Monitoring | PANORAMA

Achieving ecosystem approach for adaptation

Planning activities around forest reparation and accessing incentives

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Reforestation in water recharge zones, Esquichá Microbasin

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Under an ecosystem-based adaptation approach and a micro-basin vision, efforts in Esquichá focused on improving livelihoods and ecosystem resilience in order to reduce climate change vulnerability. Tropical storms and hurricans such as the Stand affected communities in the past (water infraestructure, erosion or loss of water springs). Applying an ecosystem approach was part of strengthening governance for climate change adaptation in the Esquichá micro-watershed.

Measures implemented are:

protection and recovery of forests in water recharge zones. E.g. protection of pine forests (Abies guatemalensis) that harbour water sources that supply populations in the lower part of the micro-basin.
Restoration of degraded lands and stabilization of slopes
Implementation and optimization of agroforestry systems.

Additionally, there was broad acceptance of the need for a more integrated approach to water resource management, partly due to the water scarcity that communities suffer during the dry season and in the upper parts of the micro-basin. The concept of environmental social responsibility was also promoted among communities, whereby upstream communities take measures that benefit downstream communities.

Climate change, and in particular the availability of water, are factors of concern to most micro-watershed stakeholders, which increases their willingness to prioritize actions that favour water recharge zones and disaster risk reduction. In Esquichá, the occurrence of extreme events in previous years had strongly impacted several communities, causing damage to both assets (crops, housing, productive infrastructure) and water resources.

In order to proof the effectiveness of implemented EbA measures contributing to the climate change resilience of communities, and thereby building confidence in the strategy adopted, the first step was to promote reforestation in the upper parts of the micro-basin (where water sources are found) or in areas affected by landslides, as well as community work around forestry nurseries. These actions helped to consolidate the concept that forest cover is a "collective insurance" in the face of climate change.
Valuing the ecosystem services of the basin helped to see adaptation as a task for all communities, a way to obtain benefits for both the Esquichá micro-basin as well as other communities located further down in the Coatán River basin.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

Comunidades con Inteligencia Natural en Esquichá, Coatán, Guatemala.

Achieving flexible governance for adaptation

Identifying and reviewing adaptation options with communities

IUCN @ Milton Navarro

Map communities in the Esquicha river basin / Mapa de comunidades presentes en la microcuenca Esquichá

IUCN

Governance options and responses for adaptation to climate change are new and must be constantly evolving; desicions and governance pklan need to be flexible; hence adaptation must move forward under a flexible approach. This is possible with the application of EbA measures with a "learning by doing" while using best available sicientific information on climate scenarios and informing policy local and national instruments.

Climate vulnerability in Esquichá was assessed using the CRiSTAL tool ( “Community-based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods.")

After a first planing of EbA activities, actions for integrating flexibility were:

The periodic evaluation of field EbA actions and the adoption of short-term decisions
Monitoring and evaluation results will be key to include important adjustments
Inclusion of EbA measures in the Microbasin Management Plan
Assessment of measures to inform the municipality Development Plan.
Informing of results to competent authorities as the municipality of the Forest Institute (INAB). This has lead INAB to seek tools to improve the way incentives are assigned and to identify communities located in key water catchment areas.

Political interest in mainstreaming EbA and water security criteria into forest incentives programs has grown.
Political interest of the municipality of Tacaná.
Tecnical capacity of the municipality of Tacaná.

The information must integrate the sciences (physical, biological, economic and social) with traditional and indigenous knowledge.
The "action learning" or “learning by doing” approach is a key part of achieving flexibility in adaptation governance. Constant improvements should always be sought and those practices, strategies and policies that contribute to increasing socio-environmental resilience should be appraised. As a result of this approach, members of the Esquichá River Microbasin Council are more aware, on the one hand, of the legal and policy frameworks that facilitate multidimensional governance and the articulation required to address climate change and, on the other, of the need to monitor and evaluate, over time, the benefits that ecosystems bring for adaptation and local livelihoods.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

Local

Subnational

Municipality of Tacaná supports EbA

"Action learning" and monitoring to increase capacities and knowledge

Delfino Roblero, youth representative, forest monitoring for pests and disease. Esquichá Microbasin (Coatán Basin)

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Sanajabá community forestry nursery, Esquichá Microbasin (Coatán Basin)

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

There is a continuous process of capacity building with local communities and institutions to identify, design and implement ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) measures, generating evidence on their benefits, and creating conditions for their sustainability.

The process includes not only theoretical workshops but also: technical assistance, field practices, exchange tours and a diploma for municipal technicians. The process is collaborative and participatory, and the experience was of great learning and empowerment for the groups involved, especially women.

Some examples of activities include:

Application of the CRiSTAL tool - "Community-based Risk Screening Tool - Adaptation and Livelihoods" with municipal and community representatives
Along with 16 communities and the Municipality of Tacaná, the forest restoration strategy was designed and implemented, supporting community nurseries
Communities are accompanied in the management of forest incentives for sanitation, reforestation and protection actions.
Local leaders are trained in methodologies to monitor the effects of forest restoration and protection of water sources on food and water security.

The Municipal Council of Tacaná provided accompaniment to the communities in the process of access to forest incentives.
IUCN had 10 years of experience in the territory and local technical staff.
There is excellent community leadership, which increases their willingness to dialogue, learning and the search for solutions.
There is an awareness of climate change, since extreme events in previous years have impacted several communities, damaging both their assets (crops, housing, productive infrastructure) and the water resource.

Having knowledge on water security and specific technical information on EbA facilitated the processes of awareness raising, participation, adoption of community agreements and implementing targeted actions, which in turn helped to avoid the dispersion of resources.
Since there is an organizational base in the communities, in the form of Communal Forestry Nursery Commissions and in some cases Community Development Councils (COCODEs), the process of "learning by doing" is greatly facilitated since, through these local platforms, it is possible to promote the exchange of experiences and knowledge, and collective learning.
Local empowerment through social participation is key to ensure the implementation and continuous improvement of a Monitoring and Evaluation system, as well as to obtain lessons learned. Communities are convened thought their leaders. This approach has greater chance to ensure sustainability in time and replicability of EbA measures.

AVE project presented on national television

Identificación de medidas de adaptación basada en ecosistemas

Implementation of scalable EbA measures to increase forest cover and water availability

Reforestation in water recharge zones, Esquichá Microbasin

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Reforestation in water recharge zones, Esquichá Microbasin

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Based on the vulnerability analysis and by common agreement, the communities prioritized several EbA measures in order to increase their resilience:

Protection and restoration of water recharge zones. Includes reforestation on municipal or communal lands with water sources; protection of community pine forests where the largest areas of natural forests (Abies guatemalensis) in good condition are found; reparation of communal forests affected by pests; and reforestation of areas without trees adjacent to natural forests. For these actions that improve connectivity and forest cover, access to forest incentives is also promoted.
Establishment (1) and strengthening (15) of community forestry nurseries, to support reforestation actions.
Agro-forestry systems and good practices: Productive systems on 16 farms are optimized and diversified, incorporating timber and fruit trees to improve soil conservation, productivity and food security.
Recovery of lands affected by landslides: Agroforestry systems as well as access to forest incentives for the recovery of areas damaged by storms are promoted.

The communities of the microbasin embraced these measures and support their implementation with important technical resources.

The Tacaná Municipal Council gave support to communities for access to forest incentives.
IUCN had 10 years of experience in the territory and local technicians.
There is excellent community leadership, which increases their willingness to dialogue, learning and the search for solutions.
There is an awareness of climate change, since extreme events in previous years have affected several communities, damaging both their assets (crops, housing, productive infrastructure) and the water resource.

Key factors for the implementation of EbA measures were: a strong organizational base, community agreements, social participation and leadership from local authorities (both indigenous and municipal).
To ensure that EbA was able to demonstrate an initial impact in communities and in this way, create confidence in the adopted strategy, the first step was to promote reforestation in the upper parts of the micro-basin (water source areas) or in areas affected by landslides, as well as community work around forestry nurseries. These actions helped to consolidate the concept that forest cover is "an insurance" in the face of climate change.
Valuing the ecosystem services of the basin helped to see adaptation as a task for all communities, in order to obtain benefits for both the Esquichá micro-basin and for other communities located further down in the Coatán River basin.

Strengthening forestry nurseries in San Marcos

Community-led management of vulture-Safe Zone

The success of the community managed vulture safe zones is because of the ownership to the local communities. When locals get ownership they feel their rights and are encouraged to invest their resources and time. The locals might take the ownership itself as a reward and their willingness to support the cause will be very high though there is less benefit compared to other thing. Apart from some technical support all the management part was taken by the local communities.

11 member Committee has been formed to manage the vulture safe zone and also a five year management plan is in place. The committee manages the overall setup of the vulture safe zone and are supported by two staff. Tourism promotion, supply of food to vulture and counting of vulture nest and vultures in feeding are the day to day operation of the vulture safe zone.

The local communities were already organised as being community forest user groups who already own the management of the community forest handed over by the government to them. Hence a small unit within the forest user groups were again organised as a vulture restaurant management committee with operational procedures in place. A small piece of land was also bought for the vulture restaurant. The management committee of the vulture restaurant also managed the local peoples' burden of keeping the unproductive old cows as killing is prohibited.

There should be a balance of ownership for regulation like in the case of the vulture safe zone the vulture restaurant management committee do not own the land but they have the full management authority so they are very aware that if they do some wrong then the regulatory body may revoke their management authority. Hence there is always a power balance in this type of situation.

Monitoring

Local

National

Sustainable and varied sources of finance to ensure continuity of initiatives

Large scale conservation and EbA projects require a long gestation period to establish institutions and practices that can create long term benefits for the landscapes and its community. Involvement of the Government agencies is thus critical in ensuring success of solutions like these. As the Government agencies ensure strong institutional capacity, continuity and source of finances to undertake conservation and developmental activities.

However, the success of the solution also lies in ensuring that the initiative receives financing from varied resources. For e.g. in this project - RBS FI and AF provided the requisite financing to support activities that are not covered by the Government funds. RBS FI and AF funds have enabled CSOs to meet their institutions costs and employ trained human resources at the grassroot levels. Involvement of CSOs facilitates convergence of project activities with Government schemes and thus ensures that funds are spent optimally.

Community contribution is also a critical source of finance, and under this solution all activities and interventions have this element. This ensures that community is invested in the project and owns up to the activities being promoted. Having a transparent and robust contribution system gives a boost to the sustainability.

Long term committment of non governmental funding agencies - in this solution RBS FI has been committing finances since 2010. This has helped the CSOs integrate their project activities with the government programmes and leverage almost 2 rupees for every rupee spent.

- Variety of financing sources to ensure Gap Funding : Grant financing available comes with certain conditions for e.g. in AF project only 9.5% of the grant can be employed as meeting management costs. To meet the deficit, a solution needs to have varied sources to fill these gaps.

- The sources of financing need to be diverse. A successful solution - large scale, replicable and sustainable needs a variety of financing sources. An ideal mix is a combination of Public, Private and Community contribution to a solution

- Non governmental funding is required to fill the gaps and ensure efficient spending of the government funds. If such sources of financing exist in the long-term, they can lead to a successful solution.

- Community contribution should be integrated into all the project activities and should form a sustainable source of financing for future developmental and conservational initiatives in the project.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Local community as a citizen scientists

One of the main building block of this solution is citizen science since the locals were themselves monitoring the vulture colony so it was very easy for them to understand the population decline of the vulture. Also carcass disposal was a burden for them. Citizen science is very useful in mobilising the group to take action in addressing the issue. Hence the same formula was also applied in our solution. The communities were very positive in setting up community managed vulture restaurant. Community managed vulture restaurant consists of a cow shed where old cows are kept till they naturally die and then fed to the vultures in an designated open space. This will let the vultures having the nesting colony there to feed on the safe diclofenac free carcass. In addition to this a bird hide and information center has been established for tourist and general public to see the vultures feeding as well as sharing knowledge on vulture crisis in the country and the conservation effort from the local communities. Communities are also benefiting from the tourism promotion.

A concept of very simple local action is the enabling factor for the success of this building block. The actions are the same things what a farmer will do in everyday life but have been successful in attracting visitors to the site thus income generation for the locals.

Institutionalisation of the group and good governance is very important to work with the local community in long run. Long term plan in documented form will be very helpful for good working partnership. Income generating activity should always be linked to involve the locals in long term conservation work.

Monitoring

Local

National

Music, Dance and Dramma

TUA one day Music Dance & Dramma competitions on Environmental Coservation

Tree Uganda Academy

The TUA MDDA leader speking to the Audience.

Tree Uganda Academy

Information on conservation and better farming methods is being disseminated through Music, Dance and Drama.

Our philosophy is that music speaks to to Soul and in doing so, attitude change will be achieved.

1. Tree Academy Groups are in place to do practice and carry out music, dance and drama competitions on conservation.

2. Access to relevant information on the cultural history of the area.

3. Availability of Music, dance and drama equipment and costumes.

1. Drama and the performing arts allow an avenue to develop cognitive abilities that complement study in other disciplines. For example, drama students learn to approach situations in an array of different manners which can help to develop creative thinking and new study techniques. Further, it builds confidence which benefits public speaking opportunities.

2. Communication between peers is accelerated as students are exposed to group activities. This experience also provides opportunity for students to display cultural leadership qualities.

3. Students gain important life skills as they learn the value of critical feedback, both positive and constructive.

4. Children have the opportunity to celebrate the richness and depth of human expression in all of its forms. Through creative expression students learn to comprehend our world better and are therefore better equipped to navigate the challenges they might be faced

5. The Arts can also be a source of solitude – a place where a child is able to shut out its surrounding and immerse itself in a creative environment.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Using Native Trees in the restoration sites

Restoration of the forest has a higher success rate if native trees are used/planted. Native tree species will allow the forest to recover and conserve natural habitat. This will optimize the supply of forest benefits and ecosystem services; reduce the risks of natural hazards such as landslides; and enhance options for sustainable livelihood.

The use of native trees for reforestation activities were adopted and promoted by the networks, champions.

Our forest lands (i.e. denuded and forested) have been reforested with non-native or introduced species such as Gmelina, Mahogany and Falcata tree species. These introduced trees species were planted because they grow faster, and could be harvested sooner than native hardwood trees. Past and present “reforestation” activities, whose intention were primarily market driven rather than conservation, have replaced the original trees and resulted to a monoculture, and decline of plant and animal diversity. Monoculture of exotic tree species is susceptible to attack of pests and diseases and may eventually wipe out the entire reforested areas.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

National

Adopt-A-Seedling (AAS) Program

The AAS Program of the Forests for Life Movement bridges the support from the corporate and individual donors to the community partners on site. AAS is being tapped by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs of the different companies, and supported by concerned individual donors and volunteers. These partners provide resources to implement the stages of forest restoration, from seedling production, site preparation, actual tree planting and the three-year maintenance and monitoring.

Awareness of the public and corporate sector on the need to contribute in the restoration of the Philippine forests and in the conservation of biodiversity.

Communication, Education and Public Awareness is crucial to get the engagement of the different sectors of the society to achieve the targets of the movement of restoring the Philippine forests and providing sustainable livelihood the local communities.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

National