EGI conducted a rapid assessment on diversified livelihoods to find out what were local communities already doing.

Bee keeping came out as a common income generating activity, driven by a high demand in honey products. The households’ income has increased through the sale of honey and derived products, such as medicine, bee venom, propolis, wine, cosmetics. This is now cushioning them against climate change impact such as prolonged droughts and floods that have negative impacts on agriculture, hence able to sustain income and their livelihoods which is thus addressing the key drivers of poaching.

Another sector of intervention was agriculture. Local communities were trained to improve the resistance of their crops to climate change.

Captive reared birds tend to use the same type of nest in which they were raised. Based on this theory, nest boxes were installed along cliffs and a working quarry adjacent to the release site. Ronez, the quarry owners, paid for a UK expert to visit Jersey to help plan, design, and install the boxes.

The first nests, in 2015, were inside quarry buildings, not the boxes. Boxes began to be used as competition for nest sites increased. When two nests failed due to being built on dangerous machinery, staff installed boxes and successfully encouraged the pairs to nest in them, allowing quarry staff to continue operations.

Nesting activity is closely monitored allowing staff to estimate incubation, hatch, and fledge dates based on pair behavior at the supplemental feed and/or from direct nest observations. Chicks are ringed and DNA sexed in the nest where feasible. Alternatively, fledged chicks that visit the supplemental feed site can be trapped in the aviary when called for food, ringed, and immediately released. This option was used in 2020 and 2021 when COVID-19 prevented access to the quarry.

The recently revised Jersey wildlife law gives full protection to chough nests. Staff are now working to increase public awareness and offer nest boxes as mitigation when choughs nest on private property.

Jersey farmland bird transects have been conducted by Durrell staff, partners and volunteers since 2005. This data combined with other datasets highlighted declining population trends leading to the publication of The Conservation Status of Jersey’s Birds.

In 2010, a partnership between Durrell, the National Trust for Jersey, and the Government of Jersey established Birds On The Edge, a conservation initiative to restore depleted coastal farmland bird populations. The reintroduction of chough acting as a driving force to implement change.

Feasibility studies supported the need to reintroduce chough; natural colonization was not a feasible option. They also identified a release site at Le Don Paton on the north coast. The National Trust for Jersey introduced a free-ranging flock of Manx loaghtan sheep to graze the site ensuring the birds had natural foraging habitat once released. The National Trust also purchased adjacent agricultural fields to avoid any land management conflicts and to sow conservation crops (another component of the initiative).

A reintroduction plan was created following IUCN Guidelines for reintroductions and other conservation translocations. This document assisted in securing licensing for the release, initial funding, and provided a way of clearly communicating intentions to stakeholders.

The national fleet of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) highly depends on imported fuels and is therefore a significant source of GHG-emissions. The bilateral program “Transitioning to Low Carbon Sea Transport (LCST)” implemented by RMI and the Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) aims at supporting the RMI Government´s planning and decision-making processes with respect to its low carbon future and the reduction of GHG-emissions from domestic sea transport, through consultancy, research, training, coordination of policy support to RMI and supporting in delivering RMI’s commitments under UNFCCC to achieve reduced GHG emissions from domestic shipping 40% below 2010 levels by 2030 and full decarbonization by 2050.

The Marshallese Government founded and is an active member of the High Ambition Coaltion for Shipping (SHAC) at IMO and UNFCCC and due to their ambition, the group of supporters of an ambitious contribution of sea transport to the climate goals is growing. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international meetings and high-level conferences are taking place remotely to a high extend.

Ri Majol, the people of the Marshall Islands were known for their superior boat building and sailing skills for centuries. They traveled frequently between their atolls (for trade and war) on big offshore canoes called Walap (some of them 100ft long). The lagoons of their low-lying coral atolls where crested by sails of smaller outrigger canoe designs for rapid inside lagoon transportation, food gathering and fishing. Together with Waan Aelõñ in Majel, we are reviving the traditional knowlege combined with modern technology. The ambitious goals of the Marshall Islands in the sea transport sector have become the main driver and motivation for us to pursue and to transition towards a low carbon fleet for the Marshall Islands for transport inside the lagoons and between atolls. Currently, a 150 ft. Training Vessel is about to be constructed and delivered to RMI by the 2nd half of 2022. After the agreement of the design, the market survey process started with the objection to identify shipyards that are interested and capable of building the new built as drafted in the tender design. The Maritime Training Approach in the Marshall Islands sets a clear focus on Low Emission Sea Transport Education and will train future sailors as part of the national fleet operators.

The EbA measure was discussed and included as a practical implementation measure during the development of the following public policies in the region: (a) PACS - Santos Climate Action Plan 

(b) Municipal Plan for Recovery and Conservation of the Atlantic Forest (PMMA) (c) Subnational adaptation governance study and (d) São Paulo State Adaptation Plan under the Race to Resilience

The construction of these plans and guides was made with the involvement of a large number of diverse actors, were approved and will be launched on January 2022.

While the inception phase of the EbA measure at Monte Serrat, in 2019 the elaboration of the PMMA and PACS began to be discussed and were finally approved in 2021. Since the beginning, the PMMA applied the EbA cycle and gender equity and climate change lens. 

The EbA methodology was characterized as a common goal of the multi sectors that encouraged diverse political will and allowed the integration between environmental, urban and risk reduction policies in the municipality of Santos. Public policies institutionalizing enables EbA enhancement, replication and involvement of the private sector. 

In the period at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, together with the Community Association, dialogues began to plan the implementation of the EbA proposal. The suggestions of residents, city hall technicians and the GIZ team were observed. However, in February and March 2020 there were torrential rains (extreme events) that caused landslides on Monte Serrat and other hills in the municipality, causing death in some of them and destruction of homes, making it impossible to continue the work.

While the community was recovering and restructuring, the COVID pandemic began and, with that, the cancellation of all the activities of the actors involved. During this period, the community also remained united, seeking to minimize the damage caused by job losses and illnesses caused by the pandemic.

In the brief period between the end of the rains and the beginning of the pandemic, the city's technicians started to recover the slopes of some hills by planting native species according to the EbA methodology learned. However, the pandemic prevented the continuation of all work on Monte Serrat and on the other hills.

After adapting to the new pandemic scenario, during 2020 and 2021 virtual meetings were held in order to monitor the situation of the community, to resume activities and plan the Communication project.

The gender approach of Monte Serrat recognizes women as victims but also part of the solution. Climate change affects groups that are socially, environmentally, and economically vulnerable differently, be it women, indigenous peoples or communities. On the other hand, women's decision-making responses to climate risks can be faster and more efficient.

It is essential to think of solutions that respect the right to non-discrimination of these groups. Guided by international recommendations, gender mainstreaming favors the participation and equitable engagement of all people living in Monte Serrat. In addition, the idea was to promote representativeness in the technical staff responsible for implementing the EbA measures.

Gender equity was reinforced in all stages and resulted in greater participation of women, including pregnant, nursing and women with newborns and babies, without the embarrassment of bringing children to the workshop space. They were welcomed and given special attention through the support of the municipality's Secretariat of Social Assistance.

This made it possible for women to feel comfortable to contribute to the construction of EbA solutions that benefit them directly, by giving suggestions for a recreation area for their children with fruit trees that could be used in cooking.

The sense of community on Monte Serrat and surrounding hills was fundamental to choose an active social participation approach. After all, it is the people living there who feel the impacts caused by climate change, such as landslides. The frequent visits by the Municipality Hall (Civil Defense) and the constant contacts with locals were extremely important to gain the trust of the community, especially to engage young people and more recent residents in the area. 

The relocated families were invited to participate in the workshops to value their history and the ties built in the region and  to take advantage of the benefits of the EbA measure.

The strategy of the participatory approach, joint between public authorities, civil society and the assistance of ProAdapta, (i) built community knowledge about climate change and its link to local climate vulnerability and (ii) strengthened relationships of trust among the diversity of stakeholders involved. The high-risk areas that have been vacated need to be urgently and consensually designated before any attempt of reoccupation, therefore the urgency of the EbA workshops. 

Residents of other neighboring hillsides that suffer from the same landslide problems were invited to participate to replicate the methodology and upscale the solution.

For understanding the local situation of quality and quantity of water resources, climate aspects and water needs in order to plan judicious and sustainable use of water, it is a key to gather all information. Therefore the Water Health Chart is prepared by the Water Caretakers and the Village Water Management Team (VWMT) in a cluster level event including participation of villages. The process involves answering key questions of the Water Health Chart, mostly common rural pattern of water resource management. Parameters like domestic water access including that of people living in hamlets, water needs for agriculture, water levels in dug wells and bore-wells during the year and many more reflect the ‘health status of water’ in a village. But it also includes social aspects with questions like “Is the education of girls affected by having to fetch water?”

The Water Health Chart makes a village community aware of the real situation of their water resources and water availability for their living and livelihoods. Thus, understanding the situation and problems related to water, triggers a ‘call to action’ to achieve prudent water management. The process also focuses on the behavioural change of users towards the adoption of appropriate water use practices.