Design of participatory steps for village engagement
Through community-based activities the importance of traditional knowledge for increasing people resilience to climate change is demonstrated. 6 villages were involved from the start of the project, and the villagers given the opportunity to share their views throughout the project’s implementation. This includes: (1) Organizing a Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment workshop for defining the main climate-related threats that the communities are facing (drought, floods, salt intrusion) as well as local techniques (anti-salt bund and Assisted Natural Regeneration - ANR) that can be implemented for responding to these challenges. (2) This forms the basis for defining the field activities in each village. (3) Village committees are created to coordinate the implementation and act as advisory boards. (4) Regular monitoring missions are undertaken to follow up on field work. (5) Annual meetings are organized in each village for assessing the results from activities and planning the next steps.
-Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA) workshop, for getting inputs from communities and defining adaptation strategies based on their knowledge
-Attribution of concrete roles for getting the community involved in the implementation of field activities.
-Creation of villages committees, to get ownership on the project while ensuring that field activities are implemented according to workplan
-Regular meetings for sharing their feedback and advice about the project
-Gender equity, with both men and women involved in the village committees and sharing tasks
Active involvement of communities from the early stage of the project was well appreciated and led to a high level of ownership and an effective implementation of activities
- Using traditional knowledge and practices from the country helped to reach higher (regional or national) level for making the case for ecosystem-based solutions for climate change
- Local knowledge is accessible/available if appropriate tools are used to gather, unlock and distil them, such as VCA workshop
- Involving external local stakeholders (local NGOs etc.) is key for supporting communities and maintaining group cohesion
- Participatory approaches for restoring the protected area enhance the knowledge and adaptive capacities of rural communities, while ensuring the sustained provision of ecosystem goods and services