On The Front Line Of A New Ecological World Order

How are ecosystems changing in response to a changing climate? How are people affected by such change, and is our view of nature shifting in response?
       The implications of a rapidly changing planet will be explored as part of a two-day policy forum, May 27 and 28, hosted by the Restoration Institute, an initiative of the University of Victoria’s School of Environmental Studies. “Brand new ecosystems are emerging in the intersections between climate change and invasive species,” says Dr. Eric Higgs, UVic professor of environmental studies and chair of the institute’s advisory committee. “We need to ask ourselves how we can intervene in this new ecological world order and help confront these growing issues in the field of ecological restoration.”
       The forum will include discussion, case studies and presentations by experts and policy-makers from Australia, UK, Europe, North America, and South America, with an emphasis on practical responses.
       The Restoration Institute is to partnering with the UVic-led Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) and the University of Western Australia’s Ecosystem Restoration and Intervention Ecology Research Laboratory to sponsor the forum.
       More information on the conference: www.restorationinstitute.ca.

Media advisory: The only session open to the public is the previously announced Lansdowne Lecture on “Earth Stewardship” by world-renowned ecosystem ecologist Dr. F. Stuart (Terry) Chapin, Fri., May 27 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in room B150 of UVic’s Bob Wright Centre. Chapin has worked extensively on ecosystem change and also on the consequences of climate change on Indigenous peoples in Alaska.

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