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.

The Local Committee (LC) begins its formation with a group of people who share a common interest in the same territory. It defines the name of the CBI and its geographic limits, the way it will work, what rules it must follow internally and with what objective the corridor is formed. It can work in the form of an association, alliance, executive or support committee, management group, technical coalition, among others. In its formation process it is recommended to have at least one community leader, representation of local governments of the CBI territory, an NGO or non-profit organization, a representative of the productive or private sector and an institutional representative, who together will be responsible for managing alliances and facilitating the contribution of other actors interested in promoting technical and financial resources in their territory. The representativeness of the different sectors (public, private, academic, civil, etc.) is essential for the success of the CBIs, since they contribute with their knowledge and capacities for the adequate logistics of the CBIs, facilitate the discussion among all the representatives and provide different points of view so that the decision making is integral, from broad perspectives and echoes what happens in the management of the CBI in the communities and institutions that comprise it.

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.

For the inception phase of the Project and based on the analysis of the local context, the process of Free, Prior and Informed Consultation with the Lenca Communities was planned and designed.The preparation of the FPIC consisted of selecting the methodological tools and instruments that, validated in the institutional practice of the SNV, would allow for consultation in an environment conducive to overcoming the challenges imposed by the work in the project's area of influence, characterized by partiality and foreign interests that generated distrust or the perception of partiality to the project.

The purpose of this block is to generate tools to understand and evaluate the impacts and opportunities that biodiversity and ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change offer in the face of climate change conditions. To this end, three types of training processes were developed:

Valuation of ecosystem services

• Awareness-raising actions on the role of riparian ecosystem services in reducing the vulnerability of livelihoods to floods.

Increased climate resilience of livelihoods,

• Workshops for the elaboration of impact chains (community analysis of the vulnerability of their livelihoods).
• Workshops to define and prioritize actions for adaptation to climate change.
• Working meetings for the analysis and development of the implementation strategy.

Actions in the territory

• Training and formation of the AbE Squadron (group of women and men in charge of seed collection, location of sites to be reforested and planning of activities for this purpose).

The purpose of this block was to build an enabling environment for political advocacy in favor of the adaptation of municipal natural and social systems that are vulnerable to current and future climate impacts. To achieve this, two components were worked on:

Enabling conditions

• Workshops to integrate biodiversity values into climate change adaptation strategies and municipal development planning processes and to reduce socioeconomic and environmental conditions that exacerbate climate impacts.
• Establishment of agreements and synergies between ejido, municipal, state and federal authorities, as well as education and research centers to support the integration of ecosystem-based adaptation into municipal development planning and improve governance of natural assets.

Coordination mechanisms

Consolidation of horizontal and vertical networks through consultation and working groups that facilitated the development of the adaptation process:

• The Expert Working Group.
• The Municipal Adaptation Council
• The Community Working Group
• The Peasant Learning Communities

The purpose of this building block is the implementation of participatory workshops with a maximum of 30 members/participants from producer families per workshop in the different territories (communities, sites, associations, etc.).

These workshops are carried out with the objective of:

(a) sensitize and raise awareness among producers, as well as technicians or other stakeholders on climate variability and its impacts; and.

b) assess and make a qualitative and descriptive analysis of perceived climate hazards and their direct impacts, exposure and vulnerabilities for the different production systems.

In addition, the first ideas for solutions / adaptation measures for a better resilience to the identified climate risks are worked out.

All this work is facilitated in a participatory, playful way, motivating all participants to speak and make their contributions, documenting the different steps of the workshop and its results.

One of the main challenges was the low availability of adequate and viable seedlings. To overcome this challenge, the project began constructing new tree nurseries, which were all developed during 2019 and became fully operational during 2020 with the construction of 900 seedbeds. Instead of one nursery per region, as it was initially planned, the project was recommended to construct nine (9) nurseries altogether as part of the strategy to meet the 10,000 hectares restoration target or slightly more. To sustain these nurseries, the project recruited 18 Nursery Attendants (two per nursery).

The nurseries aim to increase available planting materials to supply the EbA interventions and for use by communities outside the scope of the project. The project also developed long-term business plans and revenue models to support sustained operations of expanded/created nursery facilities.

In addition, six (6) Forest Stations were refurbished as part of the nursery infrastructure.

 UNEP is also working with the Department of Forestry to explore low-cost options to establish small gene banks for use by the project and beyond the lifetime of the project. With the construction of these nurseries, adequate seedlings are and will be available throughout the year.

The original aim of the project was the reintroduction of Critically Endangered western lowland gorillas back to a protected area in the wild. Initially the project would enable the release of rehabilitated wild-born orphans, with captive-bred animals repatriated from the UK as the project progressed. Having a clear aim enabled the plan to be developed and that included, but was not limited to:

• Location and establishment of the protected area
• Legal requirements, including licences and permissions
• Staffing requirements, including training
• Animal care, including veterinary support
• Identification of threats & pressures and mitigation measures required
• Infrastructure required
• Local community impact and engagement
• Local community support through capacity building and alternative income streams
• Funding requirements, including capital expenditure and operating costs
• Reporting Structure
• Sustainability

Projects are not static, they evolve and bring about change. In addition they can be affected by outside factors. Once the project commenced it has been subject to regular assessment. As the project developed it has broadened in scope and adaptations have been made through continuous oversight of the activities in progress.

Effective collaboration with the relevant authorities in the Republic of Congo is a key element to the project. This is not limited to permission to carry out conservation work in country, but is also important for the long-term relationships required, including the joint patrols of the reserve and enforcement of laws and regulations that are essential for long-term management of a protected or conservation area. Team composition is also extremely important and the Aspinall Congo team are almost entirely Congolese.