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Science for Nature and People Partnership

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Science for Nature and People (SNAP)[1] is an initiative that aims to rapidly develop models that will underpin the next phase of nature conservation and sustainable development. It works with public, voluntary and private sector organizations around the world to transform the relationship between people and nature.[2]

SNAP’s executive director is conservation scientist and writer Craig Groves.[3][4] The chairman of the initiative is noted American conservation scientist, Peter Kareiva of UCLA.

History

SNAP was founded as a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was launched at the Clinton Global Initiative[5] in 2013 in response to global challenges including rapid population growth, climate change and economic development.[6]

Activities

SNAP funds, convenes and supports Expert Working Groups addressing global challenges in four focus areas:

  • Food Security and Nature
  • Water Security and Nature
  • Community Resilience and Climate Change
  • Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Benefits.[7]

SNAP has 19 working groups working across the world, each with a specific problem to address in 24 months. These are supported by organizations like the World Bank, NGOs like Mercy Corps, and businesses like Swiss Re.[8]

  1. Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Benefits

Ivory Trade On September 25, 2015, the Chinese government announced a ban on its domestic ivory trade,[9] for which 22,000 elephants are killed each year.[10][11] The announcement later lead to a drop in ivory prices.[12] The SNAP Chinese Ivory Trade Working Group is conducting the first comprehensive analysis of the industry to support the government with implementing the ban.[13]

Natural Capital Accounting Working Group The Natural Capital Accounting Working Group is working with the government of Rwanda in support of the country’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategies, Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans, and Poverty and Environment Initiatives.[14][15]

Evidence-based Conservation This group, including experts from Conservation International, European Centre for Environment and Human Health, and the World Bank, has assessed the evidence base for how conservation benefits human wellbeing, for example health and education. The study was published in Nature (journal).McKinnon, M.; Cheng, S.; Garside, R.; Masuda, Y.; Miller, D. (2015). "Sustainability: Map the evidence". Nature. 528 (7581): 185-187. doi:10.1038/528185a.

  1. Food Security and Nature

Sustainable Aquaculture Experts including from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Stanford University are establishing the food production capacity of sustainable aquaculture, and working with industry and governments to develop best practice guidelines for the growing industry.[16]

Fisheries Measures Led by Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington, this group is working on improving understanding of the current status of key fish stocks. They are also systematically identifying factors that lead to good outcomes in fisheries management.[17]

Data-Limited Fisheries Studies have proven that fisheries with reliable stock assessments tend to be better managed, but this accounts for less than 1% of fisheries worldwide.[18] To counteract the extensive overfishing practices that threaten the health of many of the world’s fish stocks, the Data-Limited Fisheries Working Group examines how new, inexpensive approaches to assess data-limited fisheries can be globally implemented.

Sustainable Agriculture The Sustainable Agriculture Working Group examines how agricultural output can be intensified sustainably in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), which links eastern Zambia and the interior of Tanzania to the Indian Ocean.[19][20]

  1. Water Security and Nature

Ecological Drought Supported by the United States Geological Survey, the Ecological Drought Working Group is synthesizing the latest scientific understanding of long-term drought in the western US for federal, state and local governments, and businesses.[21]

Sharing Water The Sharing Water Working Group is identifying the costs and benefits of multi-objective water agreements in 2-4 pilot watersheds in the Western United States.

  1. Community Resilience and Climate Change

Coastal Defenses At present, millions of dollars are spent on artificial cement coastal barriers that fail to provide long-term disaster protection and further harm damaged ecosystems.[22] The Coastal Defenses Working Group has built a database of projects around the world that use green infrastructure and their approaches and cost-effectiveness. With the assistance of the World Bank, the project will identify where nature has the greatest value in defending the world’s coasts.[23]

Donors

SNAP has been supported by Shirley and Harry Hagey, Steve and Roberta Denning, Seth Neiman, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.[24][25]

References

  1. ^ "Homepage". SNAP.
  2. ^ "Science for Nature and People hosts 2-year Rwanda Govt natural capital accounting initiative". WorldStage. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Craig Groves bio". SNAP.
  4. ^ "Craig Groves Named SNAP Executive Director". TNC.
  5. ^ "Clinton Global Initiative". Wikipedia.
  6. ^ "SNAP: Created to Answer the Question: How can protecting nature help ensure food, energy, water, and security for 9 billion or more people?". TNC.
  7. ^ "Science for Nature and People hosts 2-year Rwanda Govt natural capital accounting initiative". WorldStage. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Homepage". SNAP.
  9. ^ Bale, Rachel (25 September 2015). "U.S.-China Deal to Ban Ivory Trade Is Good News for Elephants". National Geographic (magazine). Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  10. ^ MacLeod, Calum (1 June 2015). "China pledges to cut ivory trade down to size". The Times. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  11. ^ Ryan, Fergus (26 September 2015). "China and US agree on ivory ban in bid to end illegal trade globally". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  12. ^ Denyer, Simon (8 December 2015). "Lifeline for elephants: Ivory price halves in China after Xi pledges ban". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  13. ^ "WORKING GROUP: Chinese Ivory Trade". SNAP.
  14. ^ Nwaka, Antony (14 October 2015). "SNAP To Host 2-Year Natural Capital Accounting Initiative". Footprint2Africa. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Meeting between Rwandan, Russian foreign ministers dominate newspapers". APA. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  16. ^ "WORKING GROUP: Sustainable Aquaculture". SNAP.
  17. ^ "WORKING GROUP: Fisheries Measures". SNAP.
  18. ^ "WORKING GROUP: Data-Limited Fisheries". SNAP.
  19. ^ "WORKING GROUP: Sustainable Ag Intensification". SNAP.
  20. ^ Fernanda Mejia, Maria (17 September 2014). "Developing sustainable agricultural intensification guidelines for Tanzania". CIAT Blog. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  21. ^ "SNAP: Landscape Sensitivity to Ecological Drought". NCEAS.
  22. ^ "Coastal Defenses". SNAP.
  23. ^ Beck, Michael (14 May 2015). "How to build global coastal resilience: Past, present and future challenges". Devex. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  24. ^ "Partners". SNAP.
  25. ^ Byington, Cara (10 March 2015). "Science for Nature & People (SNAP) Announces 7 New Working Groups". Cool Green Science. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
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