The evidence supporting the use of CCF in adapting Scotland’s forests to the risks of climate change

The aim of this report is to answer the question: what evidence exists to support the use of Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) as part of the strategy to adapt Scotland’s forests to the risks of climate change? Continuous Cover Forestry is an approach to forest management that results in diverse forests: a range of structures is possible, depending on the combination of site and species, and generally there is more than one species in the stand. There are three broad categories of CCF: simple structures (consisting of one or two canopy strata of trees); complex structures (consisting of three or more canopy strata) and stands undergoing transformation to CCF. One of the findings of the review is that the ability of CCF to help mitigate risks of future climate change varies with the type of structure. The main finding of this report is that CCF has potential to help adapt the forests in Scotland to some of the risks of future climate change.