The critical role of forests in climate change mitigation and adaptation is now widely recognized. Actions to support this role are taken on different levels from international to local. However, in many countries climate change issues have not been fully addressed in national forest policies, nor have the forestry mitigation and adaptation needs been thoroughly considered in national climate change strategies. Also cross-sectoral dimensions of climate change impacts and response measures have not been fully appreciated.
The FAO Forestry Department and the NFP Facility are working to support countries on integration of climate change into their national forest programmes. The publication is a key part of this support and seeks to provide a practical approach to the process of integrating climate change into national forest programmes. The aim is to assist senior officials in government administrations and stakeholders, including civil society organizations and the private sector, prepare the forest sector for the challenges and opportunities posed by climate change.
FAO and the NFP Facility stand ready to support countries in the application of the approach and warmly welcome ideas and suggestions for use and improvement of the approach.
FAO and NFP Facility wish to thank all those who were involved in the development of the approach during national stakeholder workshops, expert and public consultations, and finalization of the publication. The approach and the publication have been developed with the financial support of the FAO-Finland Forestry Programme.
Download the publication in English, Spanish or French: http://www.fao.org/forestry/