Achieving ecosystem approach for adaptation

Under an ecosystem-based adaptation approach and a micro-basin vision, efforts in Esquichá focused on improving livelihoods and ecosystem resilience in order to reduce climate change vulnerability. Tropical storms and hurricans such as the Stand affected communities in the past (water infraestructure, erosion or loss of water springs). Applying an ecosystem approach was part of strengthening governance for climate change adaptation in the Esquichá micro-watershed.

 

Measures implemented are: 

  • protection and recovery of forests in water recharge zones. E.g. protection of pine forests (Abies guatemalensis) that harbour water sources that supply populations in the lower part of the micro-basin.
  • Restoration of degraded lands and stabilization of slopes
  • Implementation and optimization of agroforestry systems.

Additionally, there was broad acceptance of the need for a more integrated approach to water resource management, partly due to the water scarcity that communities suffer during the dry season and in the upper parts of the micro-basin. The concept of environmental social responsibility was also promoted among communities, whereby upstream communities take measures that benefit downstream communities. 

 

  • Climate change, and in particular the availability of water, are factors of concern to most micro-watershed stakeholders, which increases their willingness to prioritize actions that favour water recharge zones and disaster risk reduction. In Esquichá, the occurrence of extreme events in previous years had strongly impacted several communities, causing damage to both assets (crops, housing, productive infrastructure) and water resources.
  • In order to proof the effectiveness of implemented EbA measures contributing to the climate change resilience of communities, and thereby building confidence in the strategy adopted, the first step was to promote reforestation in the upper parts of the micro-basin (where water sources are found) or in areas affected by landslides, as well as community work around forestry nurseries. These actions helped to consolidate the concept that forest cover is a "collective insurance" in the face of climate change.
  • Valuing the ecosystem services of the basin helped to see adaptation as a task for all communities, a way to obtain benefits for both the Esquichá micro-basin as well as other communities located further down in the Coatán River basin.