SECSC support for development of a SE Conservation Adamptation Strategy (SECAS)

The question is no longer whether “global” changes in land use and climate will happen. Instead, the question is whether the Earth’s inhabitants will be able to manage such changes in a way that enhances the sustainability of the coupled human and natural systems on which the integrity of life on Earth depends. The Department of the Interior’s Southeast Climate Science Center (SECSC), collaborating with the six Landscape Conservation Cooperatives in the Southeastern US, will develop a Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) framework for connecting the key values of those whose decisions shape the landscape in the southeast, the management strategies that are under consideration, and the impacts of climate and land use changes on both conservation and production-oriented landscapes.   The development and implementation of such a framework is not without challenges, both from a science standpoint (these coupled systems are complex) and because of the diversity of stakeholders and values that may influence resource management decisions.  A successful approach for developing the SECAS framework must be based on a “conversation and listening” –directed model of science focused by what matters to decision makers and stakeholders in the context of the decisions they have to make.