News and Updates Archives - Center for Large Landscape Conservation

The Center for Large Landscape Conservation Receives 2024 Distinguished Landscape Practitioner Award

The Center for Large Landscape Conservations is proud to be the 2024 recipient of the North American Chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE-NA) Distinguished Landscape Practitioner Award. This honor recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of applied landscape ecology. Landscape ecology is an interdisciplinary science broadly concerned with the study, management, planning and design of landscapes. In the face of significant transformation of natural landscapes by human communities and climate change, its importance is only growing.

Assessment Identifies Opportunities to Reduce Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions on US 89 North of Yellowstone

Roughly 50% of all highway accidents on US 89 north of Yellowstone National Park—between Livingston and Gardiner, Montana—are wildlife related. In response to this growing and dangerous problem, a locally led partnership called Yellowstone Safe Passages (YSP) just took a major step toward finding solutions by completing a comprehensive assessment of wildlife-vehicle collisions on this stretch of highway, conducted by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and YSP partners.

The Center Leads the Charge for Ecological Connectivity at UN Negotiations to Save Migratory Wildlife

They run. They fly. They swim. Migratory species from elephants to golden eagles to sea turtles cover vast distances and often cross borders to survive. In February 2024, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation joined countries, partners, and experts in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to increase commitments and contributions to conserve migratory wildlife and their habitats around the world. Under the motto “Nature Knows No Borders,” more than 1,000 participants attended the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS/CoP-14), the first to be hosted in a Central Asian country.

2023 Annual Report: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

We are pleased to share with you the Center for Large Landscape Conservation’s 2023 Annual Report, which features many of our activities, accomplishments, and partnerships from the past year. It highlights how, with your support, we are making strides to advance ecological connectivity for climate resilience worldwide through science, policy, practice, and collaboration.

2022 Annual Report: Making Connections Across the Globe

As the year draws to a close, we are pleased to share with you our 2022 Annual Report. While it would be impossible to cover all of the Center’s work from the past year, we’re taking this opportunity to highlight a few programs and accomplishments that our generous supporters helped make possible. This report is also a celebration of the ways in which partnerships and collaboration with colleagues and institutions worldwide play a vital role in achieving our mission.

A herd of caribou grazes in a tundra field in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Room to Roam: Connecting Data and People to Protect Wildlife Migrations

In an era where climate change, habitat loss, poaching and other human impacts put many species at risk, there is a need to understand where animals go and what they need to thrive. A new NASA-funded project—Room to Roam: Y2Y Wildlife Movements (Room2Roam)—aims to accelerate data analysis and coordination to improve wildlife management efforts across borders. The ambitious effort includes a regional network of partners in a major migration corridor of western North America.

Grant Program Drives Collaborative, Local Action to Achieve National Conservation Goals

This is a watershed moment for conservation in the United States. The Biden administration’s America the Beautiful initiative—along with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Law—is driving unprecedented levels of funding into the restoration, stewardship, and conservation of our lands and waters. But this influx of federal project delivery funding reveals a gap that needs to be filled: the on-the-ground capacity to get the work done. The Catalyst Fund, with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, aims to build capacity and help local and regional partnerships contribute toward achieving national conservation goals.

The Center Launches Ape Protection Project in Asia and Africa

High above the ground, amidst the dense forest canopy cover of South and East Asia, you may be lucky enough to spot one of the most intriguing ape species on the planet. Gibbons live among the treetops and move by brachiating, or swinging with their arms. They can reach speeds upwards of 35 miles per hour (Usain Bolt’s maximum speed was 27 mph) and have been known to jump across gaps as large as 30 feet. Unfortunately, these fascinating and elusive apes are one of the most threatened families of primates, with 19 of the 20 species listed as endangered or critically endangered.

Credit Living Habitats And National Wildlife Federation

Slew of States Pass Legislation This Year to Build Wildlife Crossings

In 2022, states across the country have passed legislation to take advantage of historic, new federal funding for wildlife crossing structures. Over just the past six months, seven states have enacted laws that set aside the required state match to federal grants for infrastructure projects that reconnect habitat. Many of these state policies also facilitate coordination between transportation and natural resource agencies—as well as collaboration with diverse stakeholders—to identify projects that will most effectively reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity.

Career Opportunity: Connectivity Science Coordinator

Would you like to be part of the solution to biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation? Do you wish to join a team in a supportive, flexible, and dynamic work environment? The Center for Large Landscape Conservation brings science, policy, and proven solutions directly to communities working to protect and restore the health and climate integrity of the planet through large-scale conservation measures. We’re a leader in the fast-growing global movement to reverse landscape fragmentation, restore nature’s resilience to climate change, and support community-led action.

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