This building block is about the work with regard to the recovery and strengthening of the organization of the Ayllu (a form of extended family group) and the traditional authorities for farming. We have worked to revalue the knowledge of breeding, (climate) signals, cultivation practices and the so-called "secrets" to deal as much as possible with all the variety of situations and circumstances that are determined by the climate.

The methodological approach has allowed an intercultural dialogue and cultural mediation, as well as communal observation to build trust and transparency and a solid support system. The practice of mutual accompaniment composed of technicians committed to the processes of decolonization and cultural affirmation of diversity, was very useful. The facilitation and accompaniment of community initiatives and learning in the context of cultural dialogue, with shared responsibilities between the "target group" and the ABA team, generates very dynamic and effective reflection and action processes.

This has facilitated the capacity for adapting to change and empowered people to recognize themselves as main actors in development, based essentially on local resources and capabilities and affirmation of culture.

The success of the National Marine Sanctuary will largely depend upon the quality of its marine surveillance and enforcement. As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Palau lacks the resources to adequately patrol its waters.  Throughout the process of developing and implementing the PNMS, Palau has sought active partnerships with fellow nations, NGO’s and technology providers to develop and fund a comprehensive monitoring, control and surveillance strategy.  Palau now looks forward to numerous contributions to its surveillance and enforcement capacity in the coming months.

The financing scheme for the Sanctuary is also novel.  Under the law creating the Sanctuary, all tourism visitors must pay a Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee (PPEF), which, will be used to ensure surveillance, enforcement and necessary administration of the PNMS.  A very strong effort is also underway to supplement this anticipated annual revenue of $1.5 million with contributions with country partners and friends.  Palau is in the process of raising such funds and in establishing a companion Sanctuary Endowment Fund into which the contributions will be placed.

Much of this additional funding will go towards establishing a comprehensive surveillance and monitoring program to enforce the law.  This enhanced surveillance effort has, as a critical component continued and expanded  trans boundary cooperation in the Micronesia region with neighbors and primary partners, the United States, Japan, Australia and the Republic of China, Taiwan. 

The objective of this building block is to implement the EbA measures in the field: community-based grassland management and domestic livestock husbandry associated with management of vicuñas in the wilderness and restoration of ancestral water infrastructure.

In order to start with the implementation of measures, not only the results of the vulnerability and risk assessment were required, but also joint work between the project and the head of the landscape reserve in order to ensure that the measures were articulated and reinforcing the master plan. The prioritization of the EbA measures was carried out jointly with the local communities, who chose the measures according to their interest.

This process was supported by the communal and some district authorities. In addition, trainings were developed for interest groups and park rangers of the landscape reserve, all of this to ensure the implementation, appropriation and sustainability of the activities. Finally, it was important to develop local management plans for each community. These management plans are part of the commitment of each community to continue with the EbA measures. These management plans go hand in hand with the landscape reserve´s master plan.

Cooperation projects such as EbA Amazonia are development agents that come and go. In contrast, state institutions, whether national, regional or local, are permanent with the main objective to ensure the welfare of communities in a specific area. Local governments operate close to the rural population.

Capacity transfer is another important issue from the point of view of the project.

To make the development approach of the municipalities compatible with the conservation approach of a protected area is fundamental in order to gain allies for the conservation of an area and the development of the surrounding population. This relates to building block 4 - the generation of conservation agreements between a community and their strategic allies form a solid base to channel support from the local governments in the development and implementation of adaptation measures. At the same time, information and training on how to access the state's public investment system for the local governments broadens their capacity to serve the local population and to access different funding sources.

Conservation agreements are an integral part of the financial sustainability of measures to adapt to climate change and the spatial integrity of the communal reserves. By extending the areas of conservation and sustainable use of the resources of the communal reserve, they enable the use of the communal territory while at the same time allowing for a use of the adjacent natural protected area.

The conservation agreements contribute to the harmonization of management and planning of the communal territory by consolidating the permitted uses for their areas in a contract with the relevant authorities (ECAs and headquarters of national protected areas). In return, the communities gain key allies to continue obtaining technical and financial support to expand productive activities (adaptation measures) that were initially supported by the EbA Amazonía project.

The native communities of Boca Isiriwe, Masenawa and Puerto Azul decided to start using chestnut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) that existed within their territories despite having no prior experience in doing so commercially. The first requirement or condition that the EBA Amazonía project established was to exclude the possibility of contamination of the fruits with heavy metals. Samples of soil and fruits of the chestnut were taken. No significant residues could be found, in spite of the proximity of mining operations.

The project supported them as this activity suited well with the ecosystem approach assumed by the project.

A complete database of the occurrence and distribution of the species was created in order to model the changes that the species would suffer based on current and future climatic information. According to the modelling, chestnut will remain a species with a wide distribution throughout the area of the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, with slight changes in its distribution. This way, the project responded to the local interest by providing the necessary information to guarantee a sustainable production process.

The implementation of a new project requires the social acceptance of the local population. The objectives, strategies to be followed, the conceptual approach to implementation (in this case ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change) needs to be communicated and the communication and coordination mechanisms for the implementation need to be established.

The EbA Amazonia project, implemented jointly with SERNANP and ECAs (Ejecutor del Contrato de Administración de la Reserva / Executor of the Administrative Contract of the Communal Reserve) -representatives of communities - should present a united front with all the actors involved. So from the  day that the communities entered, the project established concrete roles for all actors in the implementation of activities (e.g. SERNANP and ECAs). This generates a vision of unity and projection of activities beyond the life of the project (sustainability) since the SERNANP and ECAs are entities that perpetually interact with the local population.

In the “Recovery of Technologies & Green-Gray Infrastructure” component, the Chacara dam was repaired and an old and unused water channel was rehabilitated. This allowed the recuperation of a network of ancient ditches in the communal farmland and in the high areas of Yanaututo and Pumapanca. These areas supply water to 560 ha of pasturelands (Hidroandes, 2015). In addition, the water is recharging temporary ponds and underground aquifers, that supply water to pits and springs in the lower part of the Jaramayo micro-catchment and the Cochas - Pachacayo sub-basin (Idem, 2015). A pilot area of 3 ha was fenced to protect pastures as they recover. It is monitored by the Landscape Reserve administration with support from the community. The community also contributed manpower to the activities in this component.

As part of the “Strengthening Local Skills and Knowledge” component, we conducted courses and workshops, facilitated discussion events, and led training on how to apply pasture recovery techniques and evaluate their effectiveness. These activities helped sensitize community farmers, inspiring them to create new, small projects such as fencing and recovery of pasturelands or water and livestock management. In addition, the monitoring system applied shows that skills for pasture management, with regard to evaluation, fencing and recovery at the family and community levels, have increased (IM, IUCN, 2015). As part of the communication activities, an informational showcase and two participatory videos, a theatre play and publications were produced. This contributed to raising awareness among the group of livestock farmers regarding pastures, water and livestock management and helped disseminate information about the project at community and landscape reserve levels (IM, IUCN, 2015). Information was generated through participatory rural diagnostics (specific studies in water, pasture, archaeology, social organization, productive activities) and a hydro-geological study in the water channel’s area of influence.