The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is Florida's lead state agency addressing the impacts of climate change on fish and wildlife. The FWC began its work on climate change when it hosted the summit "Florida's Wildlife: On the front line of climate change" in October 2008. The FWC invited experts and professionals on wildlife and climate change to come and share their knowledge. The summit covered global, national and statewide perspectives, species biodiversity and policies for habitat management. Visit the summit website and view or download presentations, summaries from the break-out sessions and much more.
After the summit, the FWC created the Climate Change Team that includes a Steering Committee and four employee workgroups. The workgroups will develop and lead agency goals and objectives in each of these key areas:
- research and monitoring
- communication and outreach
- policy and opportunity
Key objectives of the Steering Committee include:
- Ensuring FWC staff at all levels is engaged in climate change initiatives.
- Providing oversight in developing policies and processes to address climate change issues that affect fish and wildlife resources and their management.
- Working with stakeholders and partners on fish and wildlife issues related to climate change.
- Implementing the Governor's Executive Orders related to reducing the FWC's carbon footprint.
Through the four workgroups the FWC is:
- Identifying present and future climate change impacts to Florida's fish and wildlife communities;
- Exploring ways for Florida's fish and wildlife communities to adapt to climate change;
- Identifying ways to minimize climate change impacts on Florida's fishing and hunting resources;
- Developing actions to mitigate climate change impacts to imperiled fish and wildlife species in Florida;
- Creating internal and external communication and outreach opportunities.
FWC Climate Change Resolution
The FWC has also begun working with partners to address a changing climate by utilizing State Wildlife Grant funds to support species vulnerability assessments, scenario planning, and implementation of adaptation strategies. For more information on these projects, please visit Florida’s Wildlife Legacy Initiative.