PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Climate change is impacting on the functioning of natural ecosystems, their habitats and the species they host. As a consequence, the way that we understand and manage these ecosystems will need to change. While the impact of climate change is globally recognised, managers rarely take into account the effects of climate change in their action plans. In 2015 in France, for example, less than 15% of them reported that they were aware of this issue. Managers do not anticipate the increasing vulnerability of species, habitats and ecosystems to climate change, along with possible degradations in the delivery of ecosystem services.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE #CC#Naturadapt project (2018 – 2023) aimed to integrate climate change adaptation into the management and protection of natural protected sites. Its approach was to develop relevant methods, tools and services required to carry out climate change vulnerability assessments and to develop adaptation plans for natural protected areas. These were built on the shared vision of stakeholders on challenges and solutions, which make allowance for the needs and constraints of site managers. The professional team of RNF (Réserves Naturelles de France) supported the emergence of a community of practitioners with a common approach of adaptation in the management of natural areas.
The project also sought to facilitate access to knowledge on how protected sites should be managed. Such knowledge enabled site managers and biodiversity stakeholders to respond in an effective manner to the effects of climate change. It also supported the development of mechanisms that made it possible to share and disseminate innovative actions in the field of nature protection adaptation, as well as the application of the project’s results to other sites in France and elsewhere in Europe.
RESULTS
As planned, the project developed and tested on 21 sites a methodology for protected area managers to integrate climate change adaptation in their work, through a participatory approach leading to a vulnerability assessment and an adaptation plan. A number of resources were produced within the project to raise the awareness of protected area managers, disseminate the Natur’adapt approach and support them in its implementation. Replication is on its way: For instance, 5 nature reserves have implemented the Natur’adapt approach outside LIFE, with funding from the Occitanie Region and other similar initiatives are expected. Among these, the LIFE Biodiv’France, a Strategic Nature project starting in January 2024, will also provide funding for the test of the Natur’adapt methodology on 5 protected areas in the French overseas and on 5 Natura 2000 sites.
The resources produced within the project were made available on a dedicated web-platform (https://naturadapt.com/), which is a collaborative tool, also hosting discussion groups for instance. At the end of the project, the platform gathers a growing community of 1,300 protected area managers. This platform is expected to be maintained and further developed as a toolkit for protected area managers within the upcoming LIFE Biodiv’France. It mainly targets French protected area managers, but some resources are also available in English and a specific online manual was produced for English-speaking users.
Dissemination has also taken place at the European level, through events, but also with a toolkit for European protected area managers that is now available on Europarc’s website.
Although the project was mainly focused on protected area managers, the beneficiaries also sought to raise the awareness of institutional stakeholders and policy-makers, at the local, national and European levels, on the role of protected areas in climate change adaptation and on the necessary integration of climate change impacts in the management of protected areas. In particular, the project team produced a White paper for a better integration of climate adaptation in policy and practice for protected areas and a Pledge for climate by Europarc, which should continue to be largely disseminated.
Through all these actions, the project is certainly contributing to a more effective and adaptive management of protected areas in the medium term, which should lead to ecosystems in better condition and thereby to enhanced ecosystem services.
