Abstract
Coping or adaptation following large-scale disturbance may depend on the political system and its preparedness and policy development in relation to risks. Adaptive or foresight planning is necessary in order to account and plan for potential risks that may increase or take place concurrently with climate change. Forests constitute relevant examples of large-scale renewable resource systems that have been directly affected by recent environmental and social changes, and where different levels of management may influence each other. This article views disturbances in the forest sectors of Sweden and Canada, two large forest nations with comparable forestry experiences, in order to elucidate the preparedness and existing responses to multiple potential stresses. The article concludes that the two countries are exposed to stresses that indicate the importance of the governing and institutional system particularly with regard to multi-level systems including federal and EU levels. While economic change largely results in privatization of risk onto individual companies and their economic resources (in Canada coupled with a contestation of institutional systems and equity in these), storm and pest outbreaks in particular challenge institutional capacities at administrative levels, within the context provided by governance and tenure systems.
Highlights
Introduction and AimAdaptation and adaptive capacity have become an increasing focus of the hazards and risk literature in recent years
High adaptive capacity requires the presence of effective mobilizers, which include the role of cross-level institutional and governance arrangements and actors in facilitating or constraining adaptation actions taken by different stakeholders
Two different periods of forestry recession are discussed below, namely the 1990s in Sweden and the 2000s in Canada
Summary
Adaptation and adaptive capacity have become an increasing focus of the hazards and risk literature in recent years. Parallel risks can be seen both in the context of unseasonal temperatures and increased potential for movement of species through trade, whereby pest outbreaks may occur in previously undamaged territories [3,4] Such instances of large-scale disturbance emphasize societal requirements for dealing with long, as well as short-term, change (i.e., outbreak or crisis situations). They contribute to greater awareness of potential impacts on standing stock in forestry, a land use where some northern areas may have seen climate change largely as a positive contribution due to longer growing seasons and higher production [5]. Our paper draws from different cases in two large forest nations, Sweden and Canada, with an eye to different examples that, context-dependent, may indicate needs for preparedness or adaptive foresight planning and potential measures to increase adaptive capacity at different management levels
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