Adapting forest and woodland management to the changing climate

Our climate is changing rapidly, with milder, wetter winters, warmer summers, longer growing seasons and more frequent extreme conditions, including drought periods and heavy rainfall events. The projected rate of climate change is unprecedented and therefore action is essential now to improve the resilience of forests and woodlands, and to protect the benefits that they provide.

This Practice Guide provides advice to forest and woodland owners, managers, planners and policymakers on how to adapt management and plan for the changing climate by providing an adaptation framework that takes the reader through the process of choosing and implementing appropriate adaptation measures. It brings together the latest insights from research and practice, supplemented by case studies to show how adaptation measures are being applied.

Adapting forest and woodland management to the changing climate supports the UK Forestry Standard and its Guidelines on Climate Change, which are the primary source of information on good practice requirements.