Changing Climate,Challenging Choices: Identifying and Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation Options for Protected Areas Management in Ontario,Canada |
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Authors: | Christopher J Lemieux Daniel J Scott |
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Institution: | (1) Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University/Centre for Applied Science in Ontario Protected Areas, University of Waterloo, 75 University Ave. West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada;(2) University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada |
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Abstract: | Climate change will pose increasingly significant challenges to managers of parks and other forms of protected areas around
the world. Over the past two decades, numerous scientific publications have identified potential adaptations, but their suitability
from legal, policy, financial, internal capacity, and other management perspectives has not been evaluated for any protected
area agency or organization. In this study, a panel of protected area experts applied a Policy Delphi methodology to identify
and evaluate climate change adaptation options across the primary management areas of a protected area agency in Canada. The
panel identified and evaluated one hundred and sixty five (165) adaptation options for their perceived desirability and feasibility.
While the results revealed a high level of agreement with respect to the desirability of adaptation options and a moderate
level of capacity pertaining to policy formulation and management direction, a perception of low capacity for implementation
in most other program areas was identified. A separate panel of senior park agency decision-makers used a multiple criterion
decision-facilitation matrix to further evaluate the institutional feasibility of the 56 most desirable adaptation options
identified by the initial expert panel and to prioritize them for consideration in a climate change action plan. Critically,
only two of the 56 adaptation options evaluated by senior decision-makers were deemed definitely implementable, due largely
to fiscal and internal capacity limitations. These challenges are common to protected area agencies in developed countries
and pervade those in developing countries, revealing that limited adaptive capacity represents a substantive barrier to biodiversity
conservation and other protected area management objectives in an era of rapid climate change. |
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