Bottom Up - Grassroot initiative
Local stakeholders learn to become environmental leaders. They learn about their water reality. When people understand the local problems and their community's responsibility, they can meet and engage with similar groups of stakeholders from other communities across the conflict. The common ground for these cross conflict meetings is the safeguard of the shared watershed and the communities engage in productive meetings to identify solutions. Together they identify projects that speak to the self-interest of both sides. Through this process, the communities gain the capacity to advance solutions even within a turbulent political environment. In most cases, the combination of a strong youth program and outspoken adult leadership creates the political will of mayors and other municipal leaders to get involved.
The local community's leadership needs a respected leader from the local community to provide the best leadership. It is important that a regional project manager with strong project experience mentors the local leader.
Local leadership from the local community is especially important in a conflict situation to secure the trust that the leader acts in the community’s self-interest. Walks in the nature and along shared water bodies provide the best opportunity for communities to understand their water reality. Only when people understand the local problems and their community's responsibility, they can meet other communities. Community members voice an appreciation and need for an organization as EcoPeace to facilitate cross border meetings to ensure that the meetings provide a “safe-place” for the local communities to discuss issues effecting cross-border and neighbor communities. Participants were free to talk about their realities while using constructive means to seek solutions. Meetings and collaboration on environmental issues delivers a capacity to create and sustain strong networks of cross-border communication with long-term impact beyond the cross-border initiative.
Top Down - National and International initiative
Top-Down is the process to create broader political awareness of the issue. It includes advocacy for national and international support. Commonly a concept paper that explains the problem initiates this process with further research to support and document the issues. It is important to appeal to the news media, as their attention is necessary to heighten the political awareness of the issues and to convey the information to the public, resulting in the creation of a broader public demand for action. Media attention mobilizes national and international engagement and can foster domestic and international resource mobilization. In our experience, public opinion plays a decisive role in dictating the political agenda to local leaders as well as national decision makers.
Strong community engagement and public initiatives create the demand for political action. It is important to create an environment in which it is politically safe to discuss the solutions, if the solutions are truly in the national self-interests then politicians will more easily embrace the change and even lead it. Good relations to media and the international community can facilitate government involvement.
In an unsteady political landscape, environmental issues are held hostage, used as pawns in the overarching political conflict and within the framework of the official peace process. In order for the initiatives to produce a real change, a careful balance must be maintained: to achieve the explicit approval of officials without losing momentum to the tedium of politics.
Numeric modelling of hydro- and sediment-dynamics
In order to support decision makers for planning and prioritizing coastal protection measures based on latest evidence, several methods were developed and tested. Along 400 km shores at the coast of the Mekong Delta, ‘coastal numerical modelling’ and some recent investigations on currents, waves and tides have shown where breakwater fences are an appropriate solution to halt erosion and where other solutions are needed. The ‘video shoreline assessment’ is an in-expensive method to gather up-to-date information on threatening erosion hot spots and shoreline condition. With this tool, more than 470 km of coast in Kien Giang and Ca Mau have been classified as stable or in different stages of erosion. ‘Historical mapping’ looks back into the course of the shoreline about 130 years ago and was piloted in Soc Trang. This tool helps decision makers to understand the natural dynamics of the coastline and its dramatic retreat during this period. The ‘sea-dyke quick scan assessment’ is supporting the authorities in provinces and national ministries to prioritize sea-dyke construction in a resourceful and sustainable way. The results of these decision support tools are an the pre-condition for the planning of the coastal protection system.
1) Inclusion of a benefit sharing scheme: clam cooperatives pay co-management groups (local population) to ensure a well-maintained and protected mangrove forest. 2) Education and training to communicate knowledge on greater environmental processes.
While the programme has developed a number of effective solutions in Phase I, it has become apparent that these solutions can only be implemented at a broad scale when they are part of the Vietnamese government system. So far, many of the solutions could be applied in the framework of a development programme, because current rules for Vietnamese authorities do not always allow such measures – for instance regarding mangrove rehabilitation, where current cost-norms force foresters to plant the cheapest mangrove varieties which are often not suitable for the areas they are planted in. This is why the programme worked closely with the Vietnamese authorities and relevant research institution to ensure that the solutions developed by the programme are now included in government regulations and are applied by government authorities also independent of our programme.
Policy dialogue to develop governance arrangements for improved coastal zone management
Key impediments to sustainable lowland development are the lack of integration of coastal zone management policies and approaches, and limited translation into practice and limited community engagement during design and implementation of plans. The Indonesian government has embarked on various integrated master planning processes and established taskforces and working groups to address these challenges. A large proportion of the solution is dedicated to supporting this policy dialogue process, creating an enabling environment. At community level, project partners have been invited by the target communities to facilitate the development of 10 year village development plans and regulations that guide resources management. These will define ambitions for sustainable aquaculture and coastal security. Community-village plans will contribute to implementation of the provincial master plan, addressing community priorities and needs. This alignment greatly increases community ownership with regards to decision making and engagement in implementation of development plans. After the project, representatives of all 10 target communities will have actively become involved in government-led planning.
-Close collaboration with government partners and other players at different policy levels -A thorough policy analysis on where and how to embed measures in national and subnational policies and budgets e.g. (spatial) development plans, master plans, coastal zonation plans, mangrove strategies, greenbelt and forest legislation, NDC, NAP, DRR (Sendai Framework) and SDG Community plans: We will facilitate village planning discussions in 9 villages about problems, root causes and solutions.
Tangible results: –Master plan for sustainable development of Demak district - including Building with Nature Indonesia measures - developed with and endorsed by Taskforce Integrated Coastal Zone Management led by planning agency of Central Java and involving all relevant stakeholders. –Master plan and Building with Nature approach embedded in Central Java Provincial policies (spatial plan and mid-term development plan 2019-2024 and provincial mangrove strategy). Village development plans and regulations on land use rights, protected areas and coastal zone management developed and adopted by 10 communities and formalised with local government.
Ecoranger programme and DEA land user incentive programme
The DEA NRM land user incentive programme, along with co finance from CSA donors, allows CSA to fund alien clearing in priority catchments. Eco rangers then employed to work with farmers, on rotation grazing, they control grazing of livestock and ensure rotational grazing is enforced. They keep areas alien free, they help protect cattle through mobile kraaling and also gather data on cattle and biodiversity and monitor veld condition and determine when an area needs to be closed from grazing. They also ensure compliance with rested areas and report those not compliant. They also ensure protection of biodiversity against poaching. Also ecorangers play a crucial role in ensuring that alien invasive plants do not come back and are responsible for pulling out seedlings that grow back. It is their responsibility as well to rehabilitate degraded areas where erosion dongas are beginning to appear. Incentives for land owners include not only ecorangers but also vaccinations and access to markets through auctions. Springs and streams that have dried started flowing again after these approaches have been implemented.
•Traditional leadership as well municipality played a crucial role during implementation, without their support this would not have been successful •A process of community mobilization around the importance of sustainable land management and catchment management •Funding from DEA NRM for wattle clearing allowed rangelands to be made available •Funding by DEA NRM and donor funding for rangelands management by ecorangers ensured non return of wattle as well as ensuring sustainable and product
•Livestock condition improves within one year of this approach. •Market access for rural communities makes a huge difference to livelihoods and their engagement in the programme. •Wattle cleared areas have to be constantly monitored to ensure regrowth is combated. •Community engagement has to be ongoing. •Financial resources are very critical for the implementation of this EbA initiative due to poverty levels in these communities. •Implementation work should be based on indigenus knowledge systems (assisted in the design of the rotational grazing patterns) •The focus on rangelands for the benefit of rural livestock was critical. •Improving benefit of broader community through redmeat market access was key in order to get buyin from the broader community.
Vulnerability assessments and EbA priority maps integrated into local policy and planning that include an index for monitoring
CSA used the Lets Respond Toolkit and a facilitation resource they have developed to assist with the implementation of the toolkit in order to assist the Alfred Nzo District Municipality in mainstreaming climate change into their district and support the development of an enabling environment for EbA. CSA developed a Vulnerability assessment with the Alfred Nzo District Municipality which included ecological, social and institutional vulnerability to climate change. In the process the layers of vulnerability were translated into GIS and an overarching EbA priority map was developed which guides decision-making within the district. The VA also contains an index which is used to monitor the vulnerability over time. CSA then also assisted the ANDM to develop a Climate Change Response Strategy guided by the VA and the maps in order to develop key adaptation (and mitigation) priorities of which EbA was part. It was critical to then integrate this plan within ANDM and the use of the ANDM climate change committee was integral to this as well as for the monitoring of vulnerability.
Traditional leadership and municipality for planning; existent community of practice around NGO and restoration/conservation work at a catchment level such as the UCP-Programme: district level climate change committee which can assist in mainstreaming climate Change; National level 'Lets respond toolkit' for mainstreaming climate change at LG level support by by SA Local government association; tools and expertise to do VA, GIS EbA maps/ develop an index for monitoring
Lessons from working with lets respond and mainstreaming into local policy and planning: •Raising awareness about climate change and its likely impacts amongst local government decision-makers is really important – so they can see the relevance for their service delivery. It is difficult to address the unknown and usually much easier to address immediate needs and concerns (basic services), so linking climate change to existing activities, priorities, and budgets, and looking at what climate impacts might mean for these things, is really important and really possible. Another thing that helps is linking climate change to areas of responsibility in municipal planning and implementation that are already well understood. We need to mainstream climate change in a very strategic and targeted way into the key planning documents and management tools of the municipality, such as the IDP, and the various sector master plans.
National Climate change response policy enables local level implementation
Conservation SA has been actively involved in the development of national level vulnerability assessments and policy development related to climate change, this has enabled CSA to share lessons from their participatory processes with communities and from implementation at demonstration sites into national planning. This also guides the support we provide local government around mainstreaming of climate change. Through this national level policy development, we have seen how this policy can be an enabler for action on the ground and supports the Local Government to implement EbA.
National level government willingness to learn from, engage with NGO sector and share lessons National level stakeholder processes for policy development are adequate to allow for significant inputs from the local level to be provided •Relationships between national government and NGO require trust and partnership building over time, where NGO can be seen as a trusted advisor
Lessons from National policy: •It is critical that national and local policy are aligned and that bottom up approaches allow for lessons from local communities and local government to guide the development of national policy which CSA (and other NGOs) are able to support. •Providing platforms where communities and local government and national government can learn and share is critical •National policy provides the mandate in which local government can work which enables us to be able to support implementation of EbA at a Local government level, although this mandate needs to be strengthened and resources provided to support it.
Prioritizing EbA measures by combining empirical data with participatory planning
Given the existing general orientation provided by the Plan 4C, one crucial task has been to identify and prioritize key EbA measures. This planning process involved approx. 40 institutions from Cartagena and the national level. During an expert workshop, the following 4-step approach was applied. Step 1: Identification of priority ecosystems and ecosystem services Step 2: Identification of major climate threats Step 3: Assessment of exposure and localization of priority threats Step 4: Prioritization of measures considering social, environmental and econimic criteria The methodology was based on a combination of tested methods for the identification of adaptation needs and options (Adaptive MAnagement of vulnerability and RISk at COnservation sites - MARISCO) and a multi-criteria analysis to identify priority measures (Prioritization tool for selecting adapation measures, Government of Mexico, supported by GIZ). A study on the biotic characteristics of the pilot area helped to underpin the outcome of the participatory planning and provided valuable recommendations for the implementation.
*High interest to participate and contribute to the process on the part of all institutions. *Proven methods and tools that only had to be adapted to the specific needs. *Participatory simple methodology that engages workshop participants.
*The participatory planning process was a success factor in terms of ownership. The Plan 4C was an important and helpful framework that guided the process and committed stakeholders to act. *Different perspectives and expectations need to be dealt with and a participatory methodology was helpful to get different points of view across and reach consensus.
Socio-economic measures to promote sustainable land-use
This building block includes development and introduction of sustainable aquaculture and livelihoods diversification (seaweed cultivation, crab & shrimp farming). –10 community groups are supported through farmer field schools and by providing resources to initiate new aquaculture management practices and livelihood diversification. –these improved practices will directly revitalize 300 ha of land for 300 households (based on a conservative estimate of 1 ha per household), increasing average aquaculture productivity with 50%, by adjusting pond lay-out and management, by reducing fertilizer and pesticide inputs, by making optimal use of mangrove services like water purification and by diversifying livelihoods activities. Based on experiences in Indonesia and Vietnam, income derived from the ponds is expected to have risen to 5000 EUR ha by year 5. –community funds will be established that: i) absorb savings from increased pond productivity (5%) in support of long-term coastal belt maintenance and up-scaling of sustainable land-use management measures beyond the project lifetime; ii) can absorb government support to local communities for coastal protection and sustainable land-use.
Communities have full ownership over enhanced aquaculture production systems and the hardware that will be put in place during and after the project. The reclaimed land will be managed as community-based protected areas (as agreed between communities and the local government), with opportunities for sustainable use of natural resources. The reclaimed mangrove belt will be formally owned by the government as per Indonesian law.
to be added later
Vulnerability analysis and identification of EbA measures

The vulnerability assessment approach allows to find the biggest problems in river basins. For this assessment the approach was based on GIWA (Global International Water Assessment Methodology) & HSAP (Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol) and follows a 6 step approach including the following: 1) geographical scaling (mapping of hot spots) defines the geographic boundaries of the pilot areas to be analysed; sub-regions are identified within each project area and major hydro system features and economic activities are mapped out; 2) scoping by assessing environmental and socio-economic impacts and establishing priorities among the major concerns and issues as well as tracing the root causative factors behind the selected concerns and issues; 3) data collection; 4) modeling for verification and quantification of root-cause relationships with either physically deterministic or conceptual models covering a) hydrologic modeling with TalsimNG software, b) erosion and sedimentation modeling with Modified Uniform Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE), c) water quality modeling with GISMO software; 5) assessment to identify risks and uncertainties and to prioritize vulnerabilities; 6) Identification and ranking of potential EbA measures.

Available datasets (e.g. GIS) on digital elevation models and time series for water discharge, precipitation, temperature, humidity, evapotranspiration. Cooperation of local stakeholders to ensure that they are part of the decisions making processes and that their prioritized problems are tackled.

- Different data, discharge, evaporation, humidity, temperature, etc., is owned by different institutions. Some of them do not share their data as they consider it a loss of power. This needs to be considered as early as possible. The project used drones for collect additional data on the river discharge. - Datasets were partly incomplete. The missing information does not allow to analyze and quantify certain effects, therefore the results of the assessments still include uncertainties.