Policies and Instruments for the Adaptation of Forests and the Forest Sector to Impacts of Climate Change as Indicated in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change National Reports
This report has been created for the Expert Panel on Adaptation of Forests to Climate Change established under the Joint Initiative on Forest Science and Technology of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), and prepared under the direction and supervision of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). The objective of this report is to determine the impacts and vulnerabilities of forests and the forest sector to climate change and if corresponding policies and instruments have been implemented to promote the adaptation of forests and the forest sector. This was achieved through the analysis of 95 National Communications (NCs) and national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs) produced for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Information was delineated into the topical, sub-tropical, temperate and boreal domains. The analysed reports indicate that impacts of climate change have already been observed in all domains and are anticipated to continue. This is generally associated with an increase in temperature, changes in precipitation, and an increase in the occurrence of extreme weather events and disturbances, resulting in regional forest degradation and changes in species composition and phenology. The most vulnerable forests are those with limited dispersal capacity, such as mountainous species, or degraded and stressed forests, such as those located at the limits of ecological zones or growing conditions. The forests that are located in developing countries, in particular in the tropical domain, appear to be in more immediate danger from deforestation and anthropogenic degradation which is predicted to be exacerbated by climate change. NAPA projects aimed at afforestation, community based forest management and community forests are commonly promoted. However, a lack of funding is a likely inhibitor to many of the projects mentioned within the NAPAs.
