Vulnerability Assessment
It is necessary to select an appropriate methodology to rapidly and cost-effectively assess climate risks and resilience of key values in the protected area (Ecosystems, species, environmental services, social aspects, etc.). Rapid methodologies allow the possibility to screen all conservation targets, taking into account local developments and conditions to generate not only accurate but also useful results for decision makers, with the possibility to include local stakeholders in the analysis and next steps.
• An exhaustive research of literature and methodologies, including local and regional ones, to select those most suitable for the conservation objects and targets assessments.
• Participative exercises with the protected area staff and local stakeholders, especially those with more time and knowledge about the area.
A good starting point is to clarify the purpose of the exercise and the need for participation of people from different levels, and with technical as well as non-technical profiles. It is very important to provide practical and scientifically sound guidance to facilitate climate risk and resilience assessments in protected areas. There are several methodologies, and in most of the cases, a good approach is to adapt and combine experiences from those methodologies, rather than applying them exactly “from the text”. A key lesson is to provide a flexible framework to make the best use of the outputs, to clarify the conditions and situation in the area that is to be assessed, and gather local information to enrich the assessment and obtain useful results. Local, community and non-technical information can be useful for the diagnosis of the protected areas situation, and it provides useful data and context to increase the assessments quality.