Woods Institute - Climate & Conservation Workshop

Climate and Energy

Freshwater

Land Use and Conservation

Oceans and Estuaries

Sustainable Built Environment

February 23 - 24, 2009
Yang and Yamazaki Energy and Environment Building, Stanford
Red Atrium, Conference Room 299
Sponsored by the Woods Institute for the Environment and
The Nature Conservancy

Workshop Agenda

Day 0: Sunday, February 22

06:00 pm - 09:00 pm

Dinner Reception
Shuttle service available to and from the Stanford Guest House

Day 1: Monday, February 23

08:00 am		Continental Breakfast
08:30 am		Welcome, Introduction, Goals of Workshop
09:00 am		Relevant Science What do we know about the potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and conservation generally? How might climate change affect the goals of conservation easements and private conservation efforts?
10:15 am		Break
10:30 am		What Are the Implications of Climate Change for Private Conservation Instruments and Policy? How do the scientific changes discussed in the first session affect the viability of private conservation easements and policy? Are current conservation easements, for example, sufficiently broad to permit conservation organizations to take the actions needed to respond to climate change? Do conservation easements need to be more flexible in order to permit adaptation to climate change (e.g., by changing the land areas needed to be protected)? Conversely, will climate change put existing conservation easements at risk by giving land owners a new defense?
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm		Lunch
01:00 pm		Drafting Conservation Easements in an Era of Climate Change What do the concerns raised in the second session tell us about how we should be drafting conservation easements in the future? To what degree can the concerns be addressed by changes in the drafting of conservation easements without changes in the underlying law? What drafting guidelines could help conservation organizations in addressing the various concerns raised?
02:30 pm		Break
02:45 pm		What Legal Changes Might Be Worth Pursuing? Do any of the concerns raised in the second session require changes in the law, including tax law, underlying future conservation easements or other private conservation instruments? For example, should the law provide for greater flexibility or make it easier for conservation organizations to "swap" protected land? What are the pros and cons of potential legal changes?
04:15 pm		Break
04:30 pm		Existing Conservation Easements The last two sessions have dealt with changes in the drafting of, and law underlying, future conservation easements? Do the concerns raised in the morning call for modifications of existing conservation easements or the law underlying them? If so, what special issues do such modifications raise? How might those issues be addressed?
05:30 pm		Adjourn
05:30 pm - 08:30 pm		Reception and Dinner Spalti Restaurant 417 California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA Shuttle service available before dinner from Y2E2 to Spalti and after dinner from Spalti to the Stanford Guest House

Day 2: Tuesday, February 24

08:00 am		Continental Breakfast
08:30 am		New Forms of Private Conservation Instruments Could new forms for conservation instruments help address some or all of the concerns raised during the first day? For example, could we develop �shifting conservation easements� that automatically move as climate change affects the environment (like a conservation easement that automatically moves inland with changes in sea level)? What types of new conservation instruments should be considered? Are new laws required to create such instruments? What are the pros and cons of such instruments?
10:00 am		Break
10:15 am		Developing a Research and Action Agenda What needs to be done to advance the ideas developed during the earlier sessions of the workshop � and to develop and advance additional proposals that could effectively address the concerns? What research would be valuable in further developing the ideas, answering potential questions, and developing new proposals? What political, legal, or institutional obstacles will change confront? How might those obstacles be addressed? Who needs to be involved in moving the ideas of the workshop forward? How can they best be engaged? What are the useful steps to take next and who should take them?
12:15 pm		Synthesis A summary of next steps and assignments.
12:30 pm		Adjourn Lunch Available.

Climate & Conservation Workshop: » Overview; » Agenda; » Logistics; » Participant List