The 2019 Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) Network Gathering focused on addressing climate change by using RCPs as cultivators of natural climate solutions. The 10th annual event was held on November 3 at UMass Amherst and was attended by a record-breaking 375 people. Participants came from New England, New York, and beyond, and included RCP members, land trust representatives, planners, researchers, funders, students, and others interested in collaborative conservation and climate change solutions.

The 2019 RCP Network Gathering featured 24 workshops focused on building capacity and increasing the scope of collaborative conservation as a tactic to mitigate climate change. Workshop topics included climate resilience, regional land use issues, conservation finance, collaborative land protection, and engaging new partners and sectors.

To engage students in making a positive change for the climate, the 2019 RCP Network Gathering included several opportunities for students to learn more about real-world conservation in the Northeast. A mentorship program paired students with conservation professionals to give them a one-on-one opportunity to set goals and build their professional network. A poster session allowed some students to present posters on their conservation work side-by-side with experienced conservationists.


Keynote Calls for Radical Collaboration to Drive Natural Climate Solutions

Lynn Scarlett, Chief External Affairs Officer and Global Climate Strategy Lead for The Nature Conservancy delivered the keynote speech rallying attendees to use radical collaboration and systems thinking to advance natural climate solutions. 

Below are resources from the presentations at the 2019 RCP Network Gathering. If you know what you are looking for, type CTRL F and type in the session name. Otherwise you can browse the cards below.

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Slides from Katharine Simms' ALPINE Webinar entitled Assessing the Local Economic Impact of Land Protection in New England.
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Land conservation provides many lasting benefits that help us mitigate and adapt to climate change, including forest and soil carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, watershed protection, and biodiversity conservation. Yet while climate change is on the minds of most Americans, land conservation is rarely at the fore. This panel will highlight two exciting examples of how conservation organizations are taking a lead on mitigating and adapting to climate change. Speaker: Jocelyn Forbush, Trustees OneWaterfront
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Land conservation provides many lasting benefits that help us mitigate and adapt to climate change, including forest and soil carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, watershed protection, and biodiversity conservation. Yet while climate change is on the minds of most Americans, land conservation is rarely at the fore. This panel will highlight two exciting examples of how conservation organizations are taking a lead on mitigating and adapting to climate change. Speaker: Charlie Hancock, Cold Hollow to Canada.
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Building on the theme of natural climate solutions, this session will highlight several ways how conserving natural forest systems for climate mitigation also provides economic benefits to communities and the region. This presentation covers the community forest movement.
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Following Highstead’s 2016 report showing public funding for conservation fell by nearly half since 2008, this panel will showcase the most recent trends in public and private funding for land protection. From broad regional information to specific federal and state programs, the panelists will share their insights on where the funding landscape is headed and what the key policy issues are. Presenter: Amy Paterson
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Building on the theme of natural climate solutions, this session will highlight several ways how conserving natural forest systems for climate mitigation also provides economic benefits to communities and the region.
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Forests, wetlands, and agroecosystems are a critical component of natural climate solutions, yet a changing climate puts these ecosystems and the carbon they store at risk from a wide variety of stressors. Luckily, there is much land conservation practitioners can do to help these systems adapt to a changing climate. In this session, we will highlight the potential for synergies and win-wins between efforts to reduce climate change (mitigation) and prepare for and respond to climate change (adaptation) in the land conservation sector.
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Following Highstead’s 2016 report showing public funding for conservation fell by nearly half since 2008, this panel will showcase the most recent trends in public and private funding for land protection. From broad regional information to specific federal and state programs, the panelists will share their insights on where the funding landscape is headed and what the key policy issues are. Presentation by Dan Wright.
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Following Highstead’s 2016 report showing public funding for conservation fell by nearly half since 2008, this panel will showcase the most recent trends in public and private funding for land protection. From broad regional information to specific federal and state programs, the panelists will share their insights on where the funding landscape is headed and what the key policy issues are. Presentation by Andrew Du Moulin
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