Guidelines on dealing with the impact of climate change on the management of Natura 2000
Climate change is a key Eurosite priority and was discussed most recently during our Annual Conference in 2010. Therefore, Eurosite is delighted to be involved in the following important European Commission project and to be working again in partnership with Alterra.
About the project
Site managers all over Europe are facing real challenges to adapt to the impacts of climate change, not only on their sites, but also on biodiversity around their sites. We aim to develop practical guidelines to help members (and others) deal with climate change in the management of their Natura 2000 sites - drawing on members’ experiences, the climate change guidelines will also contribute to creating a stronger and more resilient Natura 2000 network.
Managed on behalf of the European Commission, the overall project objective is to develop clear, accessible and easily applicable guidelines on dealing with the effects of climate change on Natura 2000 sites and to illustrate this with reference to case studies covering a variety of habitat types drawn from different biogeographical regions.
The specific tasks are to:
Review available scientific information on the effects of climate change on species and habitats and to develop an updated overview of these impacts and the most vulnerable species and habitat types.
Provide an overview of possible measures to either reduce, mitigate or adapt to the negative impacts of climate change on species and habitats at Natura 2000 site, buffer zone and network level.
Assess the role of ecological connectivity and approaches contributing to the spatial cohesion of the Natura 2000 network and adding to the resilience of ecosystems to climate change.
Identify and review good practice examples from different biogeographical regions, highlighting a range of different habitats where the management of Natura 2000 sites demonstrates impact reducing, mitigation and adaptation measures to cope with expected changes in climate.
Develop guidelines on how to deal with the impact of climate change on the management of Natura 2000 sites.
Get involved – network, share and gain!
To deliver the project and realise the benefits, we will be looking for 6 (minimum) best practice case studies across different biogeographical regions. Several members have already expressed their desire to be involved, but we are very keen to hear about your experiences in dealing with climate change.
If you or your colleagues have good examples or are able to help contribute to development of workable guidelines that will help to address climate change in practical ways, we would be interested to hear from you. We are keen to hear how you are tackling climate change and what practical management actions you are taking to respond to climate change in their sites. We will be in touch shortly to harvest your experience – in the meantime though, if you have any questions, ideas or examples, or would like to be involved in this project, please let us know by sending an email to: info@eurosite.org. (This project runs until December 2011.)
