Climate change opportunities
Opportunities in the New Forest
As well as risks, climate change also creates opportunities.
The New Forest is one of the most biodiverse landscapes in the UK, loved by many, with a rich cultural heritage, strong local communities, and a historic and thriving practice of biological observing and recording.
Climate change provides a shared challenge and opportunity to leverage the strengths of the New Forest to rebuild human connection with the natural environment and to understand and learn from change.
Climate change also provides opportunities to innovate, for this community to show national leadership, and for us all to learn from and share solutions, approaches, successes and failures in support of the collective challenge of increasing resilience to and adapting to climate change.
Read on for the opportunities that have the potential to help the National Park adapt and increase its resilience to climate change.
– Link climate mitigation and adaptation with nature, and mainstream into decision-making, policy, and planning processes
– Build a strategic narrative linking climate change with nature, people, and the New Forest, and align messaging across public
sector bodies and locally active Non-Governmental Organisations
– Monitor climate change risk and impacts, and track and report actions and progress
– Expand and appropriately target research and monitoring efforts to provide the evidence needed to inform
adaptation
– Strengthen efforts to share data and knowledge across the community and between disciplines
– Motivate action by increasing public awareness and understanding of climate change as the most important driver
of current and future environmental change in the New Forest National Park
– Support landowners and land managers to increase climate and biodiversity-positive land management and use
– Facilitate mobilisation of private finance / business investment in nature that supports New Forest habitats
– Reduce non-climate pressures and directly protect the most sensitive or vulnerable habitats
– Increase focus on habitat heterogeneity and maintaining climate refugia for species most at risk from climate
change; provide guidance for landowners and managers
– Explore the opportunities for adaptive management and decision-making frameworks that integrate climate change
at a landscape scale
– Restore and create habitats to increase resilience and connectivity within the New Forest National Park, and support forestfriendly
changes in land use that deliver climate and biodiversity benefits
– Improve habitat quality and connectivity beyond the boundaries of the New Forest National Park