Head Office Press Office
- 7-Jun-2007 - Climate proofing our natural
resources - Measures to protect wildlife,
woodland and water in England and Wales
differ widely in their suitability to adapt
to climate change, says a report launched
today by the Environment Agency and Countryside
Council for Wales.
Our analysis of six key natural resource
policies in England and Wales looked at
their vulnerability to climate change and
recommended coherent, joined-up approach
to build this increased risk into countryside
management.
The six initiatives/policies analysed were:
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Welsh agri-environment schemes (Tir Gofal)
Woodlands Strategy
Biomass Action Plan
Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies
(CAMS)
Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMP).
"We analysed policies that covered
a wide spectrum of natural resource protection
issues - addressing nature conservation,
water resource management, flood protection
and economic and recreational use of the
countryside," said Environment Agency
Research Fellow Harriet Orr.
"We assessed the key components of
each policy on vulnerability to climate
change and if one or more component had
a high probability of failure, then the
overall policy was considered to be vulnerable.
"We found that some of our natural
resource policies were ill-equipped to deal
with the looming threats of climate change,
while others which had flexibility built
into the core structure were well positioned
to adapt to the challenges likely to be
experienced in the coming years."
Using the River Usk Catchment in South
Wales as a case study, Professor Gareth
Edwards-Jones from the University of Wales,
applied a range of climate and socio-economic
scenarios to the six natural resource initiatives,
looking ahead to 2020 and 2050.
Countryside Council for Wales’ Climate
Change Advisor Dr Clive Walmsley said rather
than waiting for the impact of climate change,
policy needed to help land managers find
opportunities within adaptation practices.
"Now that we’ve got a general acceptance
that some degree of climate change is inevitable
we’ve got to do some horizon scanning and
find opportunities," Dr Walmsley said.
"A UK level revision of common agricultural
policy, needs to take these different strategies
for rural land use and create an integrated
land management approach, that doesn’t view
policies as separate and isolated.
"For example, biomass production is
a positive renewable energy source, but
if we look at the strategy from a single
focus we won’t see that it could have the
wider negative effects on habitat or biodiversity."
The study found:
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
- the current policy lacks flexibility because
it is firmly based at specific sites without
accounting for species that will need to
disperse and colonise new sites - not protected
by SSSI status - in response to climatic
changes.
Welsh Tir Gofal scheme - an agri-environment
policy that is well positioned to adapt
to changing climatic and socio-economic
conditions. Although dependent on the co-operation
of farmers, regular reviews of management
practices and payments provide a flexible
system that may help enhance the performance
of other policies.
Woodlands Strategy - success of climate
proofing is partially dependent on external
forces such as the future demand for timber
products and the world price for timber.
Landscape level planning may support the
climate proofing of other natural resource
initiatives - such as conservation and water
resource policies, but conflict may arise
due to timber industry imperatives.
Biomass Action Plan - like woodland initiatives,
dependent on viable markets. Environmental
problems associated with wide scale planting
of commercial biomass crops may be exacerbated
under climate change. Like woodlands, strategic
landscape planting could help meet climate
change goals of other initiatives.
Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies
(CAMS) - a flexible policy, reducing its
vulnerability to climate change, but only
one part of overall water resource planning
framework. However, faces challenge of balancing
social and environmental water demand with
decreased future rainfall. Water demand
must be managed.
Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMP)
- also a flexible policy with regular reviews,
but the very unpredictable nature of flooding
makes it vulnerable to climate change. CFMP
could potentially interact with other natural
resource initiatives - such as woodlands
- to increase infiltration of water and
reduce flood risk.
Each policy was analysed using a common
framework, which assessed the vulnerability
of key components of each policy to climate
change. The study applied the UK Climate
Impacts Programme (UKCIP) risk assessment
methodology, developing risk assessment
matrices which demonstrate how generic policy
analysis can be used to assess vulnerability
to climate change and guide adaptation at
a scale useful to resource managers and
policy makers. The study created the first
database of climate change impacts on socio-economic
indicators for Wales.
The study Climate proofing rural resource
protection policies and strategies in Wales
can be found on the Environment Agency publications
catalogue: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/publications
