A local charity has said that “environmental groups must revise their strategies” to cope with more frequent droughts and heatwaves.
Guernsey Trees for Life (GTFL) called climate change the “new norm” and said the island will need to actively adapt as extreme weather becomes more common.
While the charity currently plants native species of trees, Committee Member Colin Dodd said it was “exploring the addition of ‘near-native’ species to enhance resilience in both countryside and town areas against change and invasive threats.”
GTFL is dedicated to raising awareness, protecting and planting trees, hedgerows and the natural environment of the Bailiwick.
It works with landowners, schools, and the public sector to plant hundreds of trees each year.
Mr Dodd said: “Due to the current drought, there is a significantly increased emphasis on aftercare, including the use of wood chip mulch to retain moisture and community rotas to water new trees.
“The community rota has worked well this summer in St Peter’s with the recent planting scheme at Styx.”
He said the “bottom line” was that “climate change has arrived and with that our natural environment is changing”.
He added: “This is already affecting our heavily subsidised dairy herd, our fishing industry and there are stress across the board as a result of higher temperatures and a lack of rain.
“It’s undoubted that as we adjust to the new norm some difficult and potentially costly decisions will have to be made, which as an island unfortunately we don’t have a very good record of addressing.”
