Perceptions of climate change risk to forest ecosystems and forest-based communities

Williamson, Tim; Parkins, John R.; McFarlane, Bonita L.

doi:10.5558/tfc81710-5

Cited by 56 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This proportion rises to 86% when future impacts (2050) are considered. These results show that in Quebec, in contrast with the situation reported in British Columbia (Williamson et al 2005), forest practitioners are reported as being more sensitive to future climate impacts than to current ones. In comparison with BC practitioners, Quebec foresters have not been as exposed to CC impacts as catastrophic as the mountain pine beetle outbreak, which may explain the difference in perceptions between the two provinces.…”

Section: Main Perceptions About Climate Changecontrasting

confidence: 61%

Climate change and the forest sector: Perception of principal impacts and of potential options for adaptation

MorinMathieu¹,

KneeshawDaniel²,

DoyonFrédérik³

et al. 2015

The Forestry Chronicle

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As evidence points to the importance of climate change (CC) impacts on forests, it is critical to understand how forestry and forest-dependent communities will be affected. People active in the Quebec forest sector were consulted about their perceptions on the most important potential impacts and adaptation measures. Preoccupations covered many aspects of natural ecosystems, forest-based communities, and industries. Expected impacts and adaptation measures were grouped according to biomes and sectors. Prioritized impacts included increases in extreme meteorological events and natural disturbances. Impacts were also expected for human or economic systems such as reductions in wood volume and quality, difficulties in accessing forests, and additional costs for forest operations. Adaptation was perceived to come from new policies, a greater awareness, and local and regional adjustments to forest operations and management. Identified barriers to adaptation included lack of knowledge or understanding of CC impacts, lack of scientific support and knowledge transfer, and lack of leadership in CC issues at a regional scale. This synthesis will help orient future needs in climate-sensitive forest management planning and identify ways to increase adaptive capacity of the forest sector.Keywords: climate change, adaptation measures, impacts, perception, barriers to adaptation, forest management, Quebec, Canada, forest sector RÉSUMÉLes impacts des changements climatiques (CCs) sur la forêt sont déjà observés et iront en s'amplifiant dans le futur. Dans ce contexte, il importe de comprendre comment les communautés et l'industrie forestière seront affectées. Des professionnels du secteur forestier québécois ont été consultés lors d'un atelier afin de recueillir leurs perceptions des impacts potentiels des CCs et des possibles mesures d'adaptation. Les préoccupations touchaient les écosystèmes naturels, ainsi que les collectivités et l'industrie forestière. Les impacts identifiés incluaient l'augmentation des évènements météorologiques extrêmes et des perturbations naturelles, une diminution quantitative et qualitative du bois, ainsi que de plus grandes difficultés d'accès aux territoires et des coûts additionnels pour les opérations. Les mesures d'adaptation pourraient comprendre de nouvelles règlementations, une meilleure sensibilisation aux enjeux, et des ajustements locaux et régionaux dans la gestion et les opérations. Les barrières à l'adaptation identifiées incluaient une faible compréhension des enjeux au niveau des intervenants du milieu forestier, ainsi qu'un manque de soutien scientifique, de transfert des connaissances, et de leadership à l' échelle régionale. Cette synthèse aidera à orienter les besoins en matière de planification et de gestion et à identifier des solutions pour augmenter la capacité d'adaptation du secteur forestier. Mots

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Section: Main Perceptions About Climate Changecontrasting

confidence: 61%

Climate change and the forest sector: Perception of principal impacts and of potential options for adaptation

MorinMathieu¹,

KneeshawDaniel²,

DoyonFrédérik³

et al. 2015

The Forestry Chronicle

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“…Increased frequency and intensity of forest fires would have severe consequences not only for rural communities dominated by commercial tree plantations but also the South African forestry sector, which contributes about 2 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) (Williamson et al, 2005;Chamberlain et al, 2005). According to FSA (2009), fire is one of the major risks that negatively affect the sustainability of plantation forests in South Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing vulnerability of rural communities to climate change

Ofoegbu

Chirwa

Francis

et al. 2017

IJCCSM

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Purpose -The paper aims to enhance the understanding of the impacts of climate change on rural communities in Africa, including people's livelihoods, their adaptive capacity, coping practice and ability to engage in sustainable forest use and management of climate change adaptation.Design/methodology/approach -The paper opted for a desktop review approach, using the forestbased rural communities of South Africa as a case study.Findings -This review shows that climate variability and change are affecting rural people and their livelihoods negatively. Forest-based livelihoods are particularly vulnerable. Nevertheless, the people have developed coping mechanisms to cushion the effects of climate variability and change. However, the effectiveness and efficiency of these strategies are greatly constrained by factors that are related mostly to their socioeconomic characteristics (for example, skill level, educational status and health) and the functionalities of infrastructures and services in their communities.Research limitations/implications -Given that the study focused on forest-based rural communities and livelihoods, the results may be limited in generalizability. This may have particular implications for other categories of rural communities and livelihoods in Africa and developing countries in other continents.Practical implications -The study showed that opportunities for planning and implementing effective climate change adaptation at rural community level in South Africa are reliant on effective strategies to overcome the constraints identified by the study. The authors thus recommend that climate change adaptation initiatives in rural communities of Africa should focus on improving people's socioeconomic conditions and the overall sustainable development of the community.Originality/value -This paper fulfils an identified need to study how climate change affects rural forestbased communities and livelihoods.

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“…Wesche et al 2006 for a temperate example). A study along the lines of Williamson et al (2005) aimed at assessing the perceptions of climate change risk in temperate forests could be useful in the context of tropical forestry by helping to formulate future management options and policy development at the national or local level.…”

Section: Institutional and Policy Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigation needs adaptation: Tropical forestry and climate change

Guariguata

Cornelius

Locatelli

et al. 2008

Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change

125

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The relationship between tropical forests and global climate change has so far focused on mitigation, while much less emphasis has been placed on how management activities may help forest ecosystems adapt to this change. This paper discusses how tropical forestry practices can contribute to maintaining or enhancing the adaptive capacity of natural and planted forests to global climate change and considers challenges and opportunities for the integration of tropical forest management in broader climate change adaptation. In addition to the use of reduced impact logging to maintain ecosystem integrity, other approaches may be needed, such as fire prevention and management, as well as specific silvicultural options aimed at facilitating genetic adaptation. In the case of planted forests, the normally higher intensity of management (with respect to natural forest) offers additional opportunities for implementing adaptation measures, at both industrial and smallholder levels. Although the integration in forest management of measures aimed at enhancing adaptation to climate change may not involve substantial additional effort with respect to current practice, little action appears to have been taken to date. Tropical foresters and forest-dependent communities appear not to appreciate the risks posed by climate change and, for those who are aware of them, practical guidance on how to respond is largely non-existent. The extent to which forestry research and national policies will promote and adopt management practices in order to assist production forests adapt to climate change is currently uncertain. Mainstreaming adaptation into national development and planning programs may represent an initial step towards the incorporation of climate change considerations into tropical forestry.

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Perceptions of climate change risk to forest ecosystems and forest-based communities

Cited by 56 publications

References 15 publications

Climate change and the forest sector: Perception of principal impacts and of potential options for adaptation

Climate change and the forest sector: Perception of principal impacts and of potential options for adaptation

Assessing vulnerability of rural communities to climate change

Mitigation needs adaptation: Tropical forestry and climate change

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