Racing the clock: Rapid climate change forces extreme conservation strategies

Scientists are, for the first time, objectively evaluating ways to help species adapt to rapid climate change and other environmental threats via strategies that were considered too radical for serious consideration as recently as five or 10 years ago. Among these radical strategies currently being considered is so-called “managed relocation.” Managed relocation, which is also known as “assisted migration,” involves manually moving species into more accommodating habitats where they are not currently found.

…So why is managed relocation, a once-taboo and potentially harmful strategy, now being seriously considered? “Because,” says Hellmann, “it is becomingly overwhelmingly evident that climate change is a reality; and it is fast and large. Consequences will arise within decades, not centuries.” So action seems much more important now than it did even five or 10 years ago when atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases were lower. Now, we are committed to greater degrees of climate change.”

What’s more, a “do nothing” response to climate change involves significant risks. Hellman says, “We have previously been able to say, ‘let nature run its course.’ But because humans have already changed the world, there is no letting nature run its course anymore. Now, action, like inaction, has potential negative consequences.” So, adds Richardson, “we must develop new tools and new ways to balance the risks of inaction vs. action.”

Eurekalert