Forestry, conservation and government organisations have come together to reaffirm their commitment to work together to promote the importance of adapting trees, woods and forests to climate change.
The Forestry and Climate Change Partnership (FCCP) has published the Forestry and Climate Change Adaptation Accord which sets out a collective vision that Britain’s trees woods and forests are resilient to climate change and therefore able to meet their full potential to provide environmental, social and economic benefits.
Climate change and the associated environmental impacts including drought, flooding, fire, pests and pathogens present serious threats to the health of our trees woods and forests. There is an urgent need to improve the resilience of both newly created and existing woodland to climate change. This requires significant change to widely accepted and practised systems of woodland and land management. Greater awareness is needed for the importance of adopting a broader range of species, diversity of genetics, age and stand structure, and improved connectivity in the landscape.
The FCCP is working to communicate the case for adaptation, to provide training and education, inform research priorities and contribute to policy development.
Dr Gabriel Hemery, Chief Executive of the Sylva Foundation and Chair of the FCCP, said:
The recently renamed Forestry and Climate Change Partnership represents an unusual level of collaboration and a powerful agreement to work together to make change happen, fast. Our trees, woods and forests are faced with unprecedented rates of climate change and increased environmental threats such as pests and pathogens. Only by working together, and with the support of individual woodland owners and professionals, will we be able to rise to meet these challenges, with an ambition to bounce back better.
The Accord is available on the new FCCP website at https://forestryclimatechange.uk. Organisations are invited to show their support for the Accord by signing up online.
ENDS
Notes for editors:
The Forestry and Climate Change Partnership (FCCP) https://forestryclimatechange.uk is a cross sector unincorporated body which promotes measures which enhance the adaptation of trees, woods and forests to climate change and associated impacts. Members of the FCCP are:
Confor
CLA
DEFRA
Forestry Commission England
Forest Research
Forestry England
Future Trees Trust
Institute of Chartered Foresters
National Trust
Natural England
Royal Forestry Society
Savills
Small Woods Association
Sylva Foundation
Tilhill
The Tree Council
The Woodland Trust
Woodland Heritage
