Forest: Climate Change Adaptation

The objective of the LIFE FORECCAsT project was to provide forest owners and managers of Parc Naturel Régional du Haut Languedoc with the means to build their own management strategy, taking climate change scenarios into consideration, in order to protect territorial forest ecosystems and ensure a dynamic forestry sector in compliance with environmental, economic and social challenges. To reach this overall objective, the following specific goals were foreseen: to develop methodologies and tools to help decision-making for the forestry-wood sector; to incorporate field observations in order to improve the usefulness of the decision-making tool developed by the project, FORECCAsT; to make a list of bio-indicators that will form the basis of a monitoring system on the effects of climate change on woodland biodiversity; to protect vulnerable ecosystems and habitats in the Parc Naturel Régional du Haut Languedoc; to put forward adaptation strategies for forestry and genetic resources, including alternative production systems, and a better understanding of biodiversity and the risk of forest fire; and to raise awareness in the forestry sector and local populations on future risks and the need to act now to protect the forestry industry and forest ecosystems.