England Biodiversity Strategy - towards adapation to climate change. Final report to Defra for contract CRO327

1. The evidence that the Earth’s climate is changing as a consequence of human activity is strong and accepted by the overwhelming majority of scientific opinion. The changing climate is beginning to have an impact on English ecosystems and this impact is expected to increase and accelerate in future, threatening the conservation of biodiversity. 2. The England Biodiversity Strategy (EBS) “Working with the Grain of Nature” aims to ensure that biodiversity considerations become embedded in all the main sectors of economic activity that have an impact on or relationship with delivery of biodiversity objectives, both public and private. 3. This report reviews the scientific evidence and summarises the potential impacts of climate change on the biodiversity of England within each of the sectors of the EBS: Agriculture, Water and Wetlands, Woodland and Forestry, Coastal and Marine, Towns and Cities. It includes direct impacts and indirect ones resulting from human responses to climate change. It gives a brief overview of the main non-climatic pressures on biodiversity and their possible interactions with climate change. Principles and measures for adapting biodiversity policy and management to climate change are presented.