Strengthening capacities and reducing risks to stimulate a process of long term adaptation

inecc.gob.mx
Publicado: 21 Junio 2019
Última edición: 21 Mayo 2021
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Summary

The National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) has put in place a participatory, inclusive process of creating awareness about socio-enviornmental problems as well as strengthening capacities and reducing vulnerabilities (e.g. damaged property during floodings, water-born diseases, loss of ecosystem services) in three communities of the Carmen-Pajonal- Machona Lagoon System (SLCPM, using its Spanish acronym). Thereby, the institute has managed to establish the foundations for a local process of long-term adaptation. This process includes the development of a social enterprise offering rainwater capture and water purification; community-led reforestation activities; and the construction of infrastructure (“palafitos” - houses on stilts) designed to reduce risks to property in time of flooding.

Clasificaciones

Region
América del Norte
Scale of implementation
Local
Ecosystem
Ecosistemas de agua dulce
Ecosistemas marinos y costeros
Humedales (pantano, turberas)
Manglares
Piscina, lago, estanque
Theme
Acceso y participación en los beneficios
Actores locales
Adaptación al cambio climático
Fragmentación del hábitat y degradación
Incorporación de la perspectiva de género
Mitigación del cambio climático
Reducción de desastres
Restauracion
Salud y bienestar humano
Servicios ecosistémicos
Challenges
Lluvia errática
Calor extremo
Inundaciones
Degradación de tierras y bosques
Salinización
Aumento del nivel del mar
Mareas altas (tormentas)
Pérdida de ecosistemas
Contaminación (incluida la eutrofización y la basura)
Cosecha insostenible, incluida la sobrepesca
Falta de acceso a financiación a largo plazo
Falta de oportunidades de ingresos alternativos
Cambios en el contexto socio-cultural
Falta de capacidad técnica
Deficiente gobernanza y participación
Conflicto social y disturbios civiles
Desempleo / pobreza
Sustainable development goals
ODS 5 - Igualidad de género
ODS 6 - Agua limpia y saneamiento
ODS 13 - Acción por el clima
ODS 15 - Vida de ecosistemas terrestres
ODS 17 - Alianzas para lograr los objetivos
Aichi targets
Meta 1: Aumento de la sensibilization sobre la biodiversidad
Meta 10: Ecosistemas vulnerables al cambio
Meta 14: Los servicios ecosistemicos
Meta 19: Intercambio de información y conocimiento
Marco de Sendai
Meta 2: Reducir el número de personas afectadas a nivel global para 2030
Meta 4: Reducir los daños de desastres a la infraestructura crítica y los trastornos a los servicios básicos como las instalaciones educativas y de salud, incluyendo el desarrollo de su resiliencia para 2030.
Meta 7: Incrementar la disponibilidad de, y el acceso a un sistema de alerta temprana para múltiples peligros y a información y evaluaciones sobre riesgos de desastre para la población al 2030.

Ubicación

Tabasco, Golfo de México, México

Challenges

  • Hurricanes and storms not only spread pollution emanating from agro-industrial and petroleum industries, they cause salinization of soils and freshwater, and reduction in fish stocks;
  • Social fabric has been damaged due to political and / or religious differences;
  • There is no organization, private or public, that works continuously in supporting the communities;
  • The zone is remote and insecure.

Beneficiaries

200 people have received project per diems in return for work on adaptation activities; women´s groups have won recognition from their communities. Almost 800 people and a local school have benefited from rainwater capture and purification system.

¿ Cómo interactúan los building blocks en la solución?

Building block one, incentivizing communities´participation, focused on attracting people´s attention and raising their awareness, which were both essential to engage them in the activities of building blocks two (mangrove reforestation), three (women as agents of change) and four (risk management). Building block three provided a space for women to share their particular needs and vulnerabilities. It also strengthened their self-image which, in turn, led to a stronger participation in the activities of the other building blocks. Building block five consists of various forms of institutional and organizational support all along the first four building blocks and their on the ground activities.

Impacts

Local communities have benefited from mentoring for almost 3 years, provided by NGOs and the local government under the auspices of INECC. This has developed capacities in the following areas:

  • improved abilities to identify threats, the latter´s origins and solutions;
  • organizational capacity to support the reduction of risks, such as from diseases related to the consumption of contaminated water, as well as from flooding;
  • Technical capacities related to the establishment of various eco-technologies such as rainwater capture systems; plant nurseries; and mangrove reforestation.

Women´s groups have benefited particularly from having increased their self-confidence which has allowed them to create governance systems that have strengthened social cohesion in the area. The groups have also initiated changes that require a high level of organization such as the opening of new pathways for the commercialization of ecosystem services for social benefit.

Story

inecc.gob.mx

The Carmen-Pajonal- Machona Lagoon System in Tabasco, Mexico, is a highly productive zone which has been adversely affected by infrastructure works that have led to salinization of water bodies and soil. It has also been affected by pollution derived from the petroleum industry, the sugar industry and by agriculture. When climate change-related threats such as hurricanes and tropical storms strike the region, ecosystems as well as communities face cascading risks: Flooding affects infrastructure and contributes to the sedimentation of water bodies. It also spreads any pollution that may be contained in the rivers, adversely affecting the health of humans, animals and plants. In the SLCPM, water is the key issue, be it lack of supply and quality for local communities or in terms of recurrent floods.

 

The project began with a participatory strategy aimed at reducing vulnerabilities and strengthening capacities of three communities. A key action was to involve the communities at an early stage in the problem definition and in the selection of both measures and key intervention sites. A first mechanism for initiating social organization was through community reforestation activities, which although of limited success, served to stimulate the involvement of people in the later activities of the project. For example through rainwater capture and a water purification plant in the community of Las Coloradas; the construction of “palafitos”  (raised, roofed platforms on stilts) in the community El Mingo as refuge platforms in the face of flooding as well as spaces for experimentation for eco-technologies. In both cases, it was women who were most involved in developing their capacities in terms of technology, organization and administration.  They were also the ones most likely to provide continuity for the project activities.

 

The rainwater capture and purification system benefited almost 800 people, providing free water of quality to pupils at a local primary school. This helped in turn to reduce the incidence of gastro-intestinal illnesses amongst the children. The construction of "palafitos" led by the women´s group “Las Brisas” recently capacitated in construction techniques, awoke the interest of other communities to establish their own "palafitos" as a means of reducing the risks to property in the face of flooding.

 

Additional support on the part of INECC also included the monitoring and evaluation of the implemented adaptation actions.

Contribuido por

Imagen de aram.rodriguez_37762

Aram Rodriguez de los Santos National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC)

Other contributors

Dra. Margarita Caso Chavez
Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático (INECC)
Lic. Aram Rodríguez de los Santos
Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático (INECC)