Climate change adaptation
We’re taking action across our organisation, including our reserves, to help communities of wildlife and people adapt to the effects of the climate and nature crises.
On this page
Climate change is the greatest long-term threat to wildlife and people. We’re working to make sure action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a nature-friendly way, while helping wildlife to adapt to the changes in climate.
The action we’re taking
We are working in many ways to fight climate change. You can keep up to date with our latest work, and find out how you can help, in the Nature Advocates Blog.
Helping wildlife adapt
Climate change is already having a dramatic effect on the natural world. We work with partners and stakeholders to help wildlife adapt to these changes in the best ways possible.
Much of our work is concentrated on three areas:
Policy
We advocate for the use of nature-based solutions to help society adapt to climate change. Nature-based solutions involve working with nature to tackle issues like climate change, water shortages and food security.
There are a whole host of natural features and processes we can use to help us manage the impacts of climate change, but they must be of high-quality and used in the appropriate way. Here are a few examples:
Healthy peatlands can help slow the flow of water during storms, reducing the risk of flooding.
Urban trees can provide shade and hold moisture, helping keep towns and cities cooler during extreme heat.
Saltmarshes can help buffer our coastlines, providing protection from sea-level rises.
Alongside the carbon-storing potential of natural environments including wetlands, peatlands, forests, soil-systems and oceans, protecting them boosts biodiversity which in turn provides health benefits to the public and contributes towards environmental targets.
Practice
There is fantastic work taking place across RSPB reserves to help give nature a future. This includes thinking about impacts of climate change and trying to manage our sites to account for changes to our climate such as more extreme heat and flooding.
Research
Our research into how climate change is impacting wildlife helps guide the approaches we take on our reserves and feeds into the evidence-base we provide to policymakers to inform decision-making.