Creating a strong collaborative partnership was an important success factor for this project. A management planning workshop held in July 2011 and attended by KWS scientists, planners and managers and facilitated by Parks Canada identified climate change as the most important conservation challenge facing Kenya’s national parks. Six parks heavily impacted by climate change were identified for adaptation intervention and appropriate initiatives determined for each one of them. The implementation strategy required the project to engage diverse partners drawn from the public and private sectors. Local communities, researchers, NGOs, park visitors, school groups, the tourism industry, health workers, youth and women groups associated with each park were consulted by KWS, briefed on the project’s goal of enhancing adaptation to climate change, and requested to participate in its implementation. KWS and Parks Canada provided scientific and technical support while other participants contributed professional skills, local knowledge, labor and enthusiasm. The Government of Canada provided funding through the Fast Start Climate Change Initiative.

This building block involves everything related to producing your tourism product. It is recommended that a private sector partner possessing the appropriate market focus and experience in ecotourism be selected before embarking on tourism development in order to ensure long-term sustainability. Our model suffered as a result of not having a partner from the start, putting all responsibility for marketing and tour operation on the project. Selecting and training village tourism service group members is the next important step, and should be done with involvement of community leaders, the local government tourism agency and the private sector partner. Contracts with service group members can be used to create incentives for good service and protection of wildlife. Infrastructure should be built as a community project to instill maximum ownership. A cost effective, high impact marketing tool is a ‘familiarization trip(s)’ for tour companies and journalists, in contrast to printing brochures. Word of mouth is the most important factor and is ultimately determined by a unique and well thought out product.

Invasive species in Amboseli, Tsavo and Nakuru NPs had covered large areas of wildlife habitat, displaced native biodiversity, reduced favorable forage, affected wildlife distribution and lessened visitor enjoyment. In each park, KWS staff worked with local people and other scientists to identify invasive species, their impact on wildlife, strategies for early detection, and mechanisms for control and eradication. Special focus was given to species that were growing fast, breeding profusely, dispersing widely and outgrowing native species. Areas of heavy infestation were mapped and divided into blocks to enable systematic control. Mechanical removal was preferred over chemical-based eradication to minimize risks to non-target species. KWS organized volunteer groups from local institutions and communities to mechanically uproot invasive plants from designated areas. In some cases local people were hired to work in difficult areas. The uprooted trash was either burnt in abandoned quarries or buried to prevent re-invasion. Plots were revisited for three growing seasons and regrowth removed.

The implementation process contributes to: the environmental regulation of the sub-region, reinforce the inter-institutional and community work, bringing together more than 35 participating stakeholders from various government agencies, NGOs and community organizations, in order to advocate for the well-management of hydro biological and fisheries resources, where ecosystem conservation and welfare of local communities would be beneficial.

Wildlife in Amboseli and Tsavo national parks invade community lands during drought periods in search of water while people drive their livestock into the parks in search of pasture. These inverse wildlife-livestock movements usually result in intense human wildlife conflict. The project focused on creating water reservoirs in parks and community areas that could conserve rain water for 4-6 months into the dry season, allowing wildlife and livestock to utilize different parts of the landscape over longer periods and reducing the need for wildlife and livestock to cross park boundaries. Suitable areas for capturing rain water were identified and dams and water pans were excavated. These included rehabilitating some old dams that used to be fed from streams and rivers that had dried up. In addition, important swamps that provide water to wildlife and communities throughout the year were identified and fenced off to reduce degradation due to overuse. Water was pumped into water troughs constructed outside the fence to ensure sustained supply to people, livestock and wildlife. Trees were planted along the swamps to reduce soil erosion.

Due to the multiple threats to the integrity of the ecosystems that are shared between Guatemala and Mexico, directors and rangers of the institutions responsible for the administration, management and protection of the respective protected areas decide to carry out exchanges. These exchanges serve to define activities that contribute to reducing existing threats. As a result of the exchanges, the implementation of binational management and conservation strategies are continuously defined in a strategic plan for control and collaborative monitoring, aimed at, among others, minimizing the illegal trafficking of flora, fauna and archaeological remnants.

As people cannot adapt to climate change without first having the capacity to do so, the project aimed at equipping a broad range of partners with knowledge and skills necessary for effective implementation of adaptation actions. The main target groups comprised KWS staff and local communities. Specific areas of training included methods and techniques of ecological restoration, management of modern tree nurseries, including seedling production and propagation. Others were reforestation techniques, invasive species identification, control and management, water quality and quantity monitoring, and fence maintenance. Training was provided at individual, institutional and community levels and was done either through formal institutions or on-the-job training. The Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) provided specialized training to KWS and community groups in establishment and management of tree nurseries, reforestation, and invasive species management. Most volunteer groups received on-the-ground training from KWS staff and other relevant professionals and technicians

During the aforementioned exchanges, park rangers identify, review and analyze the major shared threats, the local communities involved in illegal activities and the need to strengthen local capacities. Based on this an Annual Operative Plan (AOP) is developed and a regular review process is carried out concerning the progress of the implementation of the AOP. This review is conducted jointly by the managers of the border area institutions in order to mitigate threats, identify shared tasks and promote synergies between the institutions. The review of the Annual Operative Plan serves the staff to keep on track regarding the implementation and allows for the plan’s adaptation to changing conditions if necessary.

Growing a sustainable economy and establishing a solid social foundation are primary objectives for South Africa. It is thus paramount that land is wisely and efficiently allocated to competing land-uses and that only priority biodiversity areas are set aside for conservation. Systematic biodiversity planning is the manner in which these priority biodiversity areas are identified. The technique identifies the least amount of land possible, which has to be safeguarded, in order to meet a set of pre-defined biodiversity targets. Where possible, it aims to achieve this through minimizing conflict with competing land-uses. The biodiversity targets include both pattern (e.g. ecosystem types and point locations of rare or endangered species) and process (e.g. coastal processes or edaphic interfaces) targets. The resultant map of priority biodiversity areas represents a crucial climate change adaptation strategy for the province as it a) favours the protection of cooler south-facing slopes to warmer north-facing slopes; b) buffers aquatic and coastal ecosystems; and c) allows for the migration of species to cooler areas through landscape linkages.

To raise capacity within the protected areas and foster exchange, a series of area specific capacity development initiatives are carried out. As such rangers participate in training workshops concerning integrated fire management within transboundary protected areas. The Fire Brigade Commissaries from communities near the protected area are invited to participate in order to learn about the issue from an international perspective, raise their awareness and ensure their active participation in solving and mitigating threats of forest fires. A biological monitoring workshop to standardize the record keeping of wildlife and species specific threats is also carried out. Additionally, exchanges of experience in joint patrols to detect illegal activities and exchange information on observations of wildlife are conducted.