Climate Change
WCS uses cutting-edge science to understand the impacts of
climate change on wildlife and natural resources, plan conservation for a
rapidly changing world, and implement on-the-ground solutions to protect ecosystems.
Our Goal
Address the causes and effects of climate change on the ecosystems on which both wildlife and human communities depend.
Why WCS?
WCS has become one of the world's most respected institutions for climate science on the effects of climate change on biodiversity. In addition:
$10 million
By the end of 2015 WCS will have invested more than $10 million in more than 50 projects taking action to restore habitat and increase the resiliency of ecosystems across the United States.
43 million metric tons
We are projected to have helped avoid at least 43 million metric tons of CO2 emissions through just two of our REDD+ Projects, in Cambodia and Madagascar.
4.8 million hectares
We have protected nearly 4.8 million hectares of forest over 15 landscapes in 11 countries through REDD+ demonstration products.
On Our Work
Climate Adaptation
WCS is making a difference on this around the world.
- In Madagascar, our science on climate change and coral reefs is helping to re-prioritize where government and local communities establish marine protected areas.
- In Papua New Guinea, WCS is assisting small island communities in improving available information on climate change, increasing food security through climate-adapted agricultural practices, and enhancing community-based tools and approaches for climate change adaptation.
- In the western United States, WCS is working to increase habitat connectivity for grizzly bears (a species for which nutritious high-elevation food sources are being impacted by warming temperatures and disease), through restoration of riparian areas that serve as critical movement corridors as bears seek new resources.
Climate Mitigation
We address the causes of climate change primarily by protecting large swaths of tropical forest that would emit CO2 if destroyed.
Through an international approach called REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) we help governments, forest managers, and local communities to:
- Quantify and value the climate benefits provided by forest conservation.
- Receive payments in recognition of reducing deforestation.
- Re-invest those payments in low-carbon and climate resilient paths to sustainable development.
The Makira REDD+ Project
The project reduces deforestation in the Makira Natural Park in Madagascar—a protected area of 372,000 hectares or more than twice the size of greater London. We work with communities around the forest in a 'protection zone' of 350,000 hectares to develop sustainable livelihoods. Twenty percent of net revenues from carbon sales is invested in conservation activities within the park and 50 percent goes directly to local communities.
The Seima Protection Forest REDD+ Project
Located in eastern Cambodia, the project protects a key forest area in the foothills of the Annamite mountains of southern Indochina. It is an area of international importance for the conservation of primates, Asian elephants, wild cattle and many other species. The project has been validated by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and expects to be verified by VCS and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCB) by mid-2016.
Trillion Trees
Combining forest protection with the restoration of degraded lands has the potential to deliver up to a third of the climate mitigation action necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change. WCS has recently established a major new initiative to conserve and restore forests in partnership with WWF and Birdlife International. The partnership, called Trillion Trees, will increase the scope and scale of our work on REDD+ and other promising solutions, and leverage greater action on forest restoration through our global network of field projects. The Trillion Trees vision raises our collective ambition and looks beyond a “zero deforestation” future to one where forests and trees are returning on a large scale.
Related News
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September 11, 2018
New Analysis Says Indigenous Peoples Living in Intact Forests Are Key to Climate Fight
A new analysis released by WCS, University of Queensland, Charles Darwin University, University of Maryland, and others shows that Indigenous Peoples are critical to maintaining intact forest landscapes that are essential for avoiding catastrophic...
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September 7, 2018
Planting Cocoa to Save Forests in Makira, Northeastern Madagascar
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July 26, 2018
Study Discovers Just 13 Percent of World’s Oceans are “Wilderness”
An international study published today in the journal Current Biology discovered that only 13 percent of the ocean can still be classified as wilderness.
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View All News
New Analysis Says Indigenous Peoples Living in Intact Forests Are Key to Climate Fight
A new analysis released by WCS, University of Queensland, Charles Darwin University, University of Maryland, and others shows that Indigenous Peoples are critical to maintaining intact forest landscapes that are essential for avoiding catastrophic...
Read the storyPlanting Cocoa to Save Forests in Makira, Northeastern Madagascar
Read the storyStudy Discovers Just 13 Percent of World’s Oceans are “Wilderness”
An international study published today in the journal Current Biology discovered that only 13 percent of the ocean can still be classified as wilderness.
Read the storyStand for Wildlife
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