Guidelines for the adaptation of forest management to climate change in Greece

The management of Greek forests has previously been carried out without taking into consideration the changing climate conditions and the vulnerability of forests to them. However, from now on, the competent Forest Services should adapt their management objectives and practices in order to preserve the health and productivity of forests under current and future climate and environmental conditions. Adaptation of forest management to climate change aims at the reduction of forest vulnerability and at the increase of their resilience, while at the same time benefits may arise in the field of climate change mitigation.

The purpose of the present publication is to enhance the capacity of the personnel of Greek Forest Services to detect the impacts of climate change in good time and then manage the forest ecosystems within their competence, accordingly. These adaptation guidelines are based on reports from international and national organizations, scientific publications and publications on forests and climate change, as well as on the results and deliverables of the LIFE+ AdaptFor Project Working Group. In particular, data from the publication “The forests of Greece” and FAO’s approach regarding the categorization of climate change impacts and adaptation measures, specified for the Greek forests, were used.