title: Managing climate change in conservation practice: an exploration of the science-management interface in beech forest management.
abstract: Scientific studies reveal significant consequences of climate change for nature, from ecosystems to individual species. Such studies are important factors in policy decisions on forest conservation and management in Europe. However, while research has shown that climate change research start to impact on European conservation policies like Natura 2000, climate change information has yet to translate into management practices. This article contributes to the on-going debates about science-society relations and knowledge utilization by exploring and analysing the interface between scientific knowledge and forest management practice. We focus specifically on climate change debates in conservation policy and on how managers of forest areas in Europe perceive and use climate change ecology. Our findings show that forest managers do not necessarily deny the potential importance of climate change for their management practices, at least in the future, but have reservations about the current usefulness of available knowledge for their own areas and circumstances. This suggests that the science-management interface is not as politicized as current policy debates about climate change and that the use of climate change ecology is situated in practice. We conclude the article by discussing what forms of knowledge may enable responsible and future oriented management in practice focusing specifically on the role of reflexive experimentation and monitoring.
authors: Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Jessica
authors: J
authors: de Koning
authors: Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Esther
authors: E
authors: Turnhout
authors: Forest and Environmental Policy Group, Institute of Environmental Social Sciences and Geography, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4 (4.OG), 79106 Freiburg, Germany.
authors: Georg
authors: G
authors: Winkel
authors: AgroParisTech - ENGREF, Centre de Nancy, 14 rue Girardet CS 14216, 54042 Nancy cedex, France.
authors: Marieke
authors: M
authors: Blondet
authors: Forest and Environmental Policy Group, Institute of Environmental Social Sciences and Geography, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4 (4.OG), 79106 Freiburg, Germany.
authors: Lars
authors: L
authors: Borras
authors: European Forest Institute Central Regional Office (EFICENT), Wonnhaldestr. 4, 79100 Freiburg, Germany.
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Ferranti
authors: EFICEEC - European Forest Institute Central-East European Regional Office, c/o Institute of Forest, Environmental and Natural Resource Policy, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Feistmantelstr. 4, 1180 Wien, Austria.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Geitzenauer
authors: Forest and Environmental Policy Group, Institute of Environmental Social Sciences and Geography, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4 (4.OG), 79106 Freiburg, Germany.
authors: Metodi
authors: M
authors: Sotirov
authors: Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA UK.
authors: Alistair
authors: A
authors: Jump
keywords: Climate change; Forest management; Knowledge utilization; Natura 2000; Science management interface