusivity in conservation science. This Spanish version will hopefully help promote CCVA’s across Spanish-speaking countries, which maintain immense amounts of biodiversity.”
Chair of the Climate Change Specialist Group, Dr Wendy Foden added: “We are extremely glad that the support of the WildLife Foundation has facilitated the production of these important guidelines.We recognise the incredibly valuable role that the Yorkshire Wildlife Park and the Foundation play in helping people to understand climate change and how to combat it, and we greatly appreciate working together to ensure that the guidelines reach those who need them.”
The four-day summit and workshop which started on Tuesday 14th January is being held at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. It is attended by ten of the leading Climate and Conservation experts in the world who are the Steering Committee for the 60 strong worldwide Climate Change Specialist Group. They will be working to plan the next steps of climate change initiatives whilst celebrating the translation of the guidelines into Spanish.
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