South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) harbour marine and terrestrial biodiversity of global conservation importance. Although these islands are remote and well protected from many human impacts, climate change (and its interactions with other impacts including invasive non-native species) poses a substantial threat to their ecosystems.
The impacts of climate change on the SGSSI marine environment were recently evaluated via a Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) assessment; however, since the designation of the entire landmass of SGSSI as a Terrestrial Protected Area (TPA) in 2022, there has been a critical need for a corresponding assessment for the terrestrial environment. This will enable focussed action to monitor and mitigate climate change impacts and harmonise environmental protection across both marine and terrestrial environments.
This project aims to determine the consequences of climate change for terrestrial ecosystems in SGSSI, by assessing future ecological change and potential management approaches, which will inform evidence-based decision-making for monitoring and mitigating climate change impacts throughout the SGSSI Terrestrial Protected Area (TPA).
This project is funded by the UK Government through Darwin Plus Local (project DPL00039) and is led by the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) in partnership with SAERI and BAS
