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Natural Environment

Resources for land managers and organisations to increase resilience to climate change.

This page gives an introduction to how climate change could affect our farms, forests and natural habitats. It identifies current sources of information that may be helpful to land managers and organisations involved in preparing for the impacts of climate change on the natural environment. There are actions that we can take to help make the natural environment more resilient to climate change.

Why is adaptation important to the natural environment?

The natural environment is directly affected by the climate. Temperature, rainfall and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts have a direct impact on our landscapes, rivers, coasts and seas. This in turn has an impact on the plants and animals that they sustain, and on our land-based businesses.

Climate change presents both opportunities and challenges for environments managed by the agriculture and forestry sectors. For example, higher temperatures will provide a longer growing season and extend the viable range of some crops, however the range of pests may also increase. Rainfall patterns are also projected to change, with significant reductions likely during the growing season. 

Climate change can affect biodiversity and habitats, for example through the arrival and loss of species as the climate modifies natural habitats and species distributions. Climate change will be an added pressure to ecosystems which are already stressed due to other pressures, such as pollution and increased demand for water.

It is important to recognise the impacts of climate change on the natural environment so we can take action to protect our wildlife and natural resources, both now and in the future.

What are the benefits of adapting?

The Adaptation Sub Committee’s first report highlighted the need to maintain and enhance the natural environment at the landscape scale through protecting, restoring and creating habitats. Improving the connectivity of habitats will assist species dispersal, help reduce the vulnerability of biodiversity and maintain the ability of ecosystems to deliver goods and services. The report also stressed the need to reduce other sources of harm (e.g. pollution, abstraction from rivers, intensive agriculture) so that wildlife and habitats are more resilient and able to cope with climate change.

Building climate resilience into our natural environment will not only benefit our wildlife and habitats. It will also benefit our society and the economy, which depends on the services the environment provides, such as farming and forestry, but also tourism and recreation. For example, in February 2010 nearly 40% of farmers surveyed in England as part of the Farming Futures project said they were already affected by climate change and nearly 60% expect to be affected in the next ten years. Preparing for these expected changes and adapting current practice (e.g. changing crop types in certain parts of the country) will help our land based industries take advantage of any opportunities from climate change, whilst avoiding the worst of the impacts.

Information that is available to help you

From the Environment Agency

From others