<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div>News from the Wildlife Conservation Society: </div><div><br>
<p class="MsoNormal">A new study published in <i>Nature Climate Change</i> says some manmade climate adaptation strategies will leave us worse off, and that keeping forests, corals and mangroves intact is the best defense of all. Link to the paper is below.
Authors are available for interview.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stephen Sautner<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>**NEWS FROM WCS**<u></u><u></u></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">CONTACT: MARY DIXON: (1-347-840-1242; <a href="mailto:mdixon@wcs.org" target="_blank">
mdixon@wcs.org</a>)<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">STEPHEN SAUTNER: (1-718-220-3682; <a href="mailto:ssautner@wcs.org" title="mailto:ssautner@wcs.org" target="_blank">
ssautner@wcs.org</a><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black">STUDY: Intact Nature Offers Best Defense Against Climate Change</span></b><b><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;text-autospace:none">
<b>Many climate adaptation strategies such as sea wall construction and new agricultural practices do more harm than good<u></u><u></u></b></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;text-autospace:none">
<b>Native forests reduce the frequency and severity of floods<u></u><u></u></b></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;text-autospace:none">
<b>Coral reefs can reduce wave energy by an average of 97 per cent, providing a more cost-effective defense from storm surges than engineered structures<u></u><u></u></b></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;text-autospace:none">
<b>The cost of adaptation to climate change could reach 100 billion per year<u></u><u></u></b></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black">Link to study:</span></b><span style="color:black">
</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color:#1f497d"><a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n2/full/nclimate2918.html" target="_blank">http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n2/full/nclimate2918.html</a></span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black">Photo:</span></b><span style="color:black"> Intact forests like this one in Madagascar
</span><span style="color:black">represent our greatest protection against floods and storms. CREDIT: Julie Larsen Maher/WCS<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">Twitter:
<a href="https://twitter.com/WCSNewsroom/status/692711562193145858" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/WCSNewsroom/status/692711562193145858</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><a href="http://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8543/STUDY-Some-Climate-Adaptations-do-More-Harm-Than-Good.aspx" target="_blank">WCS Newsroom</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>NEW YORK (January 28, 2016) – </b><span style="color:black">Worldwide responses to climate change could leave people worse off in the future according to a recent study conducted by CSIRO, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the
University of Queensland. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">The paper, “Intact ecosystems provide the best defense against climate change,” published today in
<i>Nature Climate Change</i>, discusses how certain adaptation strategies may have a negative impact on nature which in turn will impact people in the long-term.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">“In response to climate change, many local communities around the world are rapidly adjusting their livelihood practices to cope with climate change, sometimes with catastrophic implications
for nature,” according to CSIRO’s principal research scientist Dr. Tara Martin.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">The authors say that
</span><span style="color:black">in Australia and Canada, conservation reserves are being used as drought relief to feed livestock, while forests in the Congo Basin in Africa are being cleared for agriculture in response to drought, and coral reefs are being
destroyed to build sea walls from the low-lying islands in Melanesia. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">Dr. Martin added: “These are just few of the human responses to climate change that, if left unchallenged, may leave us worse off in the future due to their impacts on nature. Functioning
and intact, forests, grasslands, wetlands and coral reefs represent our greatest protection against floods and storms.”
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">The paper states that intact native forests have been shown to reduce the frequency and severity of floods, while coral reefs can reduce wave energy by an average of 97 per cent, providing
a more cost-effective defense from storm surges than engineered structures. <u></u>
<u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">Likewise, coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and tidal marshes are proving to be a more cost-effective and ecologically sound alternative to buffering storms than conventional coastal
engineering solutions.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">Co-author Dr James Watson, a lead scientist with WCS and Principle Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, said that with more than 100 million people per year at risk from
increasing floods and tropical cyclones, ill-conceived adaptation measures that destroy the ecosystems, which offer our most effective and inexpensive line of defense, must be avoided.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">“The cost of adaptation to climate change could reach 100 billion per year in the coming decades but this is small change when we consider the environmental and economic fallout from
not using nature to help us cope with climate change,” said Dr. Watson.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">Dr. Watson added: “If we consider another perverse mechanism contributing to climate change, fossil fuel subsidies, it is small change. A recent report by the International Monetary
Fund estimates global energy subsidies for 2015 at $US5.3 trillion per year. Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies would slash global carbon emission by 20 percent and raise government revenue by 2.9 trillion, well over the funds needed for intelligent policy
and action on climate adaptation.”<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black">“Fortunately some adaptation strategies are being developed that do not destroy nature, some of which are even ecosystem-based. The protection and restoration of mangrove forests that
is actively funded by agencies such as USAID is a prime example,” Dr. Watson said.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p style="line-height:16.2pt;background:white"><span><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society)</span></b></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="line-height:16.2pt;background:white"><span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring
people to value nature. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in nearly 60 nations and in all the world’s oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people
annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit:
<a href="http://newsroom.wcs.org" target="_blank">newsroom.wcs.org</a> Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: <a href="tel:347-840-1242" target="_blank">347-840-1242</a>.</span></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stephen Sautner<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Executive Director of Communications<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wildlife Conservation Society<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bronx Zoo<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bronx, NY 10460<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">P: 718-220-3682<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:ssautner@wcs.org" target="_blank">ssautner@wcs.org</a><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Skype: scsautner<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://newsroom.wcs.org" target="_blank">newsroom.wcs.org</a><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Follow: @WCSNewsroom<u></u><u></u></p>
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<td>Meenakshi Nagendran, PhD, DVM<br>Wildlife Biologist<br>U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service<br>Division of International Conservation<br>5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: IA<br>Falls Church, VA 22041-3803<br>(p) (703) 358-2315<br>(f) (703) 358-2115<br><a href="mailto:Meenakshi_nagendran@fws.gov" target="_blank">Meenakshi_nagendran@fws.gov</a><br><br><div><br></div><div><img src="http://www.fws.gov/international/images/stampoutextinction.jpg" alt="Stamp out extinction with the Save Vanishing Species Stamp"><br></div></td>
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