About the Alliance

On November 15, 2008, a group of 10 non-government organizations and state agencies sponsored a groundbreaking conference entitled Responding to Climate Change: Working Together to Conserve Wildlife, Plants and Habitat. The 10 organizations who formed the Conference Steering Committee were: Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences (Manomet), the Environmental League of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition, New England Wild Flower Society, The National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, and The Trustees of Reservations.

Held at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts, the conference was the first of its kind in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the nation. It brought together nearly 200 conservation leaders from across 60 organizations, including scientists, land stewards, hunters, anglers, government officials, advocates, foundation officers, policy-makers and other interested parties.

To ensure continued momentum and collaboration, the original Conference Steering Committee, along with Highstead and The Trust for Public Land, formed the Climate Change and Wildlife Alliance—Massachusetts.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Alliance is to promote and facilitate the dissemination of climate-related impacts and adaptation information, to advocate for the development and implementation of science-based adaptation strategies to conserve Massachusetts’ ecosystems and the array of services they provide in the face of climate change, and to engage in partnerships, communications and policy venues that enhance attention, planning, policy and funding for wildlife resiliency.

The next two urgent challenges that the Alliance will face are: 

1. How to help bring about regionalization in adaptation planning and implementation.
2. The development of effective on-the-ground management tools and solutions.

The Alliance is working in a collaborative manner to initiate ways to address these challenges. The rate at which the climate in the Northeast is changing is unprecedented and we do not have time on our side.  We must now build on this to rapidly move forward.

Find out how to become a member of the Alliance and become a part of this groundbreaking movement.