Current Focus and Strategic Direction

OUR STATEGIC PLAN

The Pacific Biodiversity Institute Board of Directors recently undertook an extensive strategic planning process which resulted in a new strategic plan. You can download and read it here.

BACKGROUND

Our nation and the entire world are undergoing rapid change on many levels. These changes ensure that tomorrow’s conditions will differ dramatically from the past. Conservation approaches that were very successful in the 20th Century may not work in this new environment. There is a clear need for innovative approaches to conservation that adapt to the changing world. Pacific Biodiversity Institute has adopted a strategic plan to focus its efforts on research and education that address the major issues that are driving the dramatic changes the earth is experiencing. These drivers are:

Climate change and ocean acidification (Read our Four Point Plan to Address Climate Change and Ocean Acidification)
Population increase and demographic shifts
Dramatic shifts in the economy and finance
Globalization and its consequences

We have identified the following approaches that we can use to help address the impact of these drivers on biodiversity and the health of ecosystems:

Conduct long-term (and short-term) monitoring of ecological and biodiversity trends related to the five drivers. Conduct studies that relate the changes occurring to natural resource management trends, trends in human and natural disturbances and ecological health of forests and rangelands.
Encourage the use and development of science-based conservation prioritization on multiple spatial scales via dynamic decision-support systems that directly account for the key drivers of global change.
Engage in conservation science/technology transfer and education with partner organizations in biodiversity hot spots that lack sufficient conservation attention and resources to counter threats to biodiversity.
Identify areas that are most vulnerable to biodiversity loss from changes in climate, population, economy, energy use, and globalization.
Connect biodiversity to human values, making the case why biodiversity is important.