Locally led and ecosystem-based approaches to climate adaptation

As the impacts of climate change are increasingly felt around the world, supporting local communities and partners to assess climate risk and vulnerability, and to enhance their resilience grows more urgent. During 2022, Fauna & Flora continued to scale up work on climate adaptation, through locally led and ecosystembased approaches. In order to climate-proof our conservation work, partner organisations and Fauna & Flora teams have continued to embed climate change considerations into project design and ongoing conservation activities.

We also studied how climate adaptation is embedded in projects in Nicaragua, Uganda and Myanmar, where we work in partnership with Biometepe, and community-based organisations, Private Forest Owners Associations and Asho Chin Coffee Association respectively. In this study, we applied the lens of the Principles for Locally Led Adaptation10 which have been designed to support the devolution of leadership, funding and practices related to adaptation into local organisations and communities. The findings of this research are being used to refine our own institutional approaches to adaptation. Fauna & Flora also continues to bring evidence and experience from our projects and partners into wider climate discussions (see pages 42-43 for more information).

Climate adaptation on Brava Island, Cabo Verde:

On Brava Island, Cabo Verde, Fauna & Flora is working with local NGO Biflores to implement sustainable, climate-resilient grazing management. As a result of climate change, Cabo Verde is facing more frequent extreme weather events such as storms, floods and droughts, as well as shorter rainy seasons. In addition, unsustainable grazing has led to erosion, desertification, and loss of endemic plant species, which is further exacerbated by climate change and threatens the livelihoods of the island’s 6,000 inhabitants. During 2022, Biflores and Fauna & Flora worked with local herders to identify and pilot innovative approaches to fodder production, to reduce the impact of free grazing on biodiversity at the same time as helping local people adapt to a drier climate.

Hydroponic fodder production was trialled; this method produces a highly nutritious maize crop in just one week, requires no soil, and uses only 5% of the water that would be needed to grow the same amount of fodder in a field11. This technique, where water is directly applied to plant roots, minimises water loss and allows water to be recycled and used several times. This work enables herders to become self-sufficient in livestock nourishment in the face of increasingly frequent droughts. It simultaneously allows the land to naturally regenerate, improving the abundance of endemic species and vegetative ground cover, thereby restoring ecosystem function and improving its resilience against climate impacts.

10. The eight principles for locally led adaptation have been developed by a partnership of peers led by IIED and WRI to help ensure that local communities are empowered to lead sustainable and effective adaptation to climate change at the local level. Please find more information here: https://www.iied.org/principles-for-locally-led-adaptation 11. https://www.feedipedia.org/content/hydroponic-fodder-production-critical-assessment