Trees resilient to climate change. Not to the axe
IUCN’s study provides practical guidance as to how to make rainforests more climate-resilient. While carbon emissions continue unabated, here is some good news. If IUCN’s study is anything to go by, then all is not lost when it comes to combating climate change. The international governing body of protected sites, in its report — Reforesting for the climate of tomorrow — analysed the traits of around 250 species of trees and other plants native to the rainforest of Kutai National Park in Indonesia and identified species resilient to the fires and drought conditions that are expected to increase as the climate warms. According to a statement by IUCN , the climate change-resilient species included those with low sensitivity to changes, high capacity to adapt to them, or both. Two tree species that were singled out for their resilience to fire were a native palm, Borassodendron borneense, and the hardwood tree Eusideroxylon zwageri, known locally a...