Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Climate Change Mitigation

A healthy and functional ecosystem is important for the continued support of life both on land and underwater as it provides a range of services and functions, as Chong, J. (2014) argues, resilient ecosystems are vital to human well-being and are being emphasized as critical to supporting communities’ efforts to adapt to climate change. Globally, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are encouraging parties to adopt ‘ecosystem-based adaptation’ (EbA) approaches, which utilize biodiversity and ecosystem services to support climate change adaptation and mitigation. It is important to acknowledge and try to understand the intricate relationship that exists between people, ecosystems and climate change to tailor suitable approaches to Climate Change.

Ecosystems play a key role in climate change adaptation and mitigation process. It is worth noting that sustainable management of ecosystems can itself contribute to adaptation and mitigation particularly among vulnerable communities that are highly dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods (Birdlife International).

So what then are ‘ecosystem-based adaptation’ approaches?

According to the Convention on Biological Diversity (2009), "the ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way" and which aspires to maintain the natural structure and functioning of ecosystems. This definition highlights the concept of sustainability by capturing the need to maintain ecosystems in a natural and functional state and exploiting the inherent resources sustainably. Essentially, it is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. According to Doswald, N., & Osti, M. (2011) these approaches may include sustainable management, conservation and restoration of ecosystems as part of an overall adaptation strategy that takes into account the multiple social, economic and cultural co-benefits for local communities. There are two broad types of interventions in this context:

i) Ecosystem-based adaptation, which makes use of ecosystems and biodiversity to help people adapt to the impacts of climate change. An example intervention is the protection of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes, and barrier beaches to provide natural protection from storms and flooding due to sea-level rise. Such ecosystem-based interventions complement and can enhance the effectiveness of infrastructures such as sea walls and dikes. Improving the management of forests and wetlands for better groundwater storage and food security is another example.

ii) Ecosystem-based mitigation on the other hand makes use of ecosystems and biodiversity to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Natural systems such as forests, mangroves, peats, and wetlands act as “carbon sinks” and reduced emissions can be achieved through interventions that maintain or enhance these ecosystems.

According to IUCN, Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) involves a wide range of ecosystem management activities to increase the resilience and reduce the vulnerability of people and the environment to climate change. It focuses on the benefits humans derive from biodiversity and ecosystem services, and how these benefits can be utilized in the face of climate change. Chong, J. (2014) contends that EbA concept is important in driving international and national commitments due to its key defining features of a focus on societal adaptation and targeting of the immediate adaptation needs of the poorest and most vulnerable communities who are adversely affected by climate change. As much as this sentiment echoes or rather focuses more on adaptation, it clearly highlights the need and importance of utilizing these set of approaches to Developing countries who feel the huge burden brought by a changing climate.

EbA approaches to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

It is important to note that most Ecosystem-based approaches can be used complementarily to achieve adaptation as well as mitigation goals. A clear example is in the forestry sector where the benefits accrue towards both adapting the local communities to the challenges set forth by climate change as well as contributing towards the long-term goal of ameliorating or rather sequestering carbon dioxide. The following are some of the notable EbA approaches in the wake of a changing climate identified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN);

a)     Coastal habitat restoration.

The coastal ecosystem contributes a lot to the socio-economic wellbeing of communities and the entire biodiversity adjacent to it. The marine ecosystem also contributes a lot to carbon sinking and thus contributes to mitigation efforts and this means it is imperative to ensure its health. One of the active EbA interventions to restore coastal ecosystems and habitats include the maintenance and/or restoration of mangroves and other coastal wetlands to reduce coastal flooding and coastal erosion. As Borde, A.B., et al (2004) points out coastal areas have much to offer one another in terms of innovative and successful approaches to restoration. Others include the creation of Marine protected areas as well as the use of policies to govern resource use. Adapting the design and management of marine protected areas to protect coral reefs and shellfish reefs and their ability to act as natural breakwaters, dissipate wave energy, and sustain fish habitat is also another key coastal habitat restoration efforts.

b)     Agroforestry.

According to FAO, Agroforestry is a land-use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. This provides a system of complementarity and dependency among the crops and the trees. For instance, the trees offer protection from strong winds and thus contributes to productivity, on the other hand, crops like legumes provide nutrients to the trees. This is an adaptation strategy to curb the challenges like those brought forth by a changing climate. This approach can also act as a mitigation effort as tree cover will contribute towards the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and thus ultimately contributing towards the Paris Agreement goals of reducing build-up through increasing sinks. Establishment of diverse agroforestry systems providing flexible livelihood options to cope with increased risk from changed climatic conditions and have the potential to support greater biodiversity

c)     Integrated water resource management.

According to the UN-Water, IWRM is a process, which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems. According to Jiménez Cisneros et al. (2014), IWRM continues to be a promising instrument for exploring adaptation to climate change. Ongoing attempts at mainstreaming climate change in water management provide a unique opportunity for lessons drawing and knowledge exchange on IWRM and CCA, in particular how they may contribute to, or undermine, each other. IWRM and CCA are considered as components of the planetary efforts towards sustainable development and, in particular as elements contributing respectively to sustainable development goal (SDG), six (ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) and 13 (take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts)

d)     Livelihood diversification.

Ellis (1997, p5) cited in Hussein, K., & Nelson, J. (1998) defines livelihood diversification as the process by which rural families construct a diverse portfolio of activities and social support capabilities in their struggle for survival and in order to improve their standards of living. In the wake of a changing climate marred with manifold impacts, depending on one source of livelihood is risky due to the unpredictability of nature. It is thus important for communities, households and governments to encourage the diversification of livelihoods to spread the risks involved with single sector dependencies. This approach is necessary especially to those societies depending on rain-fed agriculture, as it will enable them to adapt to changing environments.

e)     Agriculture and Livestock Systems.

In crop production, the most notable approaches include irrigation, crop rotation, diversification, use of drought-resistant crops as well the shift to more effective practices like conservation agriculture. According to Howden, S. M., et al, (2007), adaptations in field-based livestock include additional care to continuously match stock rates with pasture production, altered rotation of pastures, modification of times of grazing, and timing of reproduction, alteration of forage and animal species/breeds and use of supplementary feeds and concentrates. It is important to note, however, that there are often limitations to these adaptations; for example, more heat-tolerant livestock breeds often have lower levels of productivity.

f)      Fisheries

With the exception of aquaculture and some freshwater fisheries, the exploitation of natural fish populations, which are common property resources, precludes the kind of management adaptations to climate change of the kind suggested for the crop, livestock, and forest sectors. Adaptation options thus centre on altering catch size and effort and improving the environment where breeding occurs. According to Bruinsma, J. Ed. (2003), three-quarters of world marine fish stocks are currently exploited at levels close to or above their productive capacity. Reductions in the level of fishing are therefore required in many cases, independently of climate change stresses, to sustain yields of fish stocks. This can be achieved with the introduction of legislation on harvesting such as opening and closing schemes.

g)     Urban EbA and sustainable management

EbA approaches in the urban and peri-urban communities are a cost-effective approach to reducing the vulnerability of these communities to climate change. The vulnerability of these communities is reduced by protecting, maintaining and rehabilitating priority ecosystems such as green spaces, forests, and agro-ecological systems. In these areas, according to European Commission, adaptation can take the form of using scarce water resources more efficiently; adapting building codes to future climate conditions and extreme weather events; building flood defences and drainage systems.

h)     Peatland restoration and or conservation.

Peatland Restoration refers to the management measures aimed at restoring the original form and function of peatland habitats to favourable conservation status. According to The International Peatland Society, the principal actors involved in restoration is the management of site hydrology, which in turn helps to control emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Depending on the starting point, peatland sites may need drain-blocking to rewet them using a variety of techniques including peat dams, plastic piling, plantation removal, pollution control, Sphagnum transfer and/or control of grazing, burning, water quantity and quality. Peatland conservation and restoration projects deliver on more than one front, providing climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and water regulation.

i)      Forestry

In the forestry sector, various approaches can be applied, these include afforestation, reforestation among other approaches. Afforestation is the planting or adding of trees in an area where there was never a forest or plantation. This is a method to create a new forest. Reforestation is the replanting of trees in an area where there was once a forest. A large number of adaptation strategies have been suggested for planted forests, including changes in management intensity, species mix, timber growth, harvesting patterns rotation periods and salvaging dead timber. Others include shifting to species or areas more productive under the new climatic conditions, landscape planning to minimize fire and insect damage, adjusting to the altered wood size and quality, and adjusting fire management systems (Weih, M. (2004). )  Adaptation strategies to control insect damage can include prescribed burning for reducing forest vulnerability to increased insect outbreaks, nonchemical insect control (e.g., baculoviruses), and adjusting harvesting schedules so that those stands most vulnerable to insect defoliation would be harvested preferentially. EbA approached forest conservation will contribute to both adaptations as well as mitigation of climate change. Chong, J. (2014) posits that reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) has emerged as a major global response to climate change.

Applicability and Effectiveness of EbA approach to climate change Adaptation and Mitigation.

According to Birdlife International, if designed, implemented and monitored appropriately, with full involvement of indigenous peoples and local communities that follows the highly complementary community-based adaptation (CbA) approach, ecosystem-based approaches for adaptation and mitigation can be a useful approach because they:

• Can be applied at regional, national and local levels, at both project and programmatic levels, and benefits can be realized over short and long time scales.
• Maybe more cost-effective and more accessible and enduring than measures based on hard infrastructure and engineering (although in some cases these will certainly be necessary) to rural or poor communities because they provide local benefits and can be locally managed and maintained.
• Can integrate and maintain traditional and local knowledge and cultural values.
• Generate multiple social, economic and cultural co-benefits for local communities, including contributing to climate change mitigation by conserving carbon stocks, reducing emissions caused by ecosystem degradation and loss and enhancing carbon stocks.
• Contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
• Through participatory approaches, it presents a tangible opportunity to align conservation; development; poverty alleviation; disaster risk reduction; humanitarian aid; water, agricultural, forestry, tourism, health sector, interests and builds integrated approaches to adaptation.

Challenges in the pursuit of EbA approaches to adaptation and Mitigation.

Although EbA to adaptation and mitigation promises a lot in the fight against climate change, much has not been done to ensure fully harness the potential of these novel approaches and the following are a few of the challenges that need to be attended to;

• The need for stronger political and policy support and implementation capacity.
• Means to ensure multi-stakeholder approaches and community participation and support.
• Addressing the underlying drivers of deforestation and land degradation.
• The need to integrate both adaptation and mitigation into plans, policies and programmes to ensure complementarity and synergies.
• The need to invest extensively in research and development especially into EbA approaches.