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Name: Chatzipapadopoulou Smaragda

Natural Solutions: protected areas helping peoplecope with climate change

Climate change poses an unprecedented level of threat to life on the planet. Thefacts are well known. Atmospheric greenhouse gases are creating warmertemperatures, ice melt, sea-level rise and an unpredictable climate, with a rangeof extremely serious and hard-to-predict consequences.

But serious as the situation has now become, much can still be done to reduce

the problems created by climate change. Natural Solutions focuses on the rolethat protected areas can play in mitigating and adapting to climate change; a setof options that so far has been under-represented in global response strategies. Inthe rush for new solutions to climate change, we are in danger of neglecting a

proven alternative.

A protected area is a definedgeographic space dedicated and

managed to achieve the long-termconservation of nature. Protectedareas already cover nearly 14 per centof the worlds land surface and agrowing area of coasts and oceans. Inmany places where population ordevelopment pressures are

particularly strong, protected areassafeguard the only remaining natural

ecosystems.

Protected areas are an essential part of the global response to climate change.They are helping address the cause of climate change by reducing greenhousegas emissions. They are helping society cope with climate change impacts bymaintaining essential services upon which people depend. Without them, thechallenges would be even greater, and their strengthening will yield one of themost powerful natural solutions to the climate crisis.

http://assets.panda.org/downloads/natural_solutions_climate_climate_2009.pdfhttp://assets.panda.org/downloads/natural_solutions_climate_climate_2009.pdf

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Some of the facts:

Fifteen percent of the worlds terrestrial carbon stock - 312 gigatonnes -are stored in protected areas around the world.

In Canada, over 4,000 million tons of carbon dioxide is sequestered in 39

national parks, estimated to be worth $39-87 billion in carbon credits. In the Brazilian Amazon, protected lands are expected to prevent 670,000

km of deforestation by 2050, representing 8 billion tons of avoidedcarbon emissions.

Protected areas also serve as natural buffers against climate impacts and otherdisasters, providing space for floodwaters to disperse, stabilizing soil againstlandslides and blocking storm surges. It has been estimated that coastal wetlands

in the United States provide $23.2 billion a year in protection against floodingfrom hurricanes.

And protected areas can keep natural resources healthy and productive so theycan withstand the impacts of climate change and continue to provide the food,clean water, shelter and income communities rely upon for survival. Thirty threeof the worlds 100 largest cities derive their drinking water from catchmentswithin forest protected areas.

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American Beech

Of all our deciduous trees, theAmerican beech has the most easily

recognizable bark: it is pale gray andsmooth. The dried leaves sometimesremain on the branches of youngtrees all winter. Since bears like toeat beech seeds, called beechnuts,claw marks can sometimes be seenon a trunk where a bear has climbedto the top of the tree.

Beeches grow in rich, well-drainedsoil on bottomlands and slopes. Thistree sometimes forms pure stands,

but is generally associated with sugarmaple, yellow birch and hemlock.

The colour of its wood goes fromwhite to reddish brown. Numerousrays give it a mottled appearance. It

is heavy, hard and very strong.

It is used to manufacture flooring and furniture, as well as handles for toolsand kitchen utensils.

Leaf Fruit

Leaves, alternate, simple and toothed. Fruits, nuts usually in pairs within a husk.