Climate change is threatening some of Britains finest country estates, but its impact on food and forest production could be minimized if a coherent policy was formulated, says the Country Land and Business Association (CLA). A report by the University of East Anglias Climatic Research Unit and the CLA shows the effects of climate change are already being felt at estates across Europe and suggests EU member states devise a policy to curtail them.

Four British estates, including Holkham Hall, Norfolk and Windsor Castle were examined in the report as well as 17 others across Europe. By investigating the implications of hotter, drier weather and sudden torrential rain at each of the properties, the report finds ways in which land managers can adapt to or mitigate climate change. Biofuels and biomass are disclosed as a good way of alleviating climate change, as well as growing more trees to reduce carbon levels and for using in environmentally friendly construction. EU member states should formulate a coherent policy to encourage this, says the report.

According to CLA President David Fursdon, European governments have varying attitudes towards Carbon Aware Land Management (CALM), with some following overt policies and others failing to address certain issues. "There needs to be a coherent pattern with incentives and targets", he told CLO. "Governments need to see land management in the round - the whole process. Finding ways of making woodlands more profitable is not just about timber production but mitigating climate change as well."

CALM is a CLA scheme enabling land managers to work out the carbon balance of their estates. Negative energy usage on a farm (oil, diesel and nitrogen) is balanced against the ways the estate is contributing to the environment (trees and soil, bio energy, wind power and timber)."CALM can be used as a tool for land managers to understand how efficient their estate is", said Mr Fursdon. "They need to be aware that climate change is taking place and they will have to start planning for it”.

Summer droughts are likely to become longer and more frequent - disastrous for olive trees and grapevine production. “We should be encouraging landowners to produce biofuels and to enhance carbon stocks by planting more hardwood trees, which can be used as alternative construction material”, said Dr David Viner co-author of the report and senior climate scientist at the University of East Anglia. “Currently, infrastructure for processing biofuels is not in place and the price of timber is uneconomic”.

The government has offered its support to the CLA report: “Climate change is a critical matter facing all of us today”, said David Milliband, Secretary of State for Defra. “Land managers truly have a unique role in combating climate change because they offer the possibilities of storing carbon in soil and trees and in supplying carbon-saving renewable energy and building materials”.
(Contry Life, 31/08/2006)
http://www.countrylife.co.uk/countrysideconcerns/news/climatethreat.php