In the coming decades, human-caused climate change may become the most severe and widespread threat to wildlife and ecosystems worldwide. Adverse impacts of climate change are already in evidence, even in places that are relatively untouched by human activities. It essential that we consider the effects of climate change on our conservation work to ensure the long-term success of the investments that we are making today. To incentivize new and innovative efforts to help wildlife and ecosystems respond to climate change, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation have created the WCS Climate Adaptation Fund. Between 2011 and 2016, the WCS Climate Adaptation Fund awarded more than $12 million to 66 adaptation projects across the United States. This portfolio includes both traditional and new conservation tools applied in strategic ways to help wildlife and ecosystems adapt to particular climate impacts, including decreasing water availability, increasing risks from floods and wildfire, rising sea levels, direct effects on species and their habitats, and changing human behaviors and land use as people also respond and adapt to a changing climate.*
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