Climate change and Nature Conservation

Changes in climate have affected the world, and the distribution and abundance of its plants and animals, throughout the geological record. However, during the 20th Century, the rate of warming increased dramatically with the 1990s being the warmest decade on record. This coincided with industrial and social development increasing the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and accelerating what is essentially a natural process. A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001) concluded that 'there is now strong evidence that most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities'.

This warming trend is set to continue for at least the first half of the 21st Century, even if a global stabilisation of greenhouse gases is achieved. IPCC expect average global temperatures to rise between 1.4 and 5.8ºC by 2100, depending on future levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Warming is being accompanied by changing precipitation patterns and increased frequencies of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and storms. Sea levels will continue to rise as ice sheets and glaciers melt, and as sea water expands in response to higher temperatures.

The implications of climate change for plant and animal species, as for human populations, could be very significant and is presenting important and immediate challenges to nature conservation. There is clear evidence to show that populations, ranges, migration patterns, and seasonal and reproductive behaviour are already being affected. Such effects are likely to become more apparent and extensive as climate continues to change.

Raised temperatures in the Indian Ocean have resulted in the death of reef-forming corals and are leading to the degradation of coral reef systems; the extensive coral reefs of the British Indian Ocean Territory, are at considerable risk. Rising sea levels are threatening to overwhelm some low-lying Pacific islands and causing major loss of deltaic and other coastal habitats, including the erosion of saltmarsh habitats in eastern England. Reduced rainfall in tropical regions could hasten the conversion of tropical woodland to savannah and increase desertification; it is also likely to result in the loss of beech woodland in southern England. In montane areas, species and habitats which have evolved in cooler climates may initially migrate to higher altitudes as temperatures increase; if temperatures continue to rise, these may vanish altogether, a problem that is likely to be faced by the remaining arctic-alpine plant communities in Britain.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is working with other organisations in the UK and overseas to understand the scientific and policy implications of climate change for nature conservation. The aim of our climate change programme is to evaluate the impacts of 'inevitable' climate change on the nature conservation resources of the UK and its Overseas Territories, and propose actions to accommodate these, either by complementing existing activities or through new approaches.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is:

1. Commissioning and supporting scientific research to further our understanding of the likely impacts of climate change on plant and animal species and their habitats, on geological/geomorphological processes, and on the functioning of ecological systems at the landscape scale.

2. Establishing relationships with relevant climate change programmes in governmental and non-governmental organisations in the UK and overseas; where appropriate, seeking to influence the direction of research in these programmes and ensuring complementarity with our own programme.

3. Using the results of scientific research to adapt nature conservation policy and practice to the immediate challenges created by climate change, and strengthening the case for planning the long-term conservation of species and their habitats over wide geographic areas, including:

highlighting the critical importance of designated nature conservation sites (international, national and local) in accommodating the ecological effects of climate change; these sites have a crucial role to play in allowing the geographical ranges of species to alter in response to climate change, since it is unlikely to be practicable to retain all of the pre-existing features unchanged;
reinforcing the need for approaches to nature conservation management which can accommodate ecological change, both within designated sites and in the wider countryside, in particular providing effective ecological links between areas of semi-natural habitat to facilitate the movement of species as climate changes;
working through the country nature conservation agencies to raise awareness of the potential impacts of climate change on coastal habitats, on coastal and marine geomorphological processes, and for the conservation of coastal geological features;
promoting the inclusion of climate change impacts in the Biodiversity Action Plan process, especially the planned revision of UK targets in 2005, and in the development of nature conservation objectives;
raising awareness within the nature conservation community, government and other key sectors of the significance of climate change for species and their habitats, and identifying how and when to adapt our approach to nature conservation to reflect future changes;
advocating an increase in the level of support for species and habitat management under agri-environment schemes to accommodate the impacts of climate change, and the extension of such schemes to provide links between habitats within fragmented landscapes;
producing practical guidance on managing the effects of climate change on species and their habitats, for example, the long-term sustainability of existing systems, the survival of threatened native species, the control of non-native species, the restoration of ecological damage following extreme weather, and the need for adaptive measures to accommodate inevitable geological/geomorphological and ecological changes.

4. Supporting policy measures and cultural changes to reduce the long-term emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and so help mitigate the effects of climate change in the second half of the 21st Century, in accord with sustainable development principles and in support of the Kyoto Protocol (Framework Convention on Climate Change) and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Research into climate change and its impacts is an important and fast-moving area of study. This page therefore, reflects our current knowledge and understanding. We will review and update our approach as new evidence emerges.