Conversion of coastal sand dunes to plantations has intensified dramatically after the tsunami of December 2004, driven largely by the belief that bio-shields mitigated tsunami inundation. This assumption was tested using field-based mapping and remote sensing. A regression between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and inundation distance was non-significant, questioning the premise for large-scale bio-shield plantations, mostly Casuarina equisetifolia, an exotic timber with unquantified ecological impacts. These plantations may obliterate the natural sand dune ecosystems along the Coromandel coast, which are an important natural defence and provide a range of ecological goods and services.
Geographical Subregion: Asia & Pacific
Asia & Pacific
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.
Due to their prevalence in developing countries and the range of ecosystem services they provide, projects aimed at promoting mangroves align with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals—specifically Goals 13, 14, and 15—which concern adaptation to climate change and the sustainable management of forest and coastal resources. Although mangroves themselves are sensitive to climate change, they also provide services that would help reduce damages, by sequestering carbon, enhancing coastline stability, and protecting coastal settlements from tropical storm surges. In particular, mangroves can rapidly colonize and stabilize intertidal sediments, promoting coastal accretion to reduce the impact of sea level rise. The Government of Bangladesh has established mangrove plantations with the intent to accelerate accretion and stabilize 120,000ha of coastland. As a case study, this paper uses GIS data on coastal dynamics and land cover to evaluate the effectiveness of mangrove plantations for facilitating accretion and preventing erosion in Bangladesh. The results indicate that plantation areas experience greater rates of accretion relative to erosion than non-plantation areas, confirming that mangroves have an important role to play in the sustainable development of coastal regions.
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.
Protection against coastal disasters has been identified as an important service of mangrove ecosystems. Empirical studies on this service have been criticized, however, for using small samples and inadequately controlling for confounding factors. We used data on several hundred villages to test the impact of mangroves on human deaths during a 1999 super cyclone that struck Orissa, India. We found that villages with wider mangroves between them and the coast experienced significantly fewer deaths than ones with narrower or no mangroves. This finding was robust to the inclusion of a wide range of other variables to our statistical model, including controls for the historical extent of mangroves. Although mangroves evidently saved fewer lives than an early warning issued by the government, the retention of remaining mangroves in Orissa is economically justified even without considering the many benefits they provide to human society besides storm-protection services.
As in other parts of the world, the indigenous people of Jharkhand hold important context-relevant knowledge and strategies for addressing dwindling natural resources base and climate change. The paper documents some of the collective wealth of indigenous knowledge related to agricultural practices, including land preparation/ manuring/ soil treatment, cropping systems, input management, water resource management and utilization, and soil and water conservation practices, used especially by tribal farmers of the region. Related research and policy issues essential for successful amalgamation of such indigenous knowledge in resource conservation and climate change adaptation are also discussed. It concludes that the indigenous knowledge will help to address food and nutritional security in the face of climate change.
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.
“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.
Results of recent investigations suggest that climate change tends to accelerate geodisasters. Therefore, adaptation to climate change has rapidly become and urgent issue. In comparison to those examining water disasters, few studies have examined climate change-induced geodisasters. This study aims to focus on climate change-induced geodisasters in various countries of the Asia-Pacific region, especially in Japan and Vietnam. Sea level rise is accounted for about 2 mm/1 on average in the region. This amount is much larger in some places due to groundwater extraction. Moreover, we should prepare for the worst case in which climate-induced severe rainfall, wave attacks, storm surges and a great earthquake might take place simultaneously or almost simultaneously with each other in the coastal zone, although this worst case might be very rare. As a possible compound geohazard caused by climate change, we propose solutions with emphasizes on using geosynthetics and ecological engineering measures.
Among the effects of global warming, sea level rise (SLR) and severe typhoons pose the greatest threat to the stability of human settlements along coastlines. Therefore, counter measures must be developed to mitigate the influences of strong typhoons and persistent SLR for coastal protection. This study assesses climate change impacts on coastal erosion, especially in two projected SLR scenarios of RCP2.6 and RCP8.5. The results show that SLR and severe typhoons lead to the increase of coastal erosion, beach lowering and scour. Moreover, as in projected SLR scenarios, average waves in high tide can cause severe soil erosion at inner slopes and lead to dyke failure by 2060. The paper highlights the need for additional countermeasures to protect the coast of Hai Hau district against SLR and severe typhoons. Among the alternatives available for countering these threats, applying soil stabilization and soil improvement combined with geosynthetics are promising strategies for coastal structures. Hybrid structures can be used with earth reinforcement and soil improvement. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the importance of multiple protective adaptations, including geosynthetics and ecological engineering measures against climate change-induced severe erosion on the coast of Hai Hau district.
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
A central claim of community-based adaptation (CBA) is that it increases resilience. Yet, the concept of resilience is treated inconsistently in CBA, obscuring discussion of the limitations and benefits of resilience thinking and undermining evaluation of resilience outcomes in target communities. This paper examines different participatory assessment activities carried out as part of CBA case studies in Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands. The activities and their outputs were assessed against 10 characteristics of resilience previously identified in a systematic review. The findings offer support to the claim that CBA can build resilience in target communities, revealing the inherent strengths of CBA in relation to resilience. However, it is necessary for CBA assessments to simultaneously incorporate activities that consider cultural, political, economic and ecological factors influencing resilience within and between communities. This may demand multiple staff with different skills. The findings also highlight the importance of politics and power in shaping adaptive capacity. In particular, addressing the highly context specific nature of social, cultural and political relations demands an approach that is situated in and responsive to local realities. Overall, our case studies suggest that using the 10 characteristics as an analytical framework offers support to practitioners looking to develop, implement or evaluate CBA assessment activities. Yet within this, it is critical that a focus on increasing resilience through CBA does not preclude transformation in social relations. Realising the potential to support resilience and transformation requires CBA practitioners to acknowledge the multifaceted nature of resilience, whilst also paying close attention to multiple potential barriers to equitable adaptation.
Much of the developing world and areas of the developed world suffer water vulnerability. Engineering solutions enable technically efficient extraction and diversion of water towards areas of demand but, without rebalancing resource regeneration, can generate multiple adverse ecological and human consequences. The Banas River, Rajasthan (India), has been extensively developed for water diversion, particularly from the Bisalpur Dam from which water is appropriated by powerful urban constituencies dispossessing local people. Coincidentally, abandonment of traditional management, including groundwater recharge practices, is leading to increasingly receding and contaminated groundwater. This creates linked vulnerabilities for rural communities, irrigation schemes, urban users, dependent ecosystems and the multiple ecosystem services that they provide, compounded by climate change and population growth. This paper addresses vulnerabilities created by fragmented policy measures between rural development, urban and irrigation water supply and downstream consequences for people and wildlife. Perpetuating narrowly technocentric approaches to resource exploitation is likely only to compound emerging problems. Alternatively, restoration or innovation of groundwater recharge practices, particularly in the upper catchment, can represent a proven, ecosystem-based approach to resource regeneration with linked beneficial socio-ecological benefits. Hybridising an ecosystem-based approach with engineered methods can simultaneously increase the security of rural livelihoods, piped urban and irrigation supplies, and the vitality of river ecosystems and their services to beneficiaries. A renewed policy focus on local-scale water recharge practices balancing water extraction technologies is consistent with emerging Rajasthani policies, particularly Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (‘water self-reliance mission’). Policy reform emphasising recharge can contribute to water security and yield socio-economic outcomes through a systemic understanding of how the water system functions, and by connecting goals and budgets across multiple, currently fragmented policy areas. The underpinning principles of this necessary paradigm shift are proven and have wider geographic relevance, though context-specific research is required to underpin robust policy and practical implementation.
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.
Overfishing and habitat destruction due to local and global threats are undermining fisheries, biodiversity, and the long-term sustainability of tropical marine ecosystems worldwide, including in the Coral Triangle. Well-designed and effectively managed marine reserve networks can reduce local threats, and contribute to achieving multiple objectives regarding fisheries management, biodiversity conservation and adaptation to changes in climate and ocean chemistry. Previous studies provided advice regarding ecological guidelines for designing marine reserves to achieve one or two of these objectives. While there are many similarities in these guidelines, there are key differences that provide conflicting advice. Thus, there is a need to provide integrated guidelines for practitioners who wish to design marine reserves to achieve all three objectives simultaneously. Scientific advances regarding fish connectivity and recovery rates, and climate and ocean change vulnerability, also necessitate refining advice for marine reserve design. Here we review ecological considerations for marine reserve design, and provide guidelines to achieve all three objectives simultaneously regarding: habitat representation; risk spreading; protecting critical, special and unique areas; reserve size, spacing, location, and duration; protecting climate resilient areas; and minimizing and avoiding threats. In addition to applying ecological guidelines, reserves must be designed to address social and governance considerations, and be integrated within broader fisheries and coastal management regimes.
Climate change is predicted to have a range of impacts on Pacific Island ecosystems and the services they provide for current and future development. There are a number of characteristics that can make adaptation approaches that utilise the benefits of ecosystems a compelling and viable alternative to other adaptation approaches. The objective of this paper is to determine what level of relative influence technical and planning considerations currently have in guiding the recognition and application of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches in the Pacific Islands context. The technical feasibility of EbA in relation to the expected impacts of climate change and the compatibility of adaptation planning processes of the Pacific Islands with EbA requirements was considered. The main barrier to fully implementing EbA in the Pacific Islands is not likely to be financial capital, but a combination of stable technical capacity within government departments to advise communities on EbA opportunities and the compatibility of planning frameworks.
To protect the water tower’s ecosystem environment and conserve biodiversity, China has been implementing a huge payment program for ecosystem services in the three rivers source region. We explored here the dynamics of grassland degradation and restoration from 1990 to 2012 and its relationships with climate mitigation in the TRSR to provide a definite answer as to the forcing and response of grassland degradation and restoration to climate change. Then we estimated its potential of climate mitigation benefits to address the question of whether ecological restoration could be effective in reversing the decline of ecosystem carbon mitigation service. The trend of average annual temperature and precipitation observed by meteorological stations were approximately increased. Compared before and after 2004, the area of grassland degradation was increased slightly. However, nearly one-third of degraded grassland showed improvement, and the grassland vegetation coverage showed significant increase. Comparing current grassland vegetation coverage with healthy vegetation cover with the same grass type, nearly half of the area still needs to further restore vegetation cover. The grassland degradation resulted in significant carbon emissions, but the restoration to its healthy status has been estimated to be technical mitigation potential.
The Mountain-River-Lake Program (MRL) was implemented since 25 years ago in the Poyang Lake basin, southern China. It consists of series of forest restoration projects that aim to address severe soil and water losses, and improve farmer’s livelihoods. To assess the effectiveness of the program, systematic planning, integrated research and comprehensive monitoring were used to illustrate how forest restoration projects that consider both ecological, social and economic perspectives can improve both the environment and society, and eradicate the “ecological-poverty trap”. We found that the overall ecological effects of the program are beneficial, and the socioeconomic effects are mostly positive. Forest plantations covering 4.92 × 106 ha were established, which promoted increased forest coverage from a minimum of 26.98% to 60.05% at present. The amount of carbon storage in forest increased significantly, with net carbon sequestration of plantation forests increased from 2.29 TgC/year to 10.52 TgC/year. The results also indicated that the area of land affected by heavy and severe soil erosion has decreased by 55.2% and 53.6%, respectively, while the water holding capacity was 25.2% higher in 2009 than that in 1990. The net income for farmers was almost 6 times greater than that before the program, and the number of people living below the poverty line decreased from 10 million to 0.865 million. This assessment has confirmed that if we cannot improve the livelihood of local communities and encourage them to participate in such programs, we will be unable to restore and manage degraded environments. The continuing and future impacts of the program may be even greater, and will provide important lessons and experiences for other ecological restoration programs.
The Three-Rivers Headwater Region (TRHR) is the headwater of the Yangtze River Basin (YARB), Yellow River Basin (YRB), and Lancang River Basin (LRB); it is known as China’s ‘Water Tower’ owing to its important supply of freshwater. In order to assess ecosystem changes in the TRHR during 2000–2012, we systematically and comprehensively evaluated a combination of model simulation results and actual observational data. The results showed the following: (1) Ecosystem pattern was relatively stable during 2000–2010, with a slight decrease in farmland and desert areas, and a slight increase in grassland and wetland/water-body areas. (2) A warmer and wetter climate, and ecological engineering, caused the vegetation cover and productivity to significantly improve. (3) Precipitation was the main controlling factor for streamflow. A significant increase in precipitation during 2000–2012 resulted in an obvious increase in annual and seasonal streamflow. Glacier melting also contributed to the streamflow increase. (4) The total amount of soil conservation increased slightly from 2000 to 2012. The increase in precipitation caused rainfall erosivity to increase, which enhanced the intensity of soil erosion. The decrease in wind speed decreased wind erosion and the frequency of sandstorms. (5) The overall habitat quality in the TRHR was stable between 2000 and 2010, and the spatial pattern exhibited obvious heterogeneity. In some counties that included nature reserves, habitat quality was slightly higher in 2010 than in 2000, which reflected the effectiveness of the ecological restoration. Overall, the aforementioned ecosystem changes are the combined results of ecological restoration and climate change, and they are likely a local and temporary improvement, rather than a comprehensive and fundamental change. Therefore, more investments and efforts are needed to preserve natural ecosystems.
Recent studies have highlighted the importance of trees and agroforestry in climate change adaptation and mitigation. This paper analyzes how farmers, members of their households, and community leaders in the Wahig–Inabanga watershed, Bohol province in the Philippines perceive of climate change, and define and value the roles of trees in coping with climate risks. Focus group discussions revealed that farmers and community leaders had observed changes in rainfall and temperature over the years. They also had positive perceptions of tree roles in coping with climate change, with most timber tree species valued for regulating functions, while non-timber trees were valued as sources of food and income. Statistical analysis of the household survey results was done through linear probability models for both determinants of farmers’ perceived changes in climate, and perceived importance of tree roles in coping with climate risks. Perceiving of changes in rainfall was more likely among farmers who had access to electricity, had access to water for irrigation, and derived climate information from government agencies and mass media, and less likely among farmers who were members of farmers’ organizations. On the other hand, perceiving of an increase in temperature was more likely among famers who were members of women’s organizations and had more off/non-farm sources of income, and less likely among those who derived climate information from government agencies. Meanwhile, marginal effects of the regression on perceived importance of trees in coping with climate change revealed positively significant relationships with the following predictor variables: access to electricity, number of off/non-farm sources of income, having trees planted by household members, observed increase in temperature and decline in yield, and sourcing climate information from government agencies. In contrast, a negatively significant relationship was observed between recognition of the importance of tree roles, and level of education, and deriving income from tree products. In promoting tree-based adaptation, we recommend improving access to necessary inputs and resources, exploring the potentials of farmer-to-farmer extension, using participatory approaches to generate farmer-led solutions based on their experiences of climate change, and initiating government-led extension to farmers backed by non-government partners.
Ecosystem services are typically valued for their immediate material or cultural benefits to human wellbeing, supported by regulating and supporting services. Under climate change, with more frequent stresses and novel shocks, ‘climate adaptation services’, are defined as the benefits to people from increased social ability to respond to change, provided by the capability of ecosystems to moderate and adapt to climate change and variability. They broaden the ecosystem services framework to assist decision makers in planning for an uncertain future with new choices and options. We present a generic framework for operationalising the adaptation services concept. Four steps guide the identification of intrinsic ecological mechanisms that facilitate the maintenance and emergence of ecosystem services during periods of change, and so materialise as adaptation services. We applied this framework for four contrasted Australian ecosystems. Comparative analyses enabled by the operational framework suggest that adaptation services that emerge during trajectories of ecological change are supported by common mechanisms: vegetation structural diversity, the role of keystone species or functional groups, response diversity and landscape connectivity, which underpin the persistence of function and the reassembly of ecological communities under severe climate change and variability. Such understanding should guide ecosystem management towards adaptation planning.
To better understand the driving forces of changes in streamflow (Q), this study analyzed the changes in the hydro-meteorological series by the Mann-Kendall, Pettitt’s test and the flow duration curve (FDC) in the Wuding River Basin (WRB), which is a typical river basin in the Loess Plateau. The response of Q variability to climate change and human activities were also quantified by the elasticity method and decomposition method based on the Budyko framework. The results showed that Q exhibited an obvious downward trend at the rate of 0.44 mm/1 with a changing point occurred in 1980. Compared with 1961–1980, the greatest reduction in monthly Q during 1981–2007 was found in April (41 %) and the low flows have more distinct decrease than high flows. The precipitation (P), potential evapotranspiration (E0) and catchment characteristics parameter n elasticity of Q are 2.40, −1.40 and −2.51, respectively, indicating that Q variability is most sensitive to human activities. The contribution of climate change and human activities to changes in Q from the two methods are 35 and 65 %, respectively. The ecological restoration (ER) measures, including channel measures and slope measures, were found to be the dominant factors responsible for the decreased Q. Furthermore, changes in Q in 1970–1990 could be mainly ascribed to channel measures while slope measures have played more important roles after 1999 when the Grain-for-Green (GFG) project was implemented. This study could provide scientific basis for how to mitigate effectively and efficiently changes in water resources and guide measures to be implemented in the region under the future climate change.
Attention has recently been paid to how REDD+ mitigation policies are integrated into other sectoral policies, particularly those dealing with climate adaptation at the national level. But there is less understanding of how subnational policy and local projects are able to incorporate attention to adaptation; therefore, we use a case study in Vietnam to discuss how REDD+ projects and policies address both concerns of mitigation and adaptation together at subnational levels. Through stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and household surveys in three provinces of Vietnam with REDD+ activities, our research sought to understand if REDD+ policies and projects on the ground acknowledge that climate change is likely to impact forests and forest users; if this knowledge is built into REDD+ policy and activities; how households in forested areas subject to REDD+ policy are vulnerable to climate change; and how REDD+ activities can help or hinder needed adaptations. Our findings indicate that there continues to be a lack of coordination between mitigation and adaptation policies in Vietnam, particularly with regard to REDD+. Policies for forest-based climate mitigation at the national and subnational level, as well as site-based projects, have paid little attention to the adaptation needs of local communities, many of whom are already suffering from noticeable weather changes in their localities, and there is insufficient discussion of how REDD+ activities could facilitate increased resilience. While there were some implicit and coincidental adaptation benefits of some REDD+ activities, most studied projects and policies did not explicitly target their activities to focus on adaptation or resilience, and in at least one case, negative livelihood impacts that have increased household vulnerability to climate change were documented. Key barriers to integration were identified, such as sectoral specialization; a lack of attention in REDD+ projects to livelihoods; and inadequate support for ecosystem-based adaptation.
This paper critically reviews ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches for food security under climate change, specifically for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) comprising the Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea (AIMS) region. The focus is on integrating different knowledge forms. An analysis of current EbA approaches for food security is undertaken, alongside a review of methodologies for integrating local and external knowledge. Key gaps and actions for EbA for food security in the AIMS region, and potentially further afield, are identified. The gaps indicate the lack of coherence in AIMS SIDS approaching food security, in terms of policies and actions not reflecting the ecosystem-food-climate nexus, the lack of a regional framework despite similarities amongst the SIDS, and the infrequency with which knowledge integration occurs. To fill these gaps, suggested actions highlight knowledge identification and combination, learning from others and from history, using local champions, and regularly monitoring and evaluating progress. These actions will push forward the EbA agenda through improved development and use of knowledge, better connections amongst the AIMS SIDS and farther afield, and more local-national-regional collaboration.
Wetlands have many important functions. To a wide range of wildlife species, they offer critically important habitats. They also act to mitigate flooding, regulate micro and macro climate changes, degrade pollutants and control erosion etc. Wetland benefits are these functions, which provide direct, indirect, and non-use values to humans. In this study, field soil data are used to calculate the flood mitigation benefits of wetland soils within the Momoge National Nature Reserve, Jilin Province, the People’s Republic of China. Calculations are based upon environmental economic assessment methods and GIS techniques. The estimated flood mitigation capacity of wetland soils within the Momoge Reserve was 7.15 × 104 m3/hm2/yr. This translated into an economic benefit of 5700 $/hm2/yr due to flood mitigation. Spatial differences in the flood mitigation ability of soils were observed across the Momoge wetlands. Benefits associated with flood mitigation were highest within the middle reaches of the Momoge wetlands and least in the East. This quantitative analysis of flood mitigation benefit, with its investigation of wetland soils, will be a useful reference both for the assessment of wetland values in the local region and also for the greater understanding wetland function and value assessment methods.