Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Sweden and Canada are both countries with remarkable forest resources and a large dependence on the forest sector with 4% and 3% gross domestic product respectively based on forestry, pulp and paper, and the wood industry.
Sustainable forest management criteria for temporal and boreal forests were developed at the 1993 Montréal Process, and have been considered synonymous with management objectives for climate change adaptation for forest management in the boreal forest. Both Sweden and British Columbia promote sustainable forest management, and have initiatives around climate change adaptation in forestry. Climate model analysis presented by International Panel on Climate Change project the surface air temperature to increase by about 2°C to 5°C by the end of the 21st century in western North America and northern Europe. The impact of such climate change on forest management and adaptation in British Columbia and Sweden is the focus of this paper. Particularly, the study focussed on interviews conducted with nine Swedish forest managers on the subject of climate change, adaptation and forest management. Participants were well informed and concerned about climate change; however the plans and policies for adapting to climate change were still at mixed levels and there is uncertainty around how the climate will impact the forest. Nevertheless, participants were able to highlight a number of challenges and opportunities for adapting to climate change. In conclusion, results from this study find that despite differences between forests and forest management in British Columbia and Sweden, there is also important learning to be had from one another given the uncertainties, challenges and opportunities of a changing climate.