Impacts on SW and
background information
Sectors:
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Biodiversity
- Business and Utilities
- Housing and Construction
- Local Government
- Tourism
- Transport
Warming to the idea*
*SW Climate Change Impact Scoping Study including report summary and technical report
Young Climate Change
Champion - SW
Aim:
To support the Agriculture and Forestry Sector in preparing for and reducing the impacts of climate change in the South West by sharing knowledge and information, coordinating activities of key organisations and working collaboratively where appropriate.
Lead contact: Paul Cottington (paul.cottington@nfu.org.uk) of the National Farmers Union.
Latest Progress Report
The Climate SouthWest Agriculture and Forestry Group is chaired by Paul Cottington from the National Farmers Union (NFU) and includes representation from a number of organisations working within the agriculture, forestry and land-use sectors in the South West.
Activities and outputs delivered by group members during 2010/11 include:
- Supporting Farming Futures to produce a South West-focussed leaflet, 'Changing Climate, Changing Business - Is your Farm Adapting?' (available on the Tools page);
- Presentation slides on 'land management and resilience in a changing climate' (available on the Tools page);
- A 'Climate Change Directory for Farms' (available at: http://www.southwestfoodanddrink.org/index.php?page=climate-change-directory-for-farms);
- A 'Climate Change Trade Fair 2011', held at Exeter Matford Centre on 24th February 2011, which was attended by approximately 200 farmers.
In 2011/12, the group are focussing on continued communication of its adaptation messages and tools to those within the agriculture and forestry sectors, and widening its engagement with industry bodies and professionals. The group also plans to; develop a set of case studies demonstrating how farmers are already adapting to climate change; support a repeat (or alternative) Climate Change Trade Fair event; and to take forward the outputs and recommendations from the Climate SouthWest Biodiversity Sector Group's 'Project Exe' (Opportunities for enhancing biodiversity in a changing climate: the Exe catchment) - see the Tools page for more information on Project Exe.
The group welcomes new members so if you are interested in finding out more, please contact the sector lead (see above for contact details) or contact Climate SouthWest directly (details on Home page).
Previous Climate SouthWest activity in the Agriculture and Forestry Sector includes:
In September 2009 the Forestry Commission launched the South West's Regional Woodland and Forestry Framework. This Framework aims to be the first point of focus on the future of the region's woods and forests; on the one hand to identify how the region can benefit more from woods and on the other hand, how the region can become a better custodian of its woods and forests, and responsibly nurture them into the future. The framework takes into account the need to adapt to climate change in managing our woods and forests. The framework and implementation plan can be found from this link: www.forestry.gov.uk/southwest-rwff. Climate SouthWest supported and participated in the extensive consultation leading to the production of this new framework.
Climate SouthWest's 'Climate Change Farm' video on YouTube. A short video from Climate SouthWest was put on YouTube in January 2009. In the video 'Climate Change Farm', Mark Diacono shows how he has adapted Otter Farm in Devon to climate change. By growing produce that was once seen as marginal, such as almonds and olives, he demonstrates the new opportunities that are becoming available to farmers in South West England. The video is on the oursouthwest YouTube channel - for direct link to the video click here: Climate Change Farm.
Work led by the Royal Agricultural College, which conducted research Assessing Farmer Attitudes to Climate Change in the South West, has highlighted key messages from the research to the European Commission and member states, as Climate SouthWest attended a meeting on climate change impacts on agriculture as part of the EU's preparation for a Green Paper on Climate Change Adaptation. Nearly 1000 farmers were targeted with over 300 replies. Over half the farmers responded that climate change was important or extremely important to their business, over 80% said they had noticed effects of climate change on their own farm, but over half also admitted that their knowledge of how climate change would impact on them was average to poor. Work is ongoing to highlight the challenges and opportunities that climate change poses to the agriculture sector.
Impact of Agriculture & Food Distribution on Climate Change - the presentation by Gundula Azeez of the Soil Association at a joint Climate SouthWest (then known as SWCCIP)/Bond Pearce business event "The Bottom Line: The Business of Climate Change" held in Bristol in December 2006. Click here to download: Impact of Agriculture & Food Distribution on Climate Change - Soil Association (pdf 135kb).
During November 2006 the Royal Agricultural College updated the www.oursouthwest.com "Wildlife Friendly Farming Guide" to take account of climate change adaptation measures.
A practical climate change guide for woodland owners and agents in the South West (2006) - Published with Climate SouthWest's support and involvement. It can be found on the Forestry Commission's website by clicking here: practical guide for woodland owners and agents (pdf on external site).
Tools
Please visit our Tools page for access to relevant tools and reports for the Agriculture and Forestry sectors.
