To obtain a concession, »ancestral users« are required to organise into an association. The association then applies to the government for the special status by submitting names of association officers; a member list; an association agreement; maps of the area; and a management plan detailing the sustainable use of mangrove resources.

Through community-based activities the importance of traditional knowledge for increasing people resilience to climate change is demonstrated. 6 villages were involved from the start of the project, and the villagers given the opportunity to share their views throughout the project’s implementation. This includes: (1) Organizing a Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment workshop for defining the main climate-related threats that the communities are facing (drought, floods, salt intrusion) as well as local techniques (anti-salt bund and Assisted Natural Regeneration - ANR) that can be implemented for responding to these challenges. (2) This forms the basis for defining the field activities in each village. (3) Village committees are created to coordinate the implementation and act as advisory boards. (4) Regular monitoring missions are undertaken to follow up on field work. (5) Annual meetings are organized in each village for assessing the results from activities and planning the next steps.

Rare’s Pride Program training is a two-year process through which local conservation leaders receive formal university training, followed by periods of field-based formative research and results analyses. Participants learn how to change attitudes and behaviors, mobilize support for environmental protection, and reduce threats to natural resources. Rare’s local partners not only receive classroom training, but also implement an entire social marketing campaign in their communities, designed around a specific conservation goal. Participants in the program receive a toolkit for community outreach: Training 1 provides trainees with basic community engagement tools, so that they can start embedding themselves in the target audience and earn their trust. Training 2 takes place after a period of 1-2 months of field embedding, and teaches research techniques for qualitative and quantitative formative research. Training 3 takes place after 2-3 months of data collection and information gathering, to analyze data collected and design the Pride Campaign. Training 4 takes place upon campaign conclusion, to evaluate results and produce final report.

- Local community engagement in the park’s decision-making and management has been revitalized, based on experiences from Madagascar, which permit ongoing and active participation of community members in implementation, with involvement and buy-in to projects developed to support management activities. The regular dialogue between protected area and village representatives provides information on the activities of the protected area; allows for presentations of results from research; and raises issues and challenges that need a management response. In parallel, the park acts as an intermediary with donors to facilitate the financing of activities and amenities in the villages.

EPIC activities are conducted in collaboration with stakeholders -from local to national level- to provide opportunities for capacity building in parallel to project implementation. Capacity building activities serve 2 purposes: 1) they allow the communities to be trained to use the local techniques again and 2) they help raise awareness and strengthen knowledge of partners and local governments on ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change more broadly. The creation of a capacity building plan for communities/stakeholders is key. It provides them with an effective, realistic and operational planning tool for trainings. The content of the training plan are evaluated and adjusted annually. The trainings undertaken so far include: 1) Training modules for villagers on (i) ANR, (ii) management of tree nurseries and (iii) salted land recovery techniques (in partnerships with scientists). After the trainings, practical sessions are organized to ensure that communities took ownership of these techniques. 2) Trainings for local governments (municipality and department levels) and stakeholders on ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction

Educating everyone from the local people neighbouring the reserve to the politicians was the most valuable component of the project. The concept of conservation and the protection of wildlife and our natural environment were completely foreign to them until they had the opportunity to experience it for themselves.

Any effective ecosystem-based strategies and implementation activities, need a strong documentation process and field monitoring activities in the field. Collating data from the field is key for 1) documenting the factors of success and failure of the techniques, and 2) for demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of ecosystem-based approaches. Such science-based evidences are necessary for making the case for nature based solutions to climate change adaptation. As part of EPIC, the following research activities have been undertaken so far: - Ecosystems and vegetation mapping and study of soil characteristics in the district of Djilor (in partnership with Cheikh Anta Diop University) - Development of training modules on ANR and other local adaptation techniques (in partnership with the National Forestry Research Centre and the Institute of Environmental Sciences) - Mapping of agricultural techniques for climate change adaptation and study of the impacts of disaster risk on local livelihood in the Foundiougne region (in partnership with a French school of engineers, ISTOM)

- Institutional support to producers in organizing themselves, to better engage with the local and regional markets and implement a more uniform plan and approach; reduce market competition and provide more inclusive access to production activities. - Promotion of more sustainable agricultural potential products, such as Ylang-Ylang used for perfume production, using more efficient, sustainable and resource-efficient technologies. For example, using copper stills and providing better distillation techniques that allow growers to also enter the production chain and command a better price for a better quality product. Agro-forestry techniques reduce the amount of primary fuelwood needed for the stills, and reduce impacts on the watersheds for the island. - Developing market-gardens and vegetable production to supply tourist facilities, such as hotels, restaurants, yachts within Comoros.

Multi-stakeholder Dialogue (MSD) platforms are created, comprised of government representatives, NGOs, civil society involved in the project. The platforms consist of management committees set up in each village and at provincial level, to monitor the project’s activities and inform its management. The committees provide support for the daily implementation of the activities as well as for strategic engagement with other institutions. Advocacy material for policy makers is also produced. The engagement at national, regional and global levels is crucial, to ensure that knowledge is transferred, and that policy makers become advocates/implementers of the key lessons learned from the project. Strategic engagements at national, regional and global levels included so far: - A national inception workshop of the project - A national forum with the Directorate of Civil protection on ecosystems-based risk management - Presentation of the project at regional forums and meetings (regional conservation forum, regional consultations for the WCDRR) - Showcasing the project in publications or case studies for global events (UNFCCC COP 21)

The national authority begins the process to create a protected area management committee by inviting interested local stakeholders. Members are registered, and a council and a President are elected by the General Assembly. The management committee itself becomes a space for dialogue and allows issues to be discussed before tensions turn into conflicts. It also facilitates support from local stakeholders to the protected area management authority to carry out specific activities. The Fishermen’s Association and collectives are also members of the management committee and are active in the general assembly. A representative from the Fishermen’s Association was elected as President of the Management Committee, legitimizing the association as one of the most powerful and relevant actors in the protected area. This made communications between fishermen and government authorities more fluid and management decisions are made based on formal processes.