Bibliography
Welcome to our interactive bibliography. Here you can explore publications relating to Nature-based Solutions and their potential to address societal challenges, including climate change adaptation & mitigation, disaster risk reduction, ecosystem health, food & water security, and human wellbeing & development. For papers and other outputs directly produced by the Nature-based Solutions Initiative please visit our outputs page.
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711 publications found
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Desertification, Adaptation and Resilience in the Sahel: Lessons from Long Term Monitoring of Agro-ecosystems
End of Desertification?: Disputing Environmental Change in the Drylands (2016). Book (chapter).
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-16014-1_6Abstract
The desertification paradigm has a long history in the Sahel, from colonial to modern times. Despite scientific challenge, it continued to be influential after independence, revived by the dramatic droughts of the 1970s and 1980s, and was institutionalized at local, national and international levels. Collaborative efforts were made to improve scientific knowledge on the functioning, environmental impact and monitoring of selected agricultural systems over the long term, and to assess trends in the ecosystems, beyond their short term variability. Two case studies are developed here: the pastoral system of the arid to semi-arid Gourma in Mali, and the mixed farming system of the semi-arid Fakara in Niger. The pastoral landscapes are resilient to droughts, except on shallow soils, and to grazing, following a non-equilibrium model. The impact of cropping on the landscape is larger and longer lasting. It also induces locally high grazing pressure that pushes rangeland resilience to its limits. By spatial transfer of organic matter and mineral, farmers’ livestock create patches of higher fertility that locally enhance the system’s resilience. The agro-pastoral ecosystem remains non-equilibrial provided that inputs do not increase stocking rates disproportionately. Remote sensing confirms the overall re-greening of the Sahel after the drought of the 1980s, contrary to the paradigm of desertification. Ways forward are proposed to adapt the pastoral and mixed farming economies and their regional integration to the context of human and livestock population growth and expanding croplands.
Ecosystem-based adaptationNature-based agricultural systemsDisaster risk reductionHuman well-being & developmentArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialCoastal dunes and plants: an ecosystem-based alternative to reduce dune face erosion
Journal of Coastal Research (2016). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.2112/SI75-061.1Abstract
Future scenarios indicate that growing human encroachment on coasts, more frequent and stronger storms and sea level rise will result in worsening coastal squeeze. In consequence, human lives, property and infrastructure, as well as ecosystem services, will increasingly be threatened. It is therefore vital to find the means to maintain or increase the resilience and resistance of coastal zones. As an alternative to hard infrastructure, ecosystem-based coastal defense strategies have been recommended as better and more sustainable solutions. Thus, the goal of this study wasto understand the interaction of dune plants with waves, dunes and humans. We used a pantropical beach plant (Ipomoea pes-caprae) and performed 24 wave flume experiments with two beach-dune profiles, four densities of vegetation cover, and three storm regimes. We also tested tolerance to burial in seed germination and seedling growth and finally explored the impact of tourism on Ipomoea. Erosion regimes of collision and overwash were observed in the dune profiles with a berm, whereas swash and overwash regimes were observed when no berm was present. Plant cover prevented overwash and thereby erosion of the landward side of the dune. Positive responses in seeds and seedlings of Ipomoea to burial by sand enable this plant to act as a dune builder. In conditions with low tourism, Ipomoea seems to be more affected by seasonal and meteorological conditions than by trampling. These responses increase further the potential for coastal protection of Ipomoea and, thus, such an ecosystem-based protective structure can be self-sustainable.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcological restorationDisaster risk reductionEcosystem healthCoastlineOptimizing investments in national-scale forest landscape restoration in Uganda to maximize multiple benefits
Environmental Research Letters (2016). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/11/114027Abstract
Forest loss and degradation globally has resulted in declines in multiple ecosystem services and reduced habitat for biodiversity. Forest landscape restoration offers an opportunity to mitigate these losses, conserve biodiversity, and improve human well-being. As part of the Bonn Challenge, a global effort to restore 350 million hectares of deforested and degraded land by 2030, over 30 countries have recently made commitments to national forest landscape restoration. In order to achieve these goals, decision-makers require information on the potential benefits and costs of forest landscape restoration to efficiently target investments. In response to this need, we developed an approach using a suite of ecosystem service mapping tools and a multi-objective spatial optimization technique that enables decision-makers to estimate the potential benefits and opportunity costs of restoration, visualize tradeoffs associated with meeting multiple objectives, and prioritize where restoration could deliver the greatest benefits. We demonstrate the potential of this approach in Uganda, one of the nations committed to the Bonn Challenge. Using maps of the potential benefits and costs of restoration and efficiency frontiers for optimal restoration scenarios, we were able to communicate how ecosystem services benefits vary spatially across the country and how different weights on ecosystem services objectives can affect the allocation of restoration across Uganda. This work provides a generalizable approach to improve investments in forest landscape restoration and illuminates the tradeoffs associated with alternative restoration strategies.
Ecosystem-based mitigationForest landscape restorationClimate change mitigationEcosystem healthFood and water securityHuman well-being & developmentForestPeatlands and Global Change: Response and Resilience
Annual Review of Environment and Resources (2016). Review.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085520Abstract
Peatlands are wetland ecosystems that accumulate dead organic matter (i.e., peat) when plant litter production outpaces peat decay, usually under conditions of frequent or continuous waterlogging. Collectively, global peatlands store vast amounts of carbon (C), equaling if not exceeding the amount of C in the Earth’s vegetation; they also encompass a remarkable diversity of forms, from the frozen palsa mires of the northern subarctic to the lush swamp forests of the tropics, each with their own characteristic range of fauna and flora. In this review we explain what peatlands are, how they form, and the contribution that peatland science can make to our understanding of global change. We explore the variety in formation, shape, vegetation type, and chemistry of peatlands across the globe and stress the fundamental features that are common to all peat-forming ecosystems. We consider the impacts that past, present, and future environmental changes, including anthropogenic disturbances, have had and will have on peatland systems, particularly in terms of their important roles in C storage and the provision of ecosystem services. The most widespread uses of peatlands today are for forestry and agriculture, both of which require drainage that results in globally significant emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas (GHG). Climatic drying and drainage also increase the risk of peat fires, which are a further source of GHG emissions [CO2 and methane (CH4)] to the atmosphere, as well as causing negative human health and socioeconomic impacts. We conclude our review by explaining the roles that paleoecological, experimental, and modeling studies can play in allowing us to build a more secure understanding of how peatlands function, how they will respond to future climate- and land-management-related disturbances, and how best we can improve their resilience in a changing world.
Area-based approachesEcological restorationEcosystem-based mitigationClimate change adaptationClimate change mitigationDisaster risk reductionEcosystem healthFood and water securityHuman well-being & developmentWetlandHelping nature help us: Transforming disaster risk reduction through ecosystem management
IUCN (2016). Book (chapter).
https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2016.15.enAbstract
With the increasing threats that disasters present particularly in the light of climate change, there is an urgent need to prioritise proactive disaster risk reduction over reacting to disaster events. Healthy ecosystems in particular are increasingly being recognised as important tools to prevent and minimise disaster risk. However, the use of the ecosystem approach for disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) is still underdeveloped worldwide and in need of scaling up. With the overlap in practice and common challenges that need to be addressed, there is great scope to enhance the co-benefits between Eco-DRR and biodiversity conservation by scaling up and mobilising actions for the integration of both fields. This publication documents the importance of biodiversity in disaster risk reduction and makes a case for the implementation of common approaches that contribute to both conservation and risk reduction. Assessments of regional experiences on Eco-DRR also highlight the opportunities and entry-points to scale-up integrated approaches. Part 1 of this report provides a conceptual background on the importance of biodiversity in disaster risk reduction, and opportunities to mainstream Eco-DRR as a crosscutting issue into policy and practice. Part 2 of the report provides a summary of individual regional assessments on the role of biodiversity in disaster risk reduction. The summaries particularly highlight key disaster challenges in each region, experiences with Eco-DRR, and use regional examples to make a case for the adoption of Eco-DRR approaches. Each regional summary concludes with key messages and recommendations to implement integrated approaches.
Not applicableDisaster risk reductionEcosystem healthFood and water securityHuman well-being & developmentInstitutional challenges of adopting ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change
Regional Environmental Change, 16, 2, 487-499 (2016). Original Research.
10.1007/s10113-015-0765-6Abstract
In view of past environmental degradation and anticipated climate change impacts, we assessed the potential for ecosystem-based adaptation in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. In a workshop with staff from three Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) who had jurisdiction over three sub-basins, as well as technical experts, nine adaptation options were identified that ranged from environmental flows, restoring river channel habitat, reoperating infrastructure and controlling invasive species. A Catchment Adaptation Framework was developed and used to assess and compare these adaptation options with each of the CMAs, drawing on interviews with their key stakeholders, to identify the risks, benefits and costs. We found that ecosystem-based adaptation can augment catchment management programs and requires investment in a suite of different but complementary measures to lower risk. Our research found institutional challenges in implementing this approach, including the complexities of multi-agency management, constricting legal requirements, narrow funding arrangements, under-developed institutional capacity, difficulties of implementing catchment-scale programs on private property and the need to adhere to community expectations. These institutional issues are ubiquitous internationally and point to the wider issues of providing sufficient management capacity to support adaptation. The Catchment Adaptation Framework presented here enables river basin managers to systematically assess the adaptation options to better inform their decision-making.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change mitigationForestWetlandImpacts of large-scale forest restoration on socioeconomic status and local livelihoods: what we know and do not know
Biotropica (2016). Meta-Analysis.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/btp.12385/abstractAbstract
Forests are sources of wood, non-timber forest products and ecosystems services and goods that benefit society as a whole, and are especially important to rural livelihoods. Forest landscape restoration (forest-landscape-restoration:Forest landscape restoration) has been proposed as a way to counteract deforestation and reconcile the production of ecosystem services and goods with conservation and development goals. But limited evidence indicates how large-scale forest restoration could contribute to improving local livelihoods. Here, we present a conceptual framework to analyze the effects of large-scale restoration on local livelihoods, and use it to review the scientific literature and reduce this knowledge gap. Most of the literature referred to case studies (89%), largely concentrated in China (49%). The main theme explored was income, followed by livelihoods diversification, off-farm employment opportunities, poverty reduction, equity and the provision of timber and energy as ecosystem services. Nearly 60 percent of the papers discussed the importance of governance systems to socioeconomic outcomes. The reforestation/restoration programs and policies investigated in the studies had mixed socioeconomic effects on local livelihoods depending on other variables, such as availability of off-farm jobs, household characteristics, land productivity, land tenure, and markets for forest products and ecosystem services. We conclude that the effects of large-scale restoration initiatives on local livelihoods may vary due to several factors and is still not clear for many situations; therefore, monitoring over time with clear indicators is needed.
Forest landscape restorationFood and water securityHuman well-being & developmentForestMontaneIntegrated Assessment of no-Regret Climate Change Adaptation Options for Reservoir Catchment and Command Areas
Water Resources Management (2016). Original Research.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11269-015-1207-4Abstract
The need for credible, salient and legitimate climate change adaptation options in the water sector, which target location specific adaptation requirements, is well recognized. In developing countries, the low-hanging fruit; no-regret options, should be identified with stakeholders and assessed against future changes in water availability and demand, for comparing effectiveness and robustness. Such integrated basin-scale assessments, including reservoir catchment and command areas, can suitably inform adaptation decision-making. In this study, we integrate participatory and modelling approaches for evaluation of reservoir catchment and command area no-regret options addressing water availability and demand in the Kangsabati river basin. Through multi-level stakeholder workshops we identify and prioritize options, followed by evaluation of two reservoir catchment options; check dams and increasing forest cover and three reservoir command options; changing cropping pattern, traditional ponds and waste water reuse, using the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model. We use four high resolution (~25 km) regional climate model simulations of future climatic factors, along with non-climatic factors affecting water demand, for forcing WEAP. We find that options have varied ability in addressing adaptation requirements. Amongst catchment options, increasing forest cover addresses adaptation requirements more suitably than check dams, while in the command areas we observe mixed abilities of options, leading to the inference that combining complementary options may be a more useful strategy. We conclude by discussing our experiences with this approach in a developing country context, in terms of benefits, limitations, lessons learnt and future research directions.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationFood and water securityArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialForestWetlandEvaluating the Cost-effectiveness of Ecosystem-based Adaptation: Kamiesberg Wetlands Case Study
South African Journal of Economic and Management Science (2016). Original Research.
http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?pid=S2222-34362016000500002&script=sci_arttext&tlng=ptAbstract
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is increasingly being promoted as a cost-effective means of adaptation to climate change. However, in spite of considerable international press, there is still little evidence to substantiate this claim. This study proposes a method through which the cost-effectiveness of ecosystem-based adaptation strategies can be evaluated against alternative adaptation options, and contributes to South African literature on the subject. The potential cost-effectiveness of wetland restoration is assessed as a means of securing the carrying capacity of land for pastoralist communities of the Kamiesberg communal area in South Africa under projected future climate conditions. The conventional alternatives would be to respond to increasingly dry conditions by drilling boreholes and using supplemental feed for livestock. It was assumed that the ecosystem-based adaptation interventions would occur upfront, whereas the alternatives are more likely to be implemented in reaction to droughts over a longer time period. The study found the implementation of conventional alternatives to be more cost-effective than ecosystem-based adaptation as a means to sustaining livestock stocking rates, with ecosystem-based adaptation being twice as costly. However, this is framed from the perspective of those directly affected (the landowners), and does not include the benefits to broader society.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationWetlandCascades of green: A review of ecosystem-based adaptation in urban areas
Global Environmental Change (2016). Systematic Review.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378015300674Abstract
Climate change impacts increase pressure on challenges to sustainability and the developmental needs of cities. Conventional, “hard” adaptation measures are often associated with high costs, inflexibility and conflicting interests related to the dense urban fabric, and ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has emerged as a potentially cost-efficient, comprehensive, and multifunctional approach. This paper reviews and systematises research on urban EbA. We propose an analytical framework that draws on theory from ecosystem services, climate change adaptation and sustainability science. It conceptualises EbA in terms of five linked components: ecological structures, ecological functions, adaptation benefits, valuation, and ecosystem management practices. Our review identified 110 articles, reporting on 112 cities, and analysed them using both quantitative statistical and qualitative content analysis. We found that EbA research in an urban context is fragmented due to different disciplinary approaches and concepts. Most articles focus on heat or flooding, and the most studied ecological structures for reducing the risk of such hazards are green space, wetlands, trees and parks. EbA is usually evaluated in bio-geophysical terms and the use of economic or social valuations are rare. While most articles do not mention specific practices for managing ecological structures, those that do imply that urban EbA strategies are increasingly being integrated into institutional structures. Few articles considered issues of equity or stakeholder participation in EbA. We identified the following challenges for future EbA research. First, while the large amount of data generated by isolated case studies contributes to systems knowledge, there is a lack of systems perspectives that position EbA in relation to the wider socio-economic and bio-geophysical context. Second, normative and ethical aspects of EbA require more thought, such as who are the winners and losers, especially in relation to processes that put people at risk from climate-related hazards. Third, there is room for more forward-looking EbA research, including consideration of future scenarios, experimentation in the creation of new ecological structures and the role of EbA in transformative adaptation.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialWetlandDredging versus hedging: Comparing hard infrastructure to ecosystem-based adaptation to flooding
Ecological Economics (2016). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.11.023Abstract
Efforts to ameliorate flooding have historically centred on engineered solutions such as dredging rivers, building levees, and constructing spillways. The potential for ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) options is becoming increasingly apparent; however, implementation is often limited by a poor understanding of their costs and benefits. This study compares the costs and benefits of a range of hard infrastructure and ecosystem-based adaptation options to mitigate flooding under climate change using data from two catchments in Fiji. We employ unique survey data to document the costs of flooding under various climate change scenarios. We then use a hydrological model to simulate the potential benefits of a range of hard infrastructure and EbA options and conduct a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis. We find that under reasonable economic assumptions, planting riparian buffers is the most cost-effective option, yielding benefit–cost ratios between 2.8 and 21.6. However, the absolute level of protection provided by this strategy is low. Afforestation provides greater overall benefits, yielding net present values between 12.7 and 101.8 million Fijian dollars, although implementation costs would be substantial. Planting floodplains and reinforcing riverbanks provide some monetary benefits that are lower than riparian and upland planting. Elevating houses is not economically viable under any climate scenario.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionWetlandEcological engineering for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation
Environmental Science and Pollution Research International (2016). Conference Proceedings.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7517-0Abstract
CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) along with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Geneva, organized a consultative workshop on “Ecological Engineering for DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) and CCA (Climate Change Adaptation)” in NEERI, Nagpur, on February 5, 2016. The workshop brought together technical experts and policy makers across India to review how the new opportunities offered by science and international policies could be leveraged to promote ecosystem-based (Eb) approaches in India. The consultation succeeded in brainstorming and identifying key actions, actors, and priority areas keeping in view conservation and development challenges. Discussions were also on implementation strategies, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Workshop also came up with integrating biodiversity management with existing and ongoing development practices, including existing policy measures and enabling mechanisms at regional, national, and state level. Priority actions for improving DRR approaches, and identification of interventions to support EbDRR and EbA in the country, and possible role and responsibility of potential national institutions and other agencies were the final outcomes of the brainstorming and workshop.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionAn attempt to develop an environmental information system of ecological infrastructure for evaluating functions of ecosystem-based solutions for disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR)
The International Archives of the Photogrammetry (2016). Original Research.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tomoko_Doko/publication/307529602_AN_ATTEMPT_TO_DEVELOP_AN_ENVIRONMENTAL_INFORMATION_SYSTEM_OF_ECOLOGICAL_INFRASTRUCTURE_FOR_EVALUATING_FUNCTIONS_OF_ECOSYSTEM-BASED_SOLUTIONS_FOR_DISASTER_RISK_REDUCTION_ECO-DRR/links/58bf6ab492851cd83aa12ba4/AN-ATTEMPT-TO-DEVELOP-AN-ENVIRONMENTAL-INFORMATION-SYSTEM-OF-ECOLOGICAL-INFRASTRUCTURE-forest:Forest-EVALUATING-FUNCTIONS-OF-ECOSYSTEM-BASED-SOLUTIONS-forest:Forest-DISASTER-RISK-REDUCTION-ECO-DRR.pdfAbstract
“Ecological Infrastructure (EI)” are defined as naturally functioning ecosystems that deliver valuable services to people, such as healthy mountain catchments, rivers, wetlands, coastal dunes, and nodes and corridors of natural habitat, which together form a network of interconnected structural elements in the landscape. On the other hand, natural disaster occur at the locations where habitat was reduced due to the changes of land use, in which the land was converted to the settlements and agricultural cropland. Hence, habitat loss and natural disaster are linked closely. Ecological infrastructure is the nature-based equivalent of built or hard infrastructure, and is as important for providing services and underpinning socio-economic development. Hence, ecological infrastructure is expected to contribute to functioning as ecological disaster reduction, which is termed Ecosystem-based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR). Although ecological infrastructure already exists in the landscape, it might be degraded, needs to be maintained and managed, and in some cases restored. Maintenance and restoration of ecological infrastructure is important for security of human lives. Therefore, analytical tool and effective visualization tool in spatially explicit way for the past natural disaster and future prediction of natural disaster in relation to ecological infrastructure is considered helpful. Hence, Web-GIS based Ecological Infrastructure Environmental Information System (EI-EIS) has been developed. This paper aims to describe the procedure of development and future application of EI-EIS. The purpose of the EI-EIS is to evaluate functions of Eco-DRR. In order to analyse disaster data, collection of past disaster information, and disaster-prone area is effective. First, a number of digital maps and analogue maps in Japan and Europe were collected. In total, 18,572 maps over 100 years were collected. The Japanese data includes Future-Pop Data Series (1,736 maps), JMC dataset 50m grid (elevation) (13,071 maps), Old Edition Maps: Topographic Map (325 maps), Digital Base Map at a scale of 2500 for reconstruction planning (808 maps), Detailed Digital Land Use Information for Metropolitan Area (10 m land use) (2,436 maps), and Digital Information by GSI (national large scale map) (71 maps). Old Edition Maps: Topographic Map were analogue maps, and were scanned and georeferenced. These geographical area covered 1) Tohoku area, 2) Five Lakes of Mikata area (Fukui), 3) Ooshima Island (Tokyo), 4) Hiroshima area (Hiroshima), 5) Okushiri Island (Hokkaido), and 6) Toyooka City area (Hyogo). The European data includes topographic map in Germany (8 maps), old topographic map in Germany (31 maps), ancient map in Germany (23 maps), topographic map in Austria (9 maps), old topographic map in Austria (17 maps), and ancient map in Austria (37 maps). Second, focusing on Five Lakes of Mikata area as an example, these maps were integrated into the ArcGIS Online (R) (ESRI). These data can be overlaid, and time-series data can be visualized by a time slider function of ArcGIS Online.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionInfrastructure-related approachesDisaster risk reductionHuman well-being & developmentValuing ecosystems as an economic part of climate-compatible development infrastructure in coastal zones of Kenya and Sri Lanka
Springer International Publishing (2016). Book (chapter).
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-43633-3_2Abstract
Even though ‘green’ options for addressing the impacts of climate change have gained in currency over recent years, they are yet to be fully mainstreamed into development policy and practice. One important reason is the lack of economic evidence as to why investing in ecosystems offers a cost-effective, equitable and sustainable means of securing climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and other development co-benefits. This chapter presents a conceptual framework for integrating ecosystem values into climate-compatible development planning. Case studies from coastal areas of Kenya and Sri Lanka illustrate how such an approach can be applied in practice to make the economic and business case for ecosystem-based measures. It is argued that, rather than posing ‘grey’ and ‘green’ options as being necessarily in opposition to each other or as mutually incompatible, from an economic perspective both should be seen as being part and parcel of the same basic infrastructure that is required to deliver essential development services in the face of climate change
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionCoastlineDefining New Pathways for Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation in the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda
Springer International Publishing (2016). Book (chapter).
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-43633-3_24Abstract
This chapter seeks to articulate future directions in the field of Eco-DRR/CCA, in the context of the new post-2015 sustainable development agenda. It synthesises the experiences featured in this book and highlights the key challenges and opportunities in advancing Eco-DRR/CCA approaches. Four main themes are discussed: demonstrating the economic evidence of Eco-DRR/CCA; decision-making tools for Eco-DRR/CCA; innovative institutional arrangements and policies for mainstreaming Eco-DRR/CCA; and research gaps. The major global policy agreements in 2015 are examined for their relevance in promoting Eco-DRR/CCA implementation in countries. Finally, the authors reflect on a new agenda for Eco-DRR/CCA and outline some of the key elements required to significantly advance and scale-up Eco DRR/CCA implementation globally.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionEcosystem-Based Strategies for Community Resilience to Climate Variability in Indonesia
Springer International Publishing (2016). Book (chapter).
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-43633-3_23Abstract
Rural communities have long been using ecosystems to sustain their livelihoods, especially in times of disasters when forests act as safety nets and natural buffers. However, it is less clear how climate variability influences changes in land uses, and their implications for human well-being. We examined how forests and trees can reduce human vulnerability by affecting the three components of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. A total of 24 focus group discussions and 256 household surveys were conducted in two smallholder-dominated rural landscapes in Indonesia, which were affected by floods, drought and disease outbreaks. Our results suggest that forests and trees are important in supporting community resilience and decreasing their vulnerabilities to climate-related stresses in different ways. The role of trees varied according to the type of ecosystem service, whether provisioning or regulating, in relation to the phase of the climatic hazard, either in the pre-disaster phase or in the post-disaster recovery phase. It is therefore important to distinguish between these elements when analyzing people’s responses to climatic variability in order to fully capture the contribution of forests and trees to reducing people’s vulnerability. Landscape spatial characteristics, environmental degradation and community awareness of climate variability are crucial because if their linkages are recognized, local people can actively manage natural resources to increase their resilience. Interventions related to forests and trees should take into consideration these aspects to make ecosystem services a valuable option for an integrated strategy to reduce disaster risks and climate-related vulnerabilities.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationHuman well-being & developmentForest