Event Information

A live webinar of the event will be available here.

This event is part of the monthly USAID Adaptation Community Meetings. For more information and to stay up-to-date on similar events, sign up to receive event updates.

Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Development Results

Nature provides ecological services such as clean air and water, biodiversity, and food. It can also help people adapt to weather and climate impacts -- an idea known as "ecosystem-based adaptation" (EbA). Around the world, governments, development agencies, civil society, and local communities are increasingly adopting a range of conservation and natural resource management strategies that build up human resilience to climate hazards. Drawing on these experiences, USAID is completing a suite of resources on ecosystem-based adaptation that feature evidence summaries and case studies for applying these approaches to achieve development goals across sectors like agriculture, water, and disaster risk reduction. This session will highlight key messages from these resources as well as examples of EbA projects and approaches in the USAID context, while encouraging dialogue among participants about the use of EbA in their own work.

More about the speakers:

Jonathan Cook is a Senior Climate Change Specialist at USAID. He provides technical support on climate change adaptation to USAID staff and partners across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and supports the integration of climate considerations into USAID’s broader development portfolio. Before joining USAID in 2012, he spent seven years at the World Wildlife Fund. He is the co-author of several books, articles, and publications including Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning for Mangrove Systems (WWF, 2012).

Jennifer Kane is a Biodiversity and Natural Resources Specialist at USAID. She leads the marine team within USAID's Forestry and Biodiversity Office and helps lead Agency efforts to integrate biodiversity considerations throughout USAID’s development programming. She has over a decade of experience in natural resources management and climate change. Previously she was a Climate Change Program Specialist in USAID’s Office of Global Climate Change, served as partnership coordinator and Presidential Management Fellow at the USDA Forest Service on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, consulted for the Pew Charitable Trusts Global Conservation Initiative and ran her own science illustration business.

Jonathan Randall is DAI’s Global Practice Lead for Climate Change. He has been working at the intersection of environmental conservation, climate change, and economic development for the past 18 years. He has supported the development and launch of several initiatives, including the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020, the U.S. Executive Order on Climate Resilient International Development, and USAID/Nepal’s biodiversity and climate change program. He has authored several peer-reviewed publications, including the World Bank-supported Natural Security: Protected Areas and Hazard Mitigation.

Nancy Wilson has served as CEO of Relief International since March 2014. Prior to joining RI, she completed ten years in the leadership of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. She is Treasurer and board member of InterAction, the preeminent U.S. alliance of over 190 international humanitarian and development organizations. Her prior experience includes managing the livelihoods, emerging micro-finance and gender grant portfolios in East Africa for the Ford Foundation and leading capacity-building projects on adult education and NGO strengthening in Namibia as Chief of Party for World Education.