September 2014

How to turn adaptation theory into reality

There has been much written on likely impacts of a changing climate to British forests, and possible ways of adapting them to be more resilient to these impacts. However, whilst most literature on this subject is well founded scientifically it is much less grounded in experience. This helps to foster uncertainty about how best to adapt, and when.

With ClimateXChange colleagues from the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Forest Research and the University of Dundee, Andy Moffat has been exploring how native woodland adaptation decision making might be supported through a ‘Flexible Adaptation Pathways’ (FAP) framework, and what can be done through appropriate monitoring and modelling to reduce the uncertainty element and catalyse appropriate adaptation responses. A report of this work has now been published on the ClimateXChange website, and can be accessed HERE. The report identifies some important but not unreachable changes to current policy and practice which would be needed to implement a FAP framework, and provides a critical analysis of the main adaptation options.