Implementation | PANORAMA

Monitoring

Map of the Coastal Resilience Organization

Review phase

National

Integrated vulnerability assessment (VA)

We developed a spatially explicit vulnerability analysis that included both national and local indicators. These indicators were designed to capture the social, economic and ecological vulnerabilities and the interplay between them. The framework used to organize the indicators captured exposure, adaptive capacity, and sensitivity of three key social components (critical infrastructure and facilities; livelihoods -i.e. natural resource dependence and critical industry facilities such as fish processing plants and hotels- and social sensitivity -number of people and houses) as well of critical coastal habitats (mangroves, seagrass and reefs) providing risk reduction services (e.g. coastal protection and provisioning). Layering the ecological vulnerability assessment with the socioeconomic vulnerability assessment highlighted areas of overlap where adaptation and disaster risk reduction interventions were most needed, and where nature could play a role in reducing climate and disaster risk. The national level assessment framework was then adapted for site scale application to produce a community vulnerability assessment.

• Community understanding the importance and the benefits of a successful implementation. • Community acceptance, participation and ownership. • Government involvement and participation. • Partnerships with the Grenada Red Cross and NGO Grenada Fund for Conservation (mobilizing communities, empowering stakeholders, ensuring the development of an action plan for climate adaptation). • Access to information on socio-economic and ecological characteristics.

• The critical role that partnerships and community engagement play during all stages of the Project. • The importance of engaging relevant government agencies and others early on to ensure: a) that the analysis is grounded in local context and needs; b) that information and data collected are accurate and current and can be effectively utilized by government agencies.

National

Climate change impact visualisation

Participatory 3D Modelling helps visualise vulnerabilities

The Nature Conservancy

Visualizing potential impacts is a powerful tool to help communities understand their vulnerabilities and consider future scenarios and tradeoffs. This is important to motivate changes that need to be made to reduce a community’s risks and support decision making around climate and disaster risk management. Computer based maps are not always the most effective means of communication. At the national scale we developed a suite of visualization tools for technical persons that included web-based maps and electronic and hard copy maps. At the local scale we worked with local partners Grenada Fund for Conservation and Grenada Red Cross to engage communities through household surveys and Participatory 3D Mapping (P3DM). These tools allowed us to integrate the knowledge and perspectives of nearly 400 community members, generate site level vulnerability assessments and visualization tools. To help facilitate community input and visioning, we also partnered with a land-use planning firm. Using the design firm’s strong graphic facilitation skills, a visual representation of a number of climate change impacts and associated potential actions that would contribute to Grenville Bay’s climate resilient Grenville bay was generated.

• Community understanding the importance and the benefits of a successful implementation. • Community acceptance, participation and ownership. • Government involvement and participation. • Partnerships with the Grenada Red Cross and NGO Grenada Fund for Conservation (mobilizing communities, empowering stakeholders, ensuring the development of an action plan for climate adaptation). • Access to data on climate change impact (via local knowledge and/or quantitative model predictions).

• The site level process described above was critical for the development of several targeted locally relevant proposals. • Applying a participatory process empowered community participation critical for the selection of locally relevant options that best align with a community’s vision of desired current and future outcomes. • Partnering with a variety of groups (engineers, land use planners, and local NGO’s like the RC and GFC) greatly facilitated the integration of diverse knowledge and consideration of a suite of options that will help communities and decision makers chose an informed path forward. Building capacity and working at pilot sites with communities takes a significant commitment of time and resources. • Participatory 3D mapping is a powerful tool for gathering community knowledge and stimulating discussion, and it also requires trained facilitators and community mobilization to implement.

Planning phase

Inception phase

TNC´s gateway to the projects - search for "At the Water’s Edge"

National

The Coastal Resilience Network

“Sponsor a Nest”-Ecotourism

ARCAS manages a "Sponsor-a-Nest" program whereby an individual can sponsor a sea turtle nest and these funds are used to buy food, which are then exchanged for sea turtle eggs. Many of these sponsors then come to the Hawaii Park with their family or friends to release hatchlings on the beach together with local guides.

The growing tourism industry on the Pacific coast of Guatemala.
Interest of tourists in supporting environmental and social causes.

Sponsors are usually families who come to the hatchery during their holidays. It is important to recognize the support of these sponsors and to communicate with them so they understand where their donation is going.

Turtle eggs-for-food exchange programme

Local people can exchange sea turtle eggs for food at ARCAS

Most sea turtle egg collectors are men, and often the income from egg sales is spent on alcohol or otherwise does not benefit the family. Using food supplements from the government and from other donors, ARCAS initiated an egg-for-food program whereby sea turtle eggs are exchanged for basic food. This program has been successful in improving local food security and nutrition (in a country that has systemic malnourishment) and trying to increase the participation of women and children in the egg collection program.

Ability to fundraise.
Involving volunteers in the exchange.
Explaining the importance of the program to communities and sponsors.

The egg-for-food program has been very successful in involving women and children in the sea turtle egg collection system, and trying to ensure that the whole family benefits from the program, not just the men. The exchange needs to be carefully managed, and it entails a lot of hard work to ensure that the food goes to the family. The program has also been fundamental in demonetarizing the sea turtle egg trade and reducing the role of middlemen.

Environmental education program in local communities

Environmental education on sea turtles in one of the local schools

Environmental education is one of the foundations of any of our conservation efforts. In our program in Hawaii region, ARCAS works with six communities, carrying out a variety of activities such as beach clean-ups, releasing hatchlings, reforestation, environmental fairs, field trips, and presentations in local schools. In order to inform the local kids of the importance of taking care of their resources, we make this our priority. The local communities have been well educated by ARCAS.

The Guatemalan public school system is very weak and there is a great demand by teachers, parents and administrators for collaboration. Volunteers contribute to educational activitities by giving English classes on environmental topics, and organizing beach clean ups.

Environmental education is a priority in local communities. The kids are the ones that are going to take care of wildlife in the future. It is also important to be a responsible and constant partner of local schools, students and teachers, and to evaluate the effectiveness of educational efforts.

Volunteer engagement

Volunteers of ARCAS

Volunteers from all over the world help us in implementing the conservation activities of our program: look for sea turtle nests to protect the eggs from poachers, maintenance of the hatchery, support in our environmental education program, analysing research data that we are constantly generating, and helping in the rehabilitation of species we received at the center.

Volunteers are trained by professional experts
Being transparent regarding to incomes, data and results
Volunteers are made aware of the importance of their on-going support for the programs’ successes
Given the lack of government resources, without them we would not have the financial resources and manpower necessary to meet the challenges that we face

Our experience demonstrates that volunteers enjoy working and feeling responsible for producing project results. They like to experience new challenges and feel part of the team. However, many volunteers have little or no experience working in developing countries, and must be well-orientated and managed so that they contribute to the project goals, are aware of local cultural norms, and follow the ARCAS methodology. A successful volunteer/intern/ecotour program requires constant management, planning and communication.

Monitoring

ARCAS´ guidelines for volunteers

ARCAS´ website

Community environmental education and awareness

Community education is essential in building confidence

Mikoko Pamoja

To promote awareness and a general understanding of the local and global significance of mangrove ecosystem to the Gazi Bay community, various stakeholder engagement forums were held during the inception, development, and implementation of the project. Engagements involved organizing village level meetings in which the Mikoko Pamoja team made detailed presentations on values of mangrove ecosystem, threats, and potential mitigation measures. The team also introduced the concept of carbon financing, its benefits to people and the environment, and sought community support. In addition, the team held a series of focus group discussions to get more insights on the community' perceptions and attitudes towards conservation and management of mangrove resources. These meetings have cumulatively built confidence between the community, government and the Mikoko Pamoja team. This is further grounded by the annual sales of carbon credits sequestered by the mangroves.

Presence of a structured leadership in the participating villages whereby the chair of the village has his own team that foresees governance of community affairs
Transparency in service delivery: all group activities are publicized in community noticeboards strategically located in the villages
Demonstrable benefits of the carbon project
Support to community projects with income from the sale of carbon credits, including water and sanitation, education and environment conservation

The concept and technical aspects of carbon trading are difficult for some community members to grasp
Finding consensus on benefit sharing is always challenging
The fluctuating prices of global carbon credits are negatively impacting the community morale to sustainably manage mangrove resources in their areas
There is an urgent need to enhance community education and awareness beyond mangrove forest carbon and instead the entire mangrove ecosystem services, such as fishery and shoreline protection functions
There is a great need to develop strategies for rehabilitation of degraded mangrove areas outside the Mikoko Pamoja sites

Carbon know-how through strong partnership

Carbon-offset initiatives require a strong scientific basis to determine carbon stocks and baselines. Mikoko Pamoja benefits from a strong partnership with the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) that conducted research to deliver necessary baseline data for the carbon offset project.

KMFRI now provides technical support during the implementation of Mikoko Pamoja. A member of KMFRI seats in the Mikoko Pamoja steering committee in order to report on monitoring results. An annual report is then submitted to Plan Vivo Organization detailing project activities undertaken. KMFRI’s position is critical in determining the accuracy of the information submitted to Plan Vivo.

KMFRI's strong presence in the project site Gazi Bay: The Institute has been working in mangrove research since the 1980s and has a field station in Gazi village
Strong technical know-how and long-term involvement with national and international networks (Earthwatch Institute, International Blue Carbon Scientific Working Group)
Resident permanent staff and students at the KMFRI Gazi station
Strong partnership with the local community during development and implementation of mangrove activities

Carbon-offset initiatives require a strong scientific basis to determine carbon stocks and baselines
Good relationship between scientists, government agencies, and communities is required for project sustainability
Transparency is required in all stages of carbon project development. This ensures that there are no over-expectations among the community even when the carbon prices fluctuate
Benefit sharing has to be pre-determined during the project development phase. This ensures onward harmony among project partners
The strong partnership between KMFRI and Gazi community has enabled quick realization of carbon benefits
Mikoko Pamoja has local and international partners such as Earthwatch Institute (UK), Napier Edinburgh University (Scotland), who have played a pivotal role in linking community to carbon buyers

Monitoring

Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI)

Plan Vivo - Mikoko Pamoja

Forest Management Agreement

Sonneratia forest

The Forest Management Agreement is a legal tool between the Community Forest Association (CFA) and Kenya Forest Service (KFS) for the implementation of the Participatory Forest Management Plan, which only becomes effective after the signing of a the Agreement. This agreement officially secures community ownership of carbon credits and thus, is a prerequisite for a successful carbon project.

In short, the Forest Management Agreement is the vehicle to operationalize the Participatory Forest Management Plan.

The process is anchored in national laws, Forest Act (2005)
Community understanding of the values of mangroves goods and services
Willingness of the community to participate in joint mangrove management with the government
Registration of a community forest association (CFA)
Approved participatory forest management plan for the forest ecosystem

Consensus building is needed before the signing of forest management agreement between the government and the local community
The agreement affirms community ownership of a designated forest area thus enhancing their participation
Mangrove management needs to be pursued in an integrated manner; rather than over-emphasizing carbon benefits in the expense of other goods and services derived from the system
Forest management agreement should be in simple language that is fully understandable by the community