The Role of Decision Support Tools and Toolkits in Improving Conservation Capacity

Finding the Right Tool(s) for Coastal Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning

Many coastal natural resource managers and communities have begun to plan for the impacts of climate change on their local ecosystems and infrastructure. Practitioners are finding it difficult to select tools suited to their needs and capacities, however, because of the wide variety of tools, the difficulty of finding easily-understandable information about tool functions, and the lack of ways to compare different tools (e.g. their functionality, data and training requirements, and strengths and limitations). The EBM Tools Network released a decision guide, Tools for Coastal Climate Adaptation Planning, in early March. The guide provides information on a set of key tools for multi-sector climate-related planning (i.e. planning which incorporates both ecosystem health and human well-being concerns), explains and illustrates the utility and role of tools in planning, and outlines a process for selecting appropriate tools for a projects. This webinar will provide a short overview of resources provided in the guide (tool matrix, other tool information, case studies, etc.) and use the remaining time for answering questions from participants about the guide and incorporating climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning tools into planning processes. A number of tool experts will also be on hand to answer questions about specific tools described in the guide….