Science and communication support for the Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative

In 2009, the US Department of Interior initiated a national strategy designed to unite the private, state, and federal conservation and science communities to collaboratively address the unprecedented challenges of large scale stressors such as climate change and to identify â¿¿adaptation actions to conserve our nationâ¿¿s vested interest in sustaining its natural and cultural resources. A key component of that strategy called for the formation of a national network of Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, partnerships modeled after the internationally successful Migratory Bird Joint Ventures â¿¿ an idea introduced in the 1986 North American Waterfowl Management Plan. In 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a continent-wide effort to create Landscape Conservation Cooperatives across the nation as a mechanism to get the right science in the right places, coordinate conservation, and increase conservation effectiveness. The FWC has been heavily involved in contributing to and shaping the three LCCâ¿¿s that include Florida, with special emphasis on the Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative (PFLCC), which falls entirely within the state of Florida. Substantial resources from multiple partners will be required to establish and maintain the PFLCC. The PFLCC is governed by a Steering Committee comprised of private industry, university, and federal, state and local government representatives. FWC will partner with the Service and through this Cooperative Agreement will work in collaboration with the Service to assume roles and responsibilities of the Science Coordinator and Communication Coordinator for the PFLCC. This agreement will provide continuity established from the current FWCC support science and communication 2013-2016 agreement.