Climate adaptation analyses will strategically strengthen the 2025 (3RD) iteration o f the wildlife action plan (w AP) o f the commonwealth o f the northern mariana islands (cnmi) through: 1)…

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the State Wildlife Grants (CFDA 15.634) program provides $147,727 to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Lands and Natural Resources to conduct climate change vulnerability assessments on 110 species of greatest conservation need and incorporate climate adaptation strategies into the development of the 2025 Wildlife Action Plan update. The project aims to strengthen the climate change resilience framework of the Wildlife Action Plan and produce information to support coordinated climate adaptation efforts across the Micronesian region. Key deliverables include species vulnerability assessments, an updated prioritized list of species of greatest conservation need, and climate-adaptive management strategies to protect multiple species and habitats threatened by climate change. The award period is from July 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026.

Climate adaptation analyses will strategically strengthen the 2025 (3RD) iteration o f the wildlife action plan (w AP) o f the commonwealth o f the northern mariana islands (cnmi) through: 1) prioritization o f management efforts for the conservation o f species o f greatest conservation need (sgcn) and candidate sgcn and 2) providing robust climate adaptation information for the development o f an adaptive management framework, with potential for landscape scale application. A major threat that was identified in the previous w AP was climate change and how IT directly and indirectly impacts sgcn, but the threat analysis lacked a spatial and temporal scale. Given the availability o f new data to assess climate change impacts, we propose to conduct climate change vulnerability assessments on current and candidate sgcn and their habitats. The resulting information will be used in theselection, status, and ranking o f the revised sgcn list and incorporated into the development o f climate adaptive management strategies for the 2025 cnmi w AP. Such strategies include habitat management or enhancement projects to protect multiple species or species assemblages threatened by climate change. The proposed project will produce species vulnerability assessments and ranks for 110 species, strengthen the climate change resilienceframework o f the cnmi WAP, and provide information for use by other entities in the micronesian region for coordinated climate adaptation efforts. In effect, we will deliver significant advancements in the utility, accessibility, and scientific integrity o f the cnmi wildlife action plan (F24AS00061 - FY 2024 competitive state wildlife grant (c-SWG) program funding opportunity announcement).