Inception phase | PANORAMA

Water, soil and environmental conservation

Guatemala

Taco Anema

Seedling nursery

Taco Anema

Unregulated land use change in the upper watershed had been especially damaging on steep hillsides and deforestation reduced the capacity of the soils to retain water. The resulting erosion strongly increased the risk of floods and mudslides. WANI and partners supported the design of numerous community pilot projects which addressed water, soil and environmental conservation. Women made up 90% of these groups, empowering them to take a more proactive role in the development of their communities. The pilot projects were the basis for bringing people together to organize themselves into micro-watershed committees. Examples include:

Forest nurseries for reforestation and promotion of agroforestry on farms;

Facilitating development and networking of community enterprises and cooperatives working in, for example, beekeeping, fish farming, forest butterfly farm ecotourism;

Community gardens, organic farming and soil conservation projects;

Construction of septic systems to improve sanitation and raise water quality in the Suchiate River;

Protection of springs for domestic water supply and installation of piped distribution;
Establishment of a demonstration and training centre in Chiapas for integrated management of watersheds.

The micro-watershed model was central to the achievement of building the adaptive capacity of the watershed and local livelihoods through empowerment of community-owned institutions.

This restoration of ecosystem services in the upper watershed has achieved results for water supply, farm livelihoods and disaster resilience. Through taking an ecosystems approach to IWRM, which focuses on environmental restoration for livelihood security, these small scale initiatives have energised the communities to self-organise and has enhanced their development opportunities. Community-level participation in transboundary water resources management is achievable and adds value to conventional transboundary approaches. Planning and implementation of IWRM can be successfully shared between communities across boundaries.

Inception phase

Implementation

Local

Integrated vulnerability analysis at national and local level

Cartes de vulnérabilité

GIZ-ACCES

The vulnerability assessment was carried out for three periods: the status quo in 2014, the period 2030-2060 and the period 2070-2100. The assessment follows the eight-step approach described in GIZ’s Vulnerability Sourcebook, and was supplemented by a scientific modeling of the impacts of climate change for Burundi.

The study was carried out by three institutions (Adelphi, EURAC, PIK) in collaboration with GIZ / ACCES and its partners. Four national workshops were held with all relevant stakeholders. A group of experts was created to advise and direct the process. Activities at the local level at the selected project sites were carried out in close collaboration with local governmental and non-governmental actors and the local population.

The results of the assessment were presented in the form of vulnerability maps for the three factors of erosion, drought and malaria prevalence. Highly vulnerable areas have been identified to guide the identification of three pilot watersheds. In these watersheds, local vulnerability assessments were conducted to identify local challenges and appropriate adaptation measures.

National Workshops: enabled participants (government and civil society) to better understand the process and to share their perspectives and expertise on the topic.
Establishment of an expert group composed of experts from various Burundian ministries and institutions: important for the ownership of the process itself and its results.
Integration of vulnerability assessment into the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process in Burundi.

Data availability was a major challenge. Most government records are not classified and documents and information are incomplete. Aggregate data are often only available at the national and provincial levels, making it difficult to communicate at the local level.
The results of the vulnerability assessment form the basis for integrating climate change adaptation into national and local investment policies, strategies and plans. Other actors can use this experience and information for adaptation planning.
The methodology used to assess vulnerability in Burundi is based on a standardized methodology, which allows for replication.

Rapport sur le changement climatique au Burundi

GIZ (2014). Analyse intégrée de la vulnérabilité au Burundi. Volume I

GIZ (2014). Analyse intégrée de la Vulnérabilité au Burundi. Volume II

GIZ (2014). Analyse intégrée de la Vulnérabilité au Burundi. Volume III

GIZ (2014). Climate Change Projections for Burundi. A Summary for Policy Makers

GIZ (2014) Manuel « Climate Proofing » pour le Burundi

WebGIS Burundi

Integrating scientific data and traditional knowledge to inform management

The Corridor ecosystem has been well-studied and over 200,000 geo-referenced data points are available to help establish spatial management plans. Fisher communities have participated in monitoring resources in the past and currently are generating data on their catch. This in combination with other data from the literature, and from interviews and mapping processes that fishermen participate in, help integrate a wealth of traditional knowledge and scientific information to produce realistic management proposals. Even when presented with complex analyses of this data resulting from computer models such as INVEST and ZONATION, fishers have shown confidence in the information presented to them and they validate it. By creating a decision-making process that uses evidence from these various sources that all stakeholders believe in, we are building a science-based decision making process. We plan to work with stakeholders to define the best indicators for tracking the impacts of management, and then design a participatory process for monitoring these, developing a common, science-based language for measuring the effectiveness of the program. The program is building a digital platform that will serve to communicate the advances.

CEDO has generated data on this ecosystem for the last 37 years, making it possible to integrate science into the process. The long history of fisher participation in monitoring is also helpful, as they have not questioned the validity of the data they are seeing, in general, and they have the opportunity to fine tune results as well. Government validation of the data generated is key. Government has contributed financially to producing the data and CEDO's work is known and respected.

Funding for long-term monitoring is important and it must include the resources for data management and analysis. Engaging fishers in monitoring, sharing other data sources with them, and producing results that are consistent with their understanding of the ecosystem are powerful in getting them to trust the results. The program also involves a technical team who understands the process and participates in evaluating critical components of analysis. Getting government buy-in is critical for getting them to use the data for policy. Sharing results, credit and ultimately publications with government researchers, can offer important incentives to the government to work together on production and analysis of data.

Inception phase

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Strengthening Capacity for Collective Action and Informed Decision-Making

The fishing communities of the Corridor are isolated from one another and are marginalized from the regional economy. They have few opportunities to interact at that scale. Even within a community there is little social structure. The project created a forum for interaction and collaboration for solving problems. To strengthen capacity to participate in this forum and planning process, we have focused on building fisher capacity to represent their communities in an Intercommunity Management Group. Workshops have been offered on communication, negotiation, and other leadership skills. We developed materials, held workshops and organized exchanges with other fishermen to give them a better understanding of the variety of management tools that can be applied to improve fisheries and reduce conflicts. This is key to setting the stage for informed decision-making and adopting new management instruments. For more comprehensive acceptance of the process, all community members should be informed. Through communication programs, messages on billboards, radio addresses, social media and workshops, the program involves the entire community to understand and support the process.

CEDO has a long history of promoting environmental literacy and culture in the region and has tools and resources that aid in this process. CEDO's ability to communicate in a language that fishermen understand facilitates learning. As a local organization, CEDO can adapt its scheduling of meetings and classes to the rhythm of fishing which is somewhat unpredictable due to environmental conditions. Fishermen and communities are eager to learn, but cannot afford to miss income from fishing.

One challenge is transportation. Communities are isolated from public transportation, and CEDO has tried to provide this, but without adequate resources. Solutions could be found if funds were available to purchase vans. One of the most important components for effective capacity building is to speak the language of your audience and to create experiences for interchange, rather than talking at the public. This creates a positive learning environment both for the facilitator as well as the fishermen. Capacity building is also strengthened through direct participation and opportunities to learn while doing, which we promote as another building block in this process.

Inception phase

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Building trust and meaningful relationships

Our initial approach with fishermen was to have them identify the problems they were facing. Since fishing is their main economic activity, we gave focus to addressing their needs through this lens. They expressed a need for fishing permits, so we began helping them through the process for registering their boats - a first step, and by connecting them with the government who is responsible for giving them permits. We helped build a governance structure and transparent and inclusive process which gives fishers access to the government by bringing the government to the table to address their problems. Individually they were unable to get the government's attention. This has helped build working relationships with authorities where they have to respond directly to stakeholders, building meaningful relationships along the way. The Corridor program addresses their needs, especially their economic needs. In addition to helping resolve fishers need for clarifying their rights to fish and helping them move towards more sustainable fisheries, we also are identifying alternative economic options of interest to communities, such as ecotourism and will help find resources to move these forward as sustainable economic options. We will also connect fishers to sustainable markets.

Trust. It is a difficult for an environmental organization to lead such a process with fishermen, as this sector is known for being strongly focused on conservation outcomes. The leading organization facilitating this process, CEDO, has worked in the communities of the region for 37 years and built trust with fishers to work together. CEDO's persistence and willingness to help them with their issues as well as our own agenda, helped build a working relationship and trust with fishers.

Fishermen trust is influenced by many factors. There are some that try to undermine the trust that fishermen have in CEDO by starting rumors that fishermen listen to about CEDO's motives for conservation. It is important to maintain regular dialogue with fishers and to have transparent, well documented processes that show social equity. Through CEDO's many environmental education programs throughout the years, and through this program, fishermen have the opportunity to learn about the ecosystem and ultimately to decide for themselves whether it is important to manage their ecosystem well and support conservation.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Local

Understanding People and Context

Qualitative and quantitative research is conducted to produce profiles of both the fisheries and the fishers, so that current fishing grounds, gears and practices are documented. Current knowledge, attitudes and sources of information are also measured.

Participatry processes ensured that community validated the information and accepted it as a basis for future decisions • A partner academic institution provided technical expertise and credibility with the community. • Previous projects in the area also yielded valuable scientific information.

The amount of time needed to educate the fishers and the community on basic coastal resource and fisheries management should not be underestimated. Multiple listening sessions and discussions are important to build understanding and support.

Institutional agreements and participatory decision-making based on MARISCO method

MARISCO workshop

Nadia Manasfi

Planning and implementing EbA requires a holistic approach and strong inter-institutional coordination and cooperation. The multi-pronged approach adopted in Tungurahua encourages the participation of policy-makers, the private sector, farmers, civil society and universities, among others. The establishment of a cross-institutional platform enables frequent meetings for exchange and follow-up, while addressing concerns of all stakeholders. Tailor-made capacity development contributes to a shared understanding of the main problems and options for action. Participatory assessments (such as the MARISCO methodology) have allowed stakeholders to better understand how climate and non-climate risks can reinforce each other and how to deal with the resulting complexity. Complementary to the participatory assessments, technical assessments, hydrological models and a hydro-meteorological monitoring system provide decision-makers with hard facts on which to base policy. The results are clear and holistic strategies, theories of change and a monitoring system accepted by the majority.

*Political willingness to enable cross-institutional cooperation. *Willingness of key stakeholders to cooperate. *A shared understanding of the problem and its underlying causes. *Reliable empirical database to underpin participatory decision-making.

*Potential resistance to climate change actions can be reduced by inviting different stakeholders to participate in capacity development measures. *Building ownership and empowering communities by involving them in every step of the process (from identifying the problem to proposing solutions and implementing them) is an important success factor for the process.

Provincial Government of Tungurahua

Integrating ecosystem services into development planning

Link between ecosystem services and development sectors

GIZ Yasmina Adebi

Despite the strong dependence of the local and national economy on natural resources, the concept of ecosystem services is new for most decision-makers in Benin and Togo. Furthermore, due to a lack of knowledge about natural processes, the degradation and loss of natural resources was acknowledged, but their decline was often not attributed to current practices. Existing communal development plans focus on sectors such as water, agriculture and infrastructure, while not taking into account the importance of ecosystem services for these sectors. Training sessions on "Integration of ecosystem services into development planning" enabled stakeholder groups from different sectors to discuss issues of conservation of ecosystem services in the Mono Delta and to understand the link between conservation of these services and the sustainable development of the region. In order to improve the process of drafting development plans and strengthen the capacity of decision-makers at the local and regional levels, several workshops were organized to familiarize stakeholders with the ecosystem services approach and its application to the planning process.

• Participatory approach involving stakeholders and decision-makers from multiple levels and sectors. • Focus on the utility of ecosystem services for the economic development of the region. • Existence / creation of a good knowledge of natural processes in the region (water cycle, soil fertility, pollination, etc.) • Existence of training materials on the approach of integration of ecosystem services into development planning in the national language.

A major challenge in raising awareness among and training of stakeholders / decision-makers is the fact that there are large gaps in basic knowledge about natural processes (e.g., water cycle, improvement of soil fertility, pollination) and climate projections. It was therefore necessary to train decision-makers not only on the steps of integration of ecosystem services into the planning documents, but also on the links between these services and the sectors of interest as well as concrete measures to ensure the availability of ecosystem services in the long term in an uncertain climate scenario corridor. As a result, the technical assistance process takes a long time. In addition, little educational material (textbooks, films, etc.) on ecosystem services is available in French, and the didactic materials in English are not easily understood by many Beninese and Togolese decision-makers. It is therefore crucial to translate and/or develop adequate material.

Participatory natural resources management by local actors

Participatory mapping exercise

AMN Patrice Bada

Key elements for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services for sustainable development are the equitable participation of stakeholders and the organizational development of local management associations. The project has built on existing local initiatives to identify areas of ecological, economic and social interest for which there is a willingness of the population to protect and manage them. Based on these initiatives, the project supported the creation of local management associations, which then received the territorial authorities' mandate to manage the central areas and buffer zones in their region. They will have the technical support of the project for their organizational development as well as for the technical and financial management of these areas, including the monitoring of management and harvesting rules for natural resources. These rules of use were developed in a participatory manner for each core area and buffer zone. To this end, a series of consultation sessions was organized for each region by local NGOs involved in the project. The rules devised by the population have been drafted by a lawyer to ensure their compliance with the laws in force.

• Creation of ownership by the beneficiaries: participatory process of creation of the reserve and development of management rules; participatory surveillance and ecological monitoring. • Land tenure: community and traditional protected areas (e.g. sacred forests) have been assigned legal status. • Management association with clear statutes and mandate: recognition of their status and functions by legal acts.

In a context where there is no clear and reliable land tenure, various actors (customary land owners, de facto users, territorial authorities) must be involved in the discussion of the future use of land in order to reach a legally recognized agreement that will be accepted and respected in the long term. Concerning the rules for sustainable management in buffer zones, the challenge was to develop rules and sanctions in conformity with national legislation and applicable at local level. In order to do so, a series of consultation sessions has been held to allow the population to set itself rules for cases that are not yet regulated by existing laws. Users often perceived a degradation of their natural resources and a reduction in ecosystem services. But they rather attributed it to external forces (sorcery, God's will, etc.) than to their own overexploitation and unsustainable use of the resource.

Inception phase

Local

Extensive public engagement/consultation during design phase

Public engagement

RSPB

For Wallasea Island, the public was largely content with creating new habitat in place of low-productivity agricultural land, but objected to the loss of farmland and potential impacts on recreation sailing, oyster fisheries and estuary processes. Another issue was the sense that past generations had worked hard to reclaim these areas from the sea and that this should not be reversed. However, according to the Environment Agency’s flood risk maps, the project estimated that hundreds of years of such reclamations had resulted in thousands of hectares along the Essex coastline that should be inundated. Extensive public engagement and consultation processes were thus carried out during the planning and inception phases of this project to gain understanding and support. Public engagement took place in the form of consultation events, talks to interest groups, site visits for key stakeholders, new updates for involved stakeholders, the establishment of a Local Liaison Group and the appointment of a public engagement manager in April 2010.

Public engagement during the design phase was particularly important to gain public support, as the project entailed destroying productive agricultural land in favor of habitat creation. Targeted outreach and dissemination activities helped to raise awareness and understanding of potential damaging climate change related impacts (i.e. flooding) and the range of benefits which would be offered by the project (e.g. recreational opportunities, flood risk management, increased amenity values etc).

Early and comprehensive consultation are key to ensuring successful implementation and generating public support for many EbA projects, the extent of which depends on the sensitivity of the location and/or proximity of residential areas and socio-economic resources. In the case of Wallasea, early and frequent public consultations required significant education about potential climate change impacts and the risks of sea level rise in order to gain acceptance for the planned project activities.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Local