Agriculture and Forestry
Useful sources of information on climate change adaptation for the Agriculture and Forestry sectors.
Agriculture
Farming Futures, hosted by the Centre of Excellence for UK Farming, has a wealth of useful information on its website, including:
- Factsheets - of particular interest are factsheet no.2 on climate change opportunities and challenges, and factsheet no.3 on climate change adaptation ideas.
- Case studies - including one from a Leicestershire farm focusing on protecting biodiversity and helping wildlife to adapt to climate change. Other case studies focus on adaptation in general, rainwater harvesting, water abstraction, and opportunities for growing new crops.
- Every year, Farming Futures conducts a survey to track farmer opinions and actions on climate change and provides summary reports of the findings. In 2011 they found that 29% of East Midlands farmers surveyed said that they were taking action to adapt to climate change on their farms. Improving water management was the most common action being taken to adapt, followed by improving buildings.
Natural England has published a leaflet called "Farming and Climate Change: Make the most of Environmental Stewardship" which identifies four actions farmers can take:
- Investigate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Protect soil and water
- Increase tree cover
- Protect wildlife
The leaflet identifies the best Entry Level Stewardship options to support these actions, and provides signposting to further sources of information and support. In addition, there is a web page to provide supporting information for advisors.
Climate East Midlands has published a guide called "Weathering the storm: saving and making money in a changing climate" which includes information specifically for agricultural and horticultural rural businesses, and includes links to useful tools and further information.
Forestry
The Forestry Commission has published a Trees and Climate Change information pack, intended mainly for its staff but of use to others too. See especially section 10 on helping our forests adapt to climate change, and section 11 on how our woodlands can help society adapt to a changing climate.
The National Forest, which is partly located in the East Midlands, is the location for a series of long-term tree provenance planting trials to research adaptive planting strategies in the face of climate change.
The Forestry Commision has published a booklet called "The case for trees in development and the urban environment" which includes the role that trees can play in adapting to climate change, such as reducing the impact of heavy rain by attenuating water flow, and moderating temperatures by reflecting sunlight, providing shade and evaporating water through transpiration.
Interesting work is going on in other parts of the UK, for example the Greater London Authority has made a website available to help planners, landscape designers, developers and others decide what trees are suitable to plant in London and other urban areas in the face of climate change.
The Read Report, titled "Combating climate change - a role for UK forests", was published in 2009. This independent assessment aimed to provide a better understanding of how UK forestry can adapt to climate change and improve its contribution to climate change mitigation. The study is considered to be the first national assessment of its kind in the world.
