Temperate coastal forests: contributions and evidence requirements for resilient coastal societies

Temperate coastal forests can support the resilience of coastal societies by reducing climate-related impacts and supporting people’s wellbeing and connectivity. The ecological diversity within temperate coastal forests makes them especially valuable for ecosystem-based approaches to climate adaptation. However, much evidence on the contributions temperate coastal forests make to people, and the management responses necessary to sustain social and ecological resilience under a changing climate, is context-specific. In response, this paper compares temperate coastal forests over three different geographical contexts which deliver risk-reduction, wellbeing or economic contributions to adjacent communities: Taynish (Scotland, UK); Nijinomatsubara (Karatsu, Japan); and the Curonian Spit (Lithuania). For each, we analyse existing evidence to identify the benefits and values associated with the forest, then characterise potential management responses – and further evidence requirements – to support social and ecological resilience in the coastal forested landscape. We offer four insights, focused on temperate coastal forests but relevant to environmental management for resilience more broadly: the value of management strategies that link marine and terrestrial ecosystems in reducing negative impacts and supporting resilience; the need for management practices that recognise shifting social expectations and values and draw on community-based management practices appropriately; the necessity of attention to fairness and justice in who benefits from management of coastal forests; and the importance of identifying transferable insights from context-specific research to enable effective international learning and knowledge-sharing.