The NEPL NP ecotourism program directly and indirectly creates skills and capacity building opportunities and awareness raising for the following groups: (1) NEPL NP ecotourism team itself (2) Ecotourism communities and service providers (3) Visitors, TOs and the government counterparts.

When NEPL NP program began in 2010, tourism was almost non-existing in the region. By offering an opportunity to learn to the locals and recruiting tourism consultants to support, the NEPL NP ecotourism staff now has grown into some of the most experienced ecotourism professionals in the country. Most of these staff come from the NEPL NP villages and are from a former hunter households or even used to be hunters themselves. By working with the NEPL NP, staff have learned about the importance of conservation and today are well acknowledged ecotourism officers and conservation advocates. Some of the NEPL NP’s ecotourism staff have raised up to key NEPL NP management and advisory positions.

The NEPL NP ecotourism team now creates and coordinates ecotourism training opportunities and outreach campaigns. In addition, NEPL NP ecotourism program has a non-negligible awareness raising power that benefits all visitors as well as TOs and the government counterparts.

The project increases the generation of ecosystem goods and services and promotes the establishment of commercially viable natural resource-based businesses managed by local communities. To establish such businesses, the project conducted a baseline study including an assignment on the Economics and Market Analysis for establishing financially viable natural resource-based businesses in the Gambia. The report proposed 7 potential business portfolios and defined the financial implications of these natural resource-based businesses for the contributions to the National Forest Fund (NFF) through a detailed discounted cash flow analysis. One such activity to facilitate the establishment of these businesses was the introduction of bee-fodder tree species to support bee farming in the community-owned forests and community-protected areas (CPAs).

The project also facilitated the integration of the EbA approach and natural resource-based businesses into existing government plans and activities and demonstrated and quantified their commercial viability to promote further investment by the government and the private sector beyond the project implementation period.

Based on the results of baseline studies that determined climatic risks, different ecosystem-based adaptation and mitigation measures were identified and individual farmers and community-based organizations were incentivized to lead the various activities through diverse training (led by World Agroforestry (ICRAF)); including:

1. The establishment of a two-meter-wide fire belt around all preferred mother trees, large trees within a forest that act as centralized hubs, supporting communication and nutrient exchange amongst trees.
2. Farmer-managed tree growing approach, named Zai Pits, half-moon planting pits, which farmers create in the hardpan soil using hand tools or plows and animals. These act as micro-water catchments, holding about four times the amount of water that normally runs off the land but also compost, thereby increasing production.
3. Adding water-buffering vegetation around the runoff water collection reservoir to reduce wind flow over the reservoir and thus reduce evaporation from the system. The system also facilitates reduction in runoff and enhances groundwater recharge through infiltration.
4. Rainwater harvesting, storage, and distribution techniques were implemented to support the restoration efforts and overcome the shortage in water resources due to extreme weather conditions and low rainfall.

To support policymakers and practitioners in integrating CCA and EbA into planning and implementation processes, we are developing a series of guidance products which includes:

• a ‘River Basin Master Plan Process Toolbox’ which is a compilation of relevant concepts and tools to help run and facilitate effective and participatory processes, for example in meetings and workshops, for RBMP development and project planning in the context of climate-sensitive IWRM and EbA in river basins.
• an ‘EbA Guidebook’ which will be a guiding material for training Thai professionals in the water and other related sectors on Ecosystem-based Adaptation. In developing this guidebook, a series of workshops and on-the-job trainings are organized to ensure that practitioners are familiar with the concepts and able to integrate EbA into planning and management processes in river basins.
• an ‘EbA Code of Practice’ (EbA CoP) which is being developed in parallel to the Guidebook, is an essential part to support the implementation of EbA solutions on the ground. It offers blueprints of different EbA options and provides technical guidance on aspects such as design principles and cost-benefit analyses to practitioners and engineers in the Thai water sector.

To foster multi-level and cross-sectoral collaborations and create ownership in river basin management, an inclusive and multi-stakeholder approach was fostered to effectively address water-related climate risks on the ground. This includes working closely with public agencies across sectors at both national and sub-national levels, experts, and local water users.

These relevant agencies include, for example, the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR), the Royal Irrigation Department (RID), Department of Water Resources (DWR), Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning (DPT), and Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM).

The Capacity Development Programme is a good opportunity and platform for government officers, water users, and local communities to contribute to the development of climate-sensitive water management at the river basin scale. With this training course, participants are able to understand and apply relevant tools for climate-resilient and sustainable water resources management that respond to the needs of local people in the context of climate change.

In addition, there is ongoing cooperation with universities and international experts that feeds up-to-date research and international best practices into the work on EbA in Thailand.