Forests can help reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems and increase resilience. Thus, they contribute to climate change adaptation. On the other hand, forests can contribute to climate change mitigation if their role as carbon reservoirs and their potential to capture greenhouse gases are recognized. It is important to consider and distinguish this dual role forests play when conservation and sustainable management strategies are defined.
However, if an increase in global average temperature (2-4 °C) is expected in the future, this entails a risk to the existence of forests, and to their role and potential for adaptation and mitigation of climate change. Hence the importance of acting now to understand how the Andean forests contribute to reduce vulnerability, how they contribute to mitigate climate change, and how these elements integrate into climate change policies and the management of natural resources in the countries of the region.