[CANUFNET] Climate change adaptation strategies

Tue Feb 14 09:12:23 EST 2017

Amber, You may already be aware of this publication but it looks like a good resource and the whole book is free: “Cities adapt to extreme heat - Celebrating local leadership  http://iclr.org/citiesadaptheat.html

Geri Poisson, B.A. (Hon) / ISA Certified Arborist, CAN-CISEC
Terrestrial Ecologist
Beacon Environmental
126 Kimberley Avenue, Bracebridge, ON P1L 1Z9
T)  705.645.1050 x22  F) 705.645.6639
www.beaconenviro.com<http://www.beaconenviro.com/>

From: CANUFNET [mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Amber Cantell via CANUFNET
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2017 8:52 AM
To: canufnet at list.web.net
Subject: [CANUFNET] Climate change adaptation strategies

Good afternoon everyone,

I am with the Trees & Forests Advisory Committee here in London, Ontario, and our committee is currently exploring ways the City's urban forestry program could begin preparing for climate change. Projections for our area for 2050 indicate upwards of 5 degrees in warming; by the end of the century, it could be as high as 14 (based on some of the newest studies). Consequently, we're feeling motivated to get to work (and planting) while we still have some time.

I was curious to know what other municipalities, specifically, are doing to plan for climate change within their urban forestry program.

It seems that so far, there is widespread acknowledgement of the massive impacts climate change is going to have on trees and forests, but few concrete steps being taken to prepare for it. It also seems that most of us (and other organizations in the national and provincial park systems, etc.) are at the point where we're all sort of holding our breath with regards to assisted migration - I've read an enormous number of articles about organizations preparing for and discussing the idea, but no one seems to want to be the first to undertake it.... at least not in any official sense beyond the "research" phase. It was interesting to hear about Andrew Almas' study that showed that most municipalities are effectively already unintentionally doing assisted migration (which makes sense in light of how incredibly easy it is to buy plants from all sorts of places around the world and the lack of regulation there), but, given the risks it could involve, it'd be nice to see something being done in a purposeful and thoughtful fashion. I have to admit to being personally curious about what the point is where we "pull the trigger" - I imagine many of you have been having similar thoughts.

In the meantime, our team has been working on coming up with a set of recommendations for London. So far, we have:

- Move from a blanket "Non-Native" vs. "Native" classification system to one where instead of just using "Native", we would have "Native" (for plants native to our area pre-European settlement) and "Continentally Native" (for species not currently native to London, but native to continental North America, and therefore may potentially expand into our area), and then using "Non-Native" for anything from elsewhere on the planet. This approach would recognizing that it is natural for species ranges to move north or south across the continent in response to climate, but still allow us to do our best to exclude invasive species from other continents (by far the bulk of the "invasive" species we deal with).

- Defining principles for assisted migration here in London and at what stage we would consider what option (bringing up southern-adapted seed of already native species vs. introducing new species, etc.)

- Selecting a citywide "climate planning scenario" to create consistency between different departments in terms of what climate we are planning for. Ultimately, the choice for what climate to plan for is a political one (as it's based on what we think people will manage to accomplish in terms of reducing emissions), but it is one that needs to be made, as it should particularly bearing on forestry and stormwater infrastructure planning.

We've seen some ad hoc efforts to plan based on a specific scenario (for example, one stormwater study in 2009 appears to have planned for a scenario where emissions were assumed to have increased between 2000 and 2009 but then cease in 2009), but nothing citywide as of yet.

As a part of this, we would also likely be recommending that our city set a schedule for checking on how projections are comparing with the IPCC updates, and have capacity to move to a worse or better scenario as the decades progress, based on how successful we are - or aren't - in reducing emissions.

- Creating a "Climate Change Sister City" network to link communities with "analogous climates" to share resources and suppliers - for example, linking London to a city in the U.S. that has, today, the climate we might be expecting for 2050.

By any chance are there any communities out there already undertaking any of these ideas, or have suggestions for other ideas we may wish to consider for London?

Many thanks!
Amber

--

Amber Cantell

Director of Programs, ReForest London

519-936-9548 x224

reforestlondon.ca<http://www.reforestlondon.ca>

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