In December 2022, representatives from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation were present in Montreal, Canada when 188 countries made an historic commitment adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). As a main outcome of Convention on Biological Diversity’s 15th Conference of the Parties, the GBF is now the most significant agreement to date for bolstering global cooperation to conserve and restore nature. Since then, the Center has been engaging in discussions and planning across its networks of experts and institutions to best coordinate actions to support lasting conservation gains on the ground. With the importance of connectivity and landscape- and seascape-scale approaches emphasized in the GBF, it is clear that the Center has a significant role to play in its implementation.
Recently, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an unprecedented resolution recognizing the critical importance of ecological connectivity worldwide. The resolution, sponsored by Kyrgyzstan and signed by 60 other countries, encourages all 193 country members to enhance habitat and species connectivity to preserve ecosystems and wildlife corridors that share borders between countries.
While people throughout the United States—and across the globe—have emerged from a major pandemic, we continue to face another grave threat: climate change. One only needs to pick up a newspaper or turn on the television to learn of the most recent natural disaster to devastate a community, from forest fires and extreme drought to hurricanes and floods. Changes in weather, temperatures, and precipitation are simultaneously impacting how we live and how we plan for the future.
The Board of Directors of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) announced today that the organization’s visionary founder, Gary Tabor, will retire from his role as CEO of CLLC. Mary Pearl, Chair of the CLLC Board of Directors, made the announcement: “Gary Tabor let the Board know of his plans to retire from his role as CEO after leading this organization since he founded it eighteen years ago in 2007. Through CLLC he developed an entirely new sector of conservation theory and practice, and all of us at CLLC are grateful to Gary for his leadership, drive and service. The Board will now begin the task of identifying his successor while we celebrate Gary’s contribution to our collective goals in large landscape conservation and ecological connectivity.”
On May 8, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill into law that will help keep drivers and wildlife safe on the state’s roadways. House Bill 855 creates a dedicated fund and authorizes a new state specialty license plate expected to generate up to $160,000 per year. Revenues from sales of the plate will help contribute to the planning, design, and construction of wildlife crossing structures, which have been proven to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. The Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) supported the bill as part of its work to advance solutions that reconnect fragmented wildlife habitat in Montana and globally.
Many of us are familiar with Biosphere 2, the research facility created in Arizona to demonstrate the viability of closed ecological systems to support and maintain human life in outer space. However, biosphere regions are model landscapes for sustainable development through collaboration and engagement. They are places designated for their unique beauty and biodiversity, and also recognized for their value to the communities of people living there, making them ideal models for large landscape conservation. The Center for Large Landscape Conservation’s Senior Conservation Scientist Dr. Annika Keeley recently had the opportunity to attend and present at EuroMAB—an international gathering of biosphere region leaders—to discuss the critical role connectivity conservation plays in these extraordinary places.
Many remarkable long-distance migrations of wildlife occur around the world every year to ensure that animals arrive at the right place at the right time for feeding, mating, and birthing. Meanwhile, shorter-distance movements, such as those of black bears, are less epic but no less important in the quest to find suitable mates, food, and den sites. But what happens when love is in the air, but movement becomes difficult due to habitat fragmentation? The short-term effect may be a missed connection, but in the long-term, it could reduce the genetic diversity that helps keep wildlife populations healthy.
As Foundation & Grants Manager, Megan works to raise awareness and funds for the Center. She is an advocate for preserving wild landscapes and protecting wildlife populations through science-based strategies. Megan is passionate about connecting organizations with enthusiastic supporters who are eager to make a difference in their community and across the globe, believing that
Assess. Protect. Evaluate. Assessing Linear Infrastructure Threats to Great Apes and Gibbons in Three Key Landscapes Apes, which include critically endangered species such as gorillas and orangutans, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of linear infrastructure development as their forest homes become further fragmented and human disturbance increases. With support from the Arcus Foundation, the
This past month was a historic one for landscape conservation and connectivity in the United States. Each week in March of this year, the Biden administration rolled out a major new initiative to conserve and restore lands, waters, and wildlife across large regions of the country. The recent slew of announcements demonstrates that our movement to think and act on conservation at the landscape level has come of age.
