Definitions:
- Adaptation measures help landscapes adjust to changing conditions. Examples include restoring peatlands to improve water retention and reduce flood risk, managing land to improve soil structure and prevent soil erosion, and diversifying vegetation to enhance ecosystem resilience.
- Mitigation activities aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance carbon sequestration. This can involve sensitive expansion of tree cover, protecting existing woodlands, and restoring carbon-rich peat soils. Together, these approaches not only help safeguard upland ecosystems but also support downstream communities by improving water quality, reducing flooding, and contributing to broader climate goals.
UK climate projections show an increased chance of warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers, along with an increase in the frequency and intensity of extremes. Habitats and communities of species need to be in the best possible health, in order to be resilient to climate impacts.
Upland landscapes are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including impacts from rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events. Climate adaptation is essential to maintain both their ecological integrity and the services they provide, such as water regulation, clean air, carbon storage, and biodiversity. Mitigation measures, of an appropriate nature and scale, will likely support adaptations of the kind this plan proposes.
Impacts are likely to include increased risk of flooding and increased risk from fire. Restoring blanket bog where it has ceased to be a functional wetland ecosystem can help to reduce the frequency and severity of flooding and reduce the potential for fire damage. Natural flood management measures, including restoring natural processes to watercourses and making space for water, are also vital tools in climate adaptation. Providing firebreaks and ensuring emergency access and water provision can reduce the risks from and impact of uncontrolled fire. This requires resourcing to support delivery and capacity building for land managers who are often on the front line of fire prevention and management.
It is important that there is a clear plan that identifies the climate risks the landscape faces, and sets out the actions we can take to address them. Farmers, foresters and moorland land managers will be at the forefront of positive land management practices that reduce emissions and increase landscape resilience and manage risk/impacts; their continued presence and capacity will be a factor in the success or otherwise of climate change adaptation activity. There is also scope for well-sited, small scale technological interventions, such as domestic scale wind energy, but the primary focus of actions on climate in the National Landscape need to be on land/nature-based practical solutions, which themselves have multiple additional benefits for nature and people.
The Third National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (NAP3), 2021, requires there to be a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for all National Landscapes and National Parks, by 2028. This is still in development but in the meantime the Management Plan brings forward a series of suggested measures that are known to be beneficial for climate adaptation without compromising the area’s natural beauty in its different forms.
Other parts of this plan cover the protection of natural assets in relation to climate change, especially peatlands, woodlands and grasslands..