HABITAT MANAGEMENT
Road to Recovery
by Christine Kelly, Wildlife Diversity Biologist
I n January 2024, Scott Anderson and Chris Kelly attended the Road to Recovery meeting at the National Conservation Training Center in Shep- herdstown, WV. The Road to Recovery (or R2R) is a movement that was devel- oped as a response to the 2019 publica- tion in the journal Science about “3 billion birds lost”. It is a call to action for ornithologists who are finding that business as usual as not been as effec- tive as it needs to be considering the rate of decline for some species. R2R names arises from acknowledgment that each species is at its own point along the road to recovery. R2R has four guiding principles. First, focus on proactive recovery, much like biologists do for recovering federally listed species. Second, inte- grate social and biological sciences. The social element in wildlife conser- vation is often overlooked. Integration of our understanding of a species’ biol- ogy and our understanding of the human dimensions involved is the goal and the path to species recovery. Third, co-production of solutions is essential. Co-production is an approach to produce actionable science through collaboration among diverse partners from the very start of a project. Fourth, engage and empower species working groups. The Golden-winged Warbler is one Tipping Point Species that was selected as a case study for a deep dive using the R2R process and principles.
NCWRC was an active partner in this work, contributing to a rangewide golden-winged warbler survival study in 2022 and 2023. In the case of Neo- tropical-Nearctic migratory species, the pool of partners is international in
scope. Breakout sessions dug into how to make international collabora- tions successful and how to overcome the language barrier in meetings, workshops, gray literature, and peer reviewed literature.
CHRIS KELLY/NCWRC
Scott Anderson called a breakfast meeting among partners to discuss state Wildlife Action Plans.
CHRIS KELLY/NCWRC
Esmeralda Bravo Hernández, an International Fellow for the Road to Recovery initiative, led a breakout session on Making International Collaborations Successful.
73 2024 Wildlife Diversity Program Annual Report
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