Forests at the Core of Climate Change Adaption
On May 9th Interreg Aurora-project ClimateForest hosted a cross- border webinar on climate change and the adaptation of boreal forests. The speakers represented agencies in both Sweden and Finland.
The aim of the webinar was to give an overview of how climate change adaptation is dealt with on a national level in Finland and Sweden, how adaptation is organized and how it is followed up by the Finnish Forest Centre and the Swedish Forest Agency respectively.
Key speakers
Key speakers were Jaana Kaipanen, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, Juha Tuononen, the Finnish Forest Centre, Bodil Ståhl, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute and Carin Nilsson, the Swedish Forest Agency.
- We were very glad to get such extinguished speakers at the webinar, says organizer Mika Tapio, at the Finnish Forest Centre.
Jaana Kaipanen and Bodil Ståhl described the status of adaptation on a national level, what challenges there are and the approaches to climate change each country has chosen. Juha Tuononen and Carin Nilsson focused on the forests in northern Finland and Sweden and the status of adaptation, what challenges there are and the approaches to climate change.
Discussions
After the presentations the participants had discussions in smaller groups about the main challenges and opportunities for climate change adaptation and how collaboration between the countries when it comes to adaptation strategies, plans and measures can be enhanced.
Several groups mentioned the long time spans when it comes to forestry as a challenge, the value of using the same climate scenarios in Sweden and Finland and the need for more joint collaboration and exchange between the countries.
Next step
- Now we will summarize the discussions and reflections from the webinar so we can prepare for a next step to increase the cross-border cooperation about climate change adaptation of boreal forests, concludes organizer Carin Nilsson at the Swedish Forest Agency.