Moving forward with biodiversity protection in a changing world, conservationists must be realistic about incorporating the changing climate into their projects. Most importantly, planning and implementing conservation on a regional scale will become paramount. Climate and Conservation offers guidance and inspiration in this endeavor by presenting place-based case studies from around the world, all drawn from leading scientists, managers, and practitioners working to protect biodiversity by protecting landscapes and seascapes from the threat of climate change.

The book begins with an introductory section that frames the issues and takes a systematic look at planning for climate change adaptation. The nineteen chapters that follow examine particular case studies in every part of the world, including landscapes and seascapes from equatorial, temperate, montane, polar, and marine and freshwater regions. Projects profiled range from North American grasslands to boreal forests to coral reefs to Alpine freshwater environments.

Chapter authors have extensive experience in their respective regions and are actively engaged in working on climate-related issues. Some, such as Antarctica and the Amazon, will be familiar to most readers, while others, such as the Altai-Sayan Mountains or Sundarban mangrove forests, will not; all, however, stand at the forefront of the “new thinking” about conservation imposed by the challenge of climate change. The result is a collection of geographical case studies that allows for effective cross-comparison while at the same time recognizing the uniqueness of each situation and locale.

Climate and Conservation offers readers tangible, place-based examples of projects designed to protect large landscapes as a means of conserving biodiversity in the face of the looming threat of global climate change. It informs readers of how a diverse set of conservation actors have been responding to climate change at a scale that matches the problem, and is an essential contribution for anyone involved with large-scale biodiversity conservation.

Jodi A. Hilty is Director of the North America Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Charles C. Chester teaches global environmental politics at Tufts and Brandeis Universities. Molly S. Cross is the Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator for the North America Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society.