THE CONTEXT – A LIFE PROJECT DEVOTED TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN PROTECTED AREAS
The LIFE Climate Action project Natur‘Adapt, developed by Réserves Naturelles de France, EUROPARC Federation and eight partners, seeks a better understanding of the climate change effects on different european Protected Areas, with the aim of developing methods, tools and services in order to integrate climate change vulnerability assessment schemes and minimise the negative impacts on the different ecosystems by the means of innovative adaptation plans.
“The LIFE project NaturAdapt, coordinated by EUROPARC Federation seeks a better understanding of the climate change effects on different european Protected Areas, with the aim of developing methods, tools and services in order to integrate climate change vulnerability assessment schemes and minimise the negative impacts on the different ecosystems by the means of innovative adaptation plans”
LIFE Natur’Adapt
“CLIMATE TALKS” – A FIVE PART DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Launched in 2018 for a 5 years term the project comes now to an end presenting an initiative called “Climate Talks”, which aims to showcase the way different territories and protected areas manage the climate change adaptation strategies.
“This is a five-part documentary that aims at better understanding what it takes to adapt to climate change. We’ll discover the experience developed by nature conservation professionals in and around Nature Protected Areas across Europe. In each episode, we’re going to have a conversation with the people who actually plan and implement adaptation measures on the ground. They’ll tell us how this work brings opportunities to innovate, to collaborate, as well as benefits for climate, nature and people.”
cLIMATE TALKS
Recorded in 5 different countries through a series of different episodes, the project analyses the different measures applied by protected area managers, showing their capacity to cooperate and involve the main stakeholders as policy makers and visitors. Answering to key questions on the nature fight against climate change, this initiative is able to present in a simple yet comprehensive way the main challenges and solutions identified by PA managers. With special attention on the territory particularities we can navigate through the interviews to draw a general picture of the action framework in Europe regarding climate change, getting to know the perspective of the local actors with this inmersive documentary.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE OUTDOOR SPORTS SECTOR
We can hear the experts from the different episodes repeatedly mentioning outdoor recreation as one important element to integrate in their strategies and adaptation measures. For this reason, it is necessary to create awareness so that the actors involved in the development and/or implementation of outdoor activities take responsibility for their impacts and take the lead in adjusting their activities to the requirements of the territory and align their performance with the guidelines of the protected area in which they are carried out.
In the chapter on the Portofino Protected Area, where the interviewee Lorenzo Merotto describes the reality of a marine park that welcomes a large number of tourists annually, including divers and underwater fishing practitioners, we can see the importance and the impact that outdoor activities can have on the life of the park, representing both a challenge and a powerful driver of change, especially in terms of awareness and collective consciousness.
“We organise awareness days for divers about international Citizen Science projects for which the Portofino MPA is an advocate. I think it is important to collaborate with the MPA because we can have several benefits, including finding solutions to the problems that affect the MPA, such as abandoned fishing gear, the impact of diving, the impact of leisure boating and anchorages”
Bruno Borelli. Director, Portofino Divers & President, Reef Alert Network
CLIMATE CHANGE – A JOINT CHALLENGE BY ENOS AND EUROPARC FEDERATION
ENOS has been working for years with EUROPARC to be able to adapt our strategies and create a common roadmap that allows us to continue to practice our activities while reducing their impact and preserving the natural environment in which we develop our activities.
At the EUROPARC 2022 conference, a workshop was jointly organised between ENOS representatives and protected area managers* where we discussed how climate change affects sport in protected areas and the guidelines to follow for a closer and more efficient collaboration.
*The workshop was jointly presented by Alberto Robles García (ENOS), Lorenzo Merotto (Portofino Marine Protected Area) and Hrafnhildur Ævarsdóttir (Vatnajokull National Park).
ENOS continues to encourage its members to reach out to the environmental conservation sector and develop local projects and initiatives to mitigate the impact of climate change, recognising how its effects are currently transforming the landscape and will continue to do so in the future.