Cougars, Corridors, and Conservation: Three decades of expanding vision and partnerships

Landscape Conservation in Action webinar series
The Network for Landscape Conservation is pleased to present an ongoing webinar series, Landscape Conservation in Action. The webinars will showcase a wide-ranging set of experts in the field of landscape conservation to share practical reflections, insights, and stories on the “how to” of landscape conservation. Like landscape conservation in practice, these webinars aim to be diverse in scope and approach, and our hope is that they deepen the opportunity for exchange, learning, and dialogue across landscape conservation initiatives throughout North America.

Webinar description: Drawing upon his more-than-thirty-year career designing and conserving wildlife corridors, Paul Beier, a Conservation Research Fellow with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and formerly the Regents Professor of Conservation Biology at Northern Arizona University, will share insights into translating connectivity research into conservation action:

During a study of cougars in rapidly urbanizing southern California (1988-1992), I documented that dispersing cubs could find and use narrow corridors through urban areas, and my population model showed the importance of connectivity. Since then, I have been learning how to translate this science into conservation action. The key lessons were that fighting fragmentation is less effective than implementing a linkage design (duh!), and that scientists can be effective leaders only if we get local conservation practitioners to invite us to participate in their real-world work. This work involves workshops to identify 10 to 20 focal species per linkage, identifying barriers and chokepoints, and writing (nay, implementing!) plans that integrate the goals of conservation, economic development, and social justice. These efforts are not just slowing down the rate at which things get worse (“mitigation”), but are creating landscapes more permeable to wildlife than what we have today.

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DaC1g0W8RkeLMpy_GlFqyQ