Climate Change in Canada’s Forest Sector: Impacts and Adaptation

1. Climate Change in Canada’s Forest Sector:Impacts and Adaptation C-CIARN Forest Sector A Presentation to the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry February 25, 2003 by Greg McKinnon, Forest Sector Coordinator

2. Presentation Outline • Responding to Climate Change: Mitigation or Adaptation? • Mitigation • Impacts and Adaptation • Making Climate Change Adaptation a Reality: • Summary

3. Responding to Climate Change: Mitigation or Adaptation? Source:Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report.Stand-alone edition. Watson, R.T. and the Core Writing Team (Eds.). IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland. Figure SPM-5. p. 17.

4. Mitigation • Forests are recognized under the Kyoto Protocol in calculating a country’s net CO2 • Two main elements in carbon management: • decreased emissions • increased sequestration and storage • Key questions: • Will Canada’s forests be a net sink or a net source for carbon? • Will management for carbon be in concert, or in conflict, with other forest management objectives?

5. Impact of Climate Change on Canada’s Forests • Forests are most strongly linked to climate during regeneration and through climate’s impact on disturbances • Direct impact of climate change on sustainability of Canada’s forests has national and global implications

6. Adapting to Climate Change Objectives: • Sustainable forest management • Maintain and enhance the long-term health of forest ecosystems for the benefit of all living things • Sustainable communities • Provide environmental, economic, social and cultural opportunities for present and future generations

7. Making Climate Change Adaptation a Reality in Forest Management

8. Focus on Policy • Increase awareness of importance and immediacy of climate change issues to forest policy-makers and managers • Recognize that forest policy may need to change dramatically to allow adaptation to climate change • Strengthen linkages between policy and research • Institute ‘vulnerability’ approach to climate change impacts and adaptation • Incorporate multi-stakeholder interests and reconcile any conflicting forest management objectives, especially on public land

9. Focus on Forest Practices • Manage for resiliency, flexibility and diversity • Initiate forest practices now that make sense from a number of perspectives, including climate change, e.g. manage for fire, insects, windthrow • Apply adaptive management strategies – initiate, monitor, re-assess, and revise • Pursue multi-stakeholder support for contentious forest practices designed to ameliorate effects of climate change, e.g. introduction of exotic tree species, etc.

10. Focus on Research • Determine key knowledge gaps and research priorities – linked to on-the-ground forest management policy and practices • Effectively communicate research results to forest users • Increase focus on adaptation • Increase capacity and financial resources dedicated to impacts and adaptation

11. Delivery Mechanisms • Research: • Canadian Forest Service • Sustainable Forest Management Network (NCE) • Universities • Model Forest Network • Provincial Forest Research organizations

12. Delivery Mechanisms • Policy • Provincial Governments • Certification Bodies, e.g. Forest Stewardship Council • Model Forest Network • Non-Governmental Organizations • Industry • International Markets

13. Delivery Mechanisms • Forest Practices: • Industry • Private Landowners • Provincial Governments

14. C-CIARN Forest’s Role • To increase the awareness of forest-related issues involving impacts of, and adaptation to, climate change • To enhance the capacity for, and coordination of, research on climate change impacts and adaptation pertaining to Canada's forests • To facilitate communication about the impacts of climate change and options for adaptation among researchers, forest managers, policymakers, and forest-based communities

15. Summary • Climate change is real • There is a much greater probability that Canada’s forests will be a net source rather than a net sink for carbon • Options for mitigation of CO2 emissions through forest management are limited and subject to conflict with other management objectives

16. Summary (cont’d) • More research, linked to policies and practices, is required on impacts and adaptation • Forest policies and practices should be adapted in recognition of present, and expected, climate change impacts (vulnerability approach) • Forest management and forest-based communities, to be sustainable, must incorporate climate change adaptive strategies

17. VISIT US AT: www.forest.c-ciarn.ca