The potential impacts of climate change are already influencing the choices that coastal communities make about their built and natural environments. To help practitioners and planners prepare for the far-reaching effects of these changes, the EBM Tools Network today released a free publication, Tools for Coastal Climate Adaptation Planning: A guide for selecting tools to assist with ecosystem-based climate planning.
The guide is designed to assist coastal resource managers and community planners responsible for understanding and preparing for climate-related effects. By focusing on software and web-based applications that leverage geospatial information, Tools for Coastal Adaptation Planning will help these professionals account for the health and well-being of ecosystems and human communities in projects and plans.
The guide targets practitioners and decision makers involved in conservation, local planning, and the management of coastal zones, natural resources, protected areas, habitat, and watersheds in the coastal United States including the Great Lakes. In addtion to detailed information about a key collection of visualization, modeling, and decision-support tools, Tools for Coastal Climate Adaptation Planning offers instructive case studies about how other professionals have successfully applied the tools in a several coastal communities in the United States. Professionals from inland and international regions may also benefit from the guide’s lessons.
Funded with the support of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, Tools for Coastal Climate Adaptation Planning can be downloaded free at www.natureserve.org/climatetoolsguide.