At the start of the BKP Project, 13 biodiversity conservation and natural resource management projects implemented in the mountain valleys of Northern Pakistan were analysed for their lessons and best practices. Successful practices included: developing biodiversity strategies and action plans at the sub-national level, raising private forest and fruit nurseries, joint forest management, sport hunting, district coordination mechanisms, resource conservation plans, extension cadres for livestock and agriculture, students’ engagement, village conservation funds, community exchanges, land development infrastructure (irrigation channels, protective walls), and collection and post-harvest processing of medicinal and aromatic plant species. The results were documented in a detailed report.

This analysis and recommendations took place as a new management plan was being developed, so the recommendations had the ability to be directly inserted into the new plan.

The institutional integration of climate change related risks and opportunities is a significant step in order to strengthen the legitimacy of any action and allows economic and human resources to be allocated to the subject and related activities. Water availability was addressed as a current (political) issue and connecting element, establishing links to other topics such as agriculture, health, biodiversity and stakeholders engagement. Climate change was introduced in development planning as a cross-cutting issue, rather than a separate topic. A systematic approach for integrating climate change risks and opportunities in combination with capacity development measures helped to minimise the additional challenge for development planners at the practical level.

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.

There are two approaches that have been used for mangrove ecosystem restoration worldwide. The artificial regeneration or planting approach that has been used extensively and the other approach that has been used more recently is the natural regeneration or the Ecological Mangrove Restoration (EMR) approach (http://www.mangroverestoration.com/pdfs/CBEMR-Infosheet-URLs.pdf). Guyana has adopted EMR principles to design and implement its mangrove restoration program. EMR principles purports five critical steps that are necessary to achieve successful mangrove restoration, the sixth step (seedling planting) is only recommended as a last option. Following the guiding principles of EMR, seedling planting was only used to increase recovery time of a site that met the necessary criteria, particularly elevation, to support mangrove restoration. At sites that did not meet restoration criteria, the project implemented sediment traps to aid accretion and planted Spartina grass to support soil consolidation.

Barrier Islands have long been reported to provide disaster risk reduction from storm surge. Modelling shows that barrier islands contribute to storm surge attenuation, but do not remove it completely. Benefits include annual hurricane and storm damage risk reduction to the mainland, annual recreation benefits, and annual fishery losses avoided. By replacing sand back into the littoral zone, there is a long-term contribution to the sediment budget of the islands and an opportunity for island chains to replace lost sands from one place to provide growth in others. Sands are either barged in from other locations, or dredged from nearby sources, then pumped into degraded area in stages, which allows for some natural settling to occur.

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.

Given the history of the Ruhr region, the Heerener Mühlbach was a canalised water body used as an open wastewater system. Conducting a mixture of waste and storm water in a straight concrete bed, the water body got classified as heavily modified according to the EU Water Framework Directive and required that a number of problems be resolved. Discharges of wastewater in the stream derogated the ecosystem tremendously and the concrete bed of the water body and the specific management of the banks harmed biodiversity. Another problem was the dangerous shape of the canal which prohibited the recreational use of the water body. And finally, bad smell regularly disturbed the neighbourhood. As a first essential step towards ecologic enhancement, a sewer pipe was placed underground along the river. The concrete bed was then removed (apart from few exceptions, e.g. under bridges), which led the river to flow on a new sole that was higher and wider than before and meander where possible. The hard banks were converted into nature-like banks. The initial plantation is complemented by wild and natural vegetation: green plants have the chance to flourish along the blue water body.

CONANP has supported a new women’s cooperative (“las orchidias”) aimed at providing additional and innovative, non-capital intensive, eco-touristic services, and thus delivering additional sources of income to climate-change threatened lobster fishing families. Examples include: bicycle and kayak tours, and environmental interpretation routes. CONANP has provided support in the form of : a) Training for multiple actors b) Financing, c) Certification of activities and services d) Organizing women’s peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and mentoring The additional co-benefits of this approach have been to increase the confidence and self-esteem of local housewives, and to raise their position in the eyes of their families, as well as to provide a new potential organized group as a platform for future activities.

Vulnerability assessments are key for identifying drivers of climate change induced vulnerability. Following IPCC’s AR4 terminology, vulnerability assessments explore exposure to climate change, drivers for sensitivity and current adaptation capacity. By assessing the causes of vulnerability, decision makers are able to identify potential adaptation measures that may contribute to reduce this vulnerability.

 

Given the limited availability of sound quantitative data on climate change impacts, the focus was placed on a participatory process and the use of qualitative data. Basically, the vulnerability assessment was performed in two workshops (one for the entire municipality, another one for an especially vulnerable district) and focused on previously identified key systems of interest.

 

The combination of Metaplan and other participatory methods during the workshops helped to engage stakeholders and to mobilize their knowledge. As one of the key outcomes, an impact model that visualizes drivers of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, served to identify (ecosystem-based) adaptation measures to be considered in the Duque de Caxias city master plan.