Adapting to climate change: Are British Columbia's community forests meeting the challenge?
Community forest organizations in British Columbia are on the front lines of our changing climate. Such local grassroots groups, usually run by voluntary boards of directors, are often more effective than topdown, rigid, centralized organizations in building resilience to environmental stressors. Nevertheless, communities and organizations vary widely in their ability to adapt to changing conditions. By adopting practical adaptation strategies, the province’s community forest organizations can improve their ability to cope with future conditions. This extension note describes research I conducted that explores the current ability of active community forest organizations in adjusting to the effects of climate change (Furness 2012).1 I also discuss some ways in which these organizations could improve this ability.