Building the resilience of communities and their ecosystems to the impacts of climate change

  • Solomon Islands
  • Pacific

ENTRY DATE: 09.03.2012 | LAST UPDATE: 09.03.2012

SCALE:

  • Countrywide

TARGET AREA:

  • Rural

BEST PRACTICE IN:

  • Capacity Building
  • Project Implementation

KEY SECTOR:

  • Coastal Zone Management

FUNDING AMOUNT:

  • USD 500,001 - USD 1,000,000

Description of Intervention

This project will focus on strengthening the capacity of six target communities, two in Papua New Guinea (PNG), three in Solomon Islands, and one community in Republic of Marshall Islands, to adapt to climate change impacts. The project will engage and support local and provincial-level planning, financial and administrative arrangements to integrate adaptation options used by these communities into provincial-scale development planning, national-level adaptation plans and regional programmes.

Problems to be Addressed

• Understanding climate change risk;
• Demonstrating community-based adaptation; and
• Decision-making and leverage.

Aims

To build the resilience of targeted communities and ecosystems in the Pacific to the impacts of climate change

Objectives

• To build capacity in six target communities to identify and address impacts of climate change on ecosystem services, based on a synthesis of existing practice, knowledge and tools to support adaptation at the community level;
• To model climate vulnerability at a local level at all sites and at a provincial scale in Choiseul (Solomon Islands), with initial scoping in Manus (PNG);
• To implement adaptation actions at the community level in six target communities, guided by the existing capacity at the community level coupled with the results of the ecosystem services and participatory vulnerability assessments;
• To explore the long-term viability of these community-based adaptation initiatives through economic and social incentives, including sustainable finance;
• To integrate adaptation at the community level into local and provincial-level planning processes in PNG, Solomon Islands and Republic of Marshall Islands, and create a platform to connect to broader national and regional Initiatives (Coral Triangle, Micronesia Challenge); and
• To share and build on initial lessons and project experiences in community-based adaptation, to inform policy and practice across the broader Pacific region.

How it fits into the EbA concept

The project aimed to build the resilience of communities and their ecosystems to the impacts of climate change by building on the traditional knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples and local communities. It also worked for sustainable resource management and conservation of marine protected areas.

Relevant Publications

Project Progress Reports

Solomon Islands Model Behavior: How science and arts and crafts are helping a community plan for the future :  http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/asiaandthepacific/solomonislands/explore/choiseul-3d-modeling.xml