Climate crisis: nature-based resilience

As urgent actions are needed to curb climate change and biodiversity decline, Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) could play an essential role to help address both issues synergistically. However, NbS remain controversial because of uncertainties surrounding their effectiveness and the risks involved in their implementation. Embracing a broader portfolio of NbS beyond the ones focusing most of the attention and prioritising those providing co-benefits on several sustainability dimensions could minimise risks while delivering a much needed contribution to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Mountain forests in the Alps are strongly characterised by human land-use history and natural disturbances. These forests fulfil important ecosystem services, e.g. as protection against natural hazards. With climate change, we expect shifts of upper treeline, but also a further increase of natural disturbances such as fire, windthrow or bark beetle outbreaks. In this contribution, I discuss current trends and challenges related to the management of mountain forests under climate change and how aspects of climate adaptation and climate mitigation may be optimised.