Overview
Massachusetts is experiencing greater climate variability and greater weather extremes, which in turn amplifies other threats such as habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, pollution, and invasive species spread.
This matters because so much of our quality of life is tied to nature. In Massachusetts and across the world, climate change is affecting the natural systems that clean our air, filter our water, supply our food, and provide us recreational opportunities.
Consideration of climate change is important to biodiversity conservation as all species and habitats are impacted. The increasingly severe effects of climate change exert stress on global biodiversity—and Massachusetts is not immune. We currently have 432 animals and plants on the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act list. Land development and road construction destroy and fragment habitat. Invasive species and emerging diseases threaten native wildlife, plants, and ecosystems. Pollution of our air, soil, oceans, and rivers degrades habitats, affecting the animals and plants that rely on them. And climate change amplifies these adverse effects.
Climate solutions can be found everywhere. Biodiverse, climate resilient habitats can remove carbon from the atmosphere and provide resiliency against the worsening impacts of climate change like extreme weather events, heat, and sea level rise. At MassWildlife, strategies focus on landscapes, habitats, and species here in Massachusetts and across the region: protecting them, researching them, and working across constituencies to ensure their continued conservation. There are several strategies that make up MassWildlife’s climate work.
These strategies serve many purposes in advancing MassWildlife’s mission of restoring, protecting, and managing land for wildlife to thrive and for people to enjoy. Read on to learn how these efforts contribute to conserving biodiversity, advancing climate adaptation, and increasing climate mitigation.
Land protection
MassWildlife’s land protection efforts have a local focus and work towards increasing habitat connectivity and permanently protecting land from development through the purchasing of land and conservation easements.
Why land protection is important
Land protection advances Massachusetts’ climate change resiliency goals by protecting critical habitats such as wetlands, streams, forests, and salt marshes. These absorb carbon dioxide, work to retain flood waters in extreme weather events, and connect large swaths of terrestrial and aquatic habitat. In addition to increasing climate resilience, this connectivity allows plants and animals the ability to adapt to changing weather conditions.
To aid land protection efforts statewide, MassWildlife and The Nature Conservancy released the newest BioMap in late 2022. This tool focuses conservation planning on areas of high biodiversity to further climate goals.
Executive Order No. 618
MassWildlife’s land conservation efforts work towards the biodiversity goals set in Executive Order No. 618, signed in September 2023. Read the Executive Order.
Habitat restoration and management
In today's altered landscape, many habitats need active restoration and management to remove invasive species, restore natural processes, mitigate changes to water quality or quantity and improve climate resilience. MassWildlife uses active management to maintain and restore a range of upland, aquatic and wetland habitats that support both common and declining species.
Why habitat restoration and management is important
Nearly 40% of the rare and declining species in Massachusetts require active management of their habitats. Habitat management and restoration are a necessary component of improving climate resiliency and protecting biodiversity in the Commonwealth. Habitat management is also critical for common species, including deer and turkey. Read more about habitat restoration.
Learn about habitat restoration funding
MassWildlife staff assist with reviewing and prioritizing applications for funding under the MassWildlife Habitat Management Grant Program.
Research
To mitigate climate-related challenges, MassWildlife takes a proactive approach using the best available science. MassWildlife staff scientists lead and collaborate on cutting-edge research that will help wildlife and humans mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Why research is important
Research is used to inform regulatory, habitat management, and general conservation decisions, allowing MassWildlife staff to improve the scientific knowledge base needed to protect important natural resources from the impacts of climate change, such as coldwater refugia for freshwater fishes (Ebersole et. al, 2020). It also allows staff to evaluate species’ vulnerability to climate change stresses under current and projected climate change scenarios (Galbraith and Morelli, 2017). Research improves the capacity of MassWildlife, as well as other agencies and partners, to prioritize and implement future actions designed to strengthen the resilience of habitats across the Commonwealth.
Collaboration
Wildlife Section biologists develop, conduct, and maintain research projects in collaboration with staff from our five district offices, and in collaboration with partners such as the USGS Coop Unit at UMASS Amherst, NGOs (Mass Audubon, TNC, The Trustees, MassRivers, Trout Unlimited), regional partners, other state agencies, and municipalities, among others. Learn more about MassWildlife's collaboration on climate adaptation.
Policy and planning
MassWildlife engages in policy work that is proactive and mission-driven, working with state partners to form strategic, effective, and inclusive policies, programs, funding, and projects that advance climate adaptation. Nature-based climate policies reduce risks to critical natural areas through improved land use and zoning requirements, and targeted conservation, restoration, and land management strategies (Resilient Massachusetts).
Outreach and education
Education and outreach are key for increasing public awareness of the diversity of native wildlife and habitats that exist in Massachusetts and of the current and future efforts needed to strengthen and secure these natural resources.
MassWildlife works to connect people with nature. Spending time outdoors can provide a variety of benefits to individuals and can foster a deeper appreciation for the animals, plants, and natural systems that are bring impacted by climate change. MassWildlife also offers more formal educational programs that give young people the chance to learn about and engage with the topic of climate change, such as Envirothon and Project Wild.
This public awareness translates into increased understanding of these strategies, and can translate into public support for these efforts, including through donations and volunteering.
Glossary
Biodiversity: All the different kinds of life you'll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world.
Climate resilience: The ability to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to climate change and associated impacts.
Climate mitigation: Actions that reduce climate risks by considering greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and carbon sequestration and storage. Nature-based solutions are prioritized and used where deemed effective.
Climate adaptation: Actions taken at the individual, local, regional, state, and national levels to reduce risks from changing climate conditions and prepare for impacts from additional changes projected for the future.