The overall goal of the Forests in Flux project is to establish a global network of protected forest areas which can continue to support a representative fraction of all forest ecosystems under future climatic regimes.

The purpose of Phase II of the project is to define priority areas for conservation of forest ecosystems which are most threatened by climate change and to provide relevant information to policy- and decision- makers who are in a position to act on the information.

In order to initiate a project that can have significant impact, WCMC is keen to take a flexible approach to project design and has no preconceived ideas concerning its relationship with other project collaborators. As long as we are able to achieve objectives which are consistent with those of the Forest Programme's purpose, we would be happy to take a lead, supporting or relatively minor role in the final project.

Proposed Outputs

1. Biodiversity assessments in regions most threatened by climate change and a focus on the response of threatened and endemic tree species to possible climate change scenarios;

2. A published methodology for predicting potential forest cover in the areas described above under a future climate scenario;

3. A published methodology for identifying forest and non-forest areas that will need protection to ensure survival of tree species under the a future climate scenario;

4. Maps of the areas described above, showing existing forests, potential future forests, existing protected areas and areas requiring protection under a future climate scenario (printed in poster form);

5. A summary of the key results of the Forests in Flux project, published in a high-impact format which is accessible to policy- and decision-makers;

6. A Forests in Flux website containing detailed summaries of project findings, with map outputs available through an internet map server.