Exploring Cross-Cultural Barriers and Opportunities to Climate Adaptation Among Tribal-State Forest Stewards in Maine US

Climate change and the effects of non-native plants, insects, and diseases will challenge forest stewards capacity to adapt. Studies show that adaptation does not occur evenly across regions, resulting in adaptation gaps, which have disproportionately greater impacts on populations vulnerable to climate risks. To minimize adaptation gaps, forest stewards must transform adaptative capacity toward action. To explore this phenomenon, we interviewed 22 forest stewards from state agencies (n = 12) and Wabanaki Tribal Nations (n = 10) in present-day Maine to examine their perceived barriers and opportunities to climate adaptation. We found that barriers and opportunities organized into three distinct themes: i) resource capacity, ii) operational capacity, and iii) decision-making practices. Our results suggest enhancing adaptive forest stewardship by supporting Indigenous self-determination, strengthening government-to-government partnerships, and co-creating flexible institutional arrangements that further climate adaptation. These approaches help ensure that adaptation interventions achieve desired outcomes and avoid reinforcing existing inequities across forest stewards.