Building Climate Resilience Through Protected Areas

About the event

Protected areas are powerful tools for tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. They help protect ecosystems, support local livelihoods, and offer natural solutions to adapt to a changing climate.

Recognizing this critical role, the Climate Adaptation and Protected Areas Initiative (CAPA) focuses on strengthening the resilience of protected areas and the communities that rely on them. By ensuring climate risks are considered in how these areas are managed, CAPA promotes nature-based solutions (NbS) that integrate conservation, community priorities, and climate action—recognizing that effective climate adaptation should benefit both ecosystems and the communities who depend on them.

This one-hour webinar:

• Highlighted the importance and relevance of protected areas in building climate resilience
• Showcased real-world examples of how conservation, climate adaptation, and local communities’ involvement can support more resilient ecosystems and livelihoods
• Shared insights from CAPA’s work in Belize, Fiji, and two key African landscapes
• Fostered knowledge exchange among practitioners, policymakers, and researchers

Moderator

• Onyinye Oguntoye - Communications Officer, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

Panel

• Alec Crawford - Director, Nature for Resilience, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
• Annet Tumwine - Project Manager, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Uganda
• Nicole Auil Gomez - Country Director, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Belize