Wildlife and Energy Solutions Initiative

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Last updated June 30, 2009

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Click here for Developing Management Guidelines for Reducing Threats from Energy Development on Coastal Species of Greatest Conservation Concern--Project Products

Today, the East Coast of the United States, like other regions of the nation, struggles to meet the increasing energy needs of its citizens and businesses while protecting vital natural resources that characterize the ecologically rich and productive coastal environment.  Balancing these interests is especially challenging given the need to prevent serious degradation of our nation’s natural capital—its wildlife, and ecosystems—in the face of rising fuel costs, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change.  The region confronts not merely conventional energy development, but also the promise and peril of alternative energies, including wind, geothermal, and tidal energy sources.  Unfortunately, the debate over energy choices and natural resource management is informed more by belief and passion than science, and therefore, often ends in social, political, and legal conflict rather than science-based sustainable solutions.

Manomet is working with partners to change that paradigm.

Our Wildlife and Energy Solutions Initiative (Initiative) uses practical science to guide society’s decisions around energy development.  Our proactive approach aids communities in making energy choices that are science-based, partnership-driven, and that conserve coastal wildlife and habitats while generating energy that can sustain society’s balanced power needs under the scenario of a changing climate in the 21st Century.

What is our goal?  We seek energy development solutions that integrate environmental, economic, and social interests.  The Initiative proactively uses science-based information, tools, and strategies for mitigating potential adverse effects to wildlife from energy development while working with a broad range of partners to seek the most effective approach.

How does Manomet produce solutions for “green” energy development?  We accomplish this through Science and working with Stakeholders.

Scientifically, we provide information resources, tools, and customized strategies for the siting and management of energy activities, including:

•   Information on the needs and  locations of sensitive wildlife.
•   An understanding of current documented risks and benefits of energy  development activities on wildlife. 
•   Up-to-date management recommendations for mitigating potential impacts of energy on ecosystems and wildlife.
•   Support to stakeholder groups to establish and facilitate information exchange between wildlife managers, energy project regulators, energy development planners, the energy industry, and the conservation community.
•   Identification of energy/wildlife “hotspots” where conflicts may potentially arise, and where mitigation strategies can be developed and employed proactively. 
•   Promotion of demonstration and pilot projects to provide models for proactive mitigation throughout the region.

Dedicated to the people and groups that have a stake in energy choices, we conduct all activities in consultation with wildlife and energy stakeholders.  Before, during, and after the collection of science-based information, we make sure that stakeholder relationships and trust are established to inform, support, and embrace sustainable recommendations as society makes decisions about energy development and natural resource management.

Why us?  For nearly 40 years, Manomet has been a leader in conservation sciences.  Our scientists and staff have extensive experience studying, managing, and conserving migratory species and their habitats, as well as in working with diverse stakeholder groups.

•   We have led national and hemispheric programs to conserve colonial waterbirds, seabirds, and shorebirds.

•   For four decades, we have tracked landbird migration along the Massachusetts coast, resulting in the country’s oldest, continuously-operated landbird banding program.

•   We have directed conservation programs for marine mammal and fisheries from the 1970s until present.

•   We conducted comprehensive monitoring of offshore seabird populations in the 1980s—this dataset remains the only effort of its kind for the Atlantic Ocean.

Our expertise, experience, and network of partners ideally position us to assemble and interpret information on wildlife and their habitats for the larger energy development sector.

Who are our partners in this Initiative?  We are building partnerships with wildlife conservation and green energy development interests throughout the eastern United States.  Partners include wildlife agencies, energy development planners and regulators, non-government organizations, and other sectors of the wildlife and energy communities.

Where do we work?  In the eastern United States, including: New England, the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain, and in nearshore and offshore habitats extending to depths of roughly 140 meters.  Ultimately, our Initiative will develop products and strategies applicable to the entire United States.

What are our projects?

•   Manomet is working with partners on the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Doris Duke funded project—Developing Management Guidelines for Reducing Threats from Energy Development on Coastal Species of Greatest Conservation Concern—which is designed to position Atlantic Coast state agencies for proactive management of energy development activities to protect wildlife and habitats.
•   Manomet is developing web-based mapping tools for stakeholders * to visualize energy projects in the eastern U.S. as well as state-listed wildlife species occurrences and critical habitat.
•   Manomet is completing a pilot project in Massachusetts—Management of Energy Development Activities and Coastal Avian Resources in Massachusetts—with funding from the Island Foundation.

For more information, contact: Dr. Katharine C. Parsons, Director Wildlife and Energy Solutions Initiative Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences P.O. Box 1770 Manomet, MA 02345 Phone: (508) 224-6521 Email: parsonsk@manomet.org

ftp://ftp.manomet.org/WildlifeandEnergy/WAOF

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