PCA Morning Coffee: How Development Impacts the Biodiversity of Our Region
Hudsonia’s Executive Director, Erik Kiviat, joins Partners for Climate Action (PCA) for this special opening webinar of PCA’s 2026 Morning Coffee Series to present his talk, "Biodiversity Change: What a Damaged Landscape Teaches About the Future of the Mid-Hudson Region."
This talk took place 8:30-9:30 am on February 17th . PCA’s Avalon Bunge moderated, followed by a Q&A.
The Hudson Valley is home to nearly 90% of all New York State species–including many rare fish, birds, and plants–despite accounting for only 13% of the state's landmass. The endangered bog turtle lives a quiet and important life in the area’s wetlands; peregrine falcons soar above the Hudson’s waters; elusive fishers roam our forests; and the water nymph, a rare aquatic plant, lives beneath the surface of the Hudson, the only waterway on Earth to host it. Our region is beautifully unique, yet extremely vulnerable: the Hudson Valley is expected to experience some of the worst effects of climate change in New York State.
Along with the effects of climate change, the biodiversity of our region is impacted by development. In the face of an uncertain future and the changing landscape around us, learning from the past allows us to protect what's precious.
About Partners for Climate Action:
We believe that the overlapping ecological crises are best addressed by the communities that are closest to them by using approaches that honor the uniqueness of each place. PCA was founded in 2019 with the goal of moving multiple forms of capital to where they would be most relevant, efficient, and effective to catalyze local action. At our core, we are funders who support our grantee partners with the knowledge, tools, and connections they need to be successful.
Our priority areas are ecological restoration, with a focus on establishing community forests and cultivating native habitat, and the decarbonization of existing building stock in our region’s most underserved communities.