Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall strategy to help people to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Under the ‘Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy’ project, IIED, IUCN and the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) are working at 13 sites in 12 countries to gather practical evidence and develop policy guidance for governments on how EbA can best be implemented. The project has developed a definition of effective EbA and a framework for assessing EbA effectiveness which has been applied at all 13 sites, and the results will be collated and compared to draw conclusions that are based on more than single case studies. This report presents the findings from a literature review and interviews with a wide variety of stakeholders conducted by IUCN at the project site in the Sixaola River basin in Costa Rica and Panama, where local farms have adopted integrated farming methods, and evidence on the benefits derived from EbA is being collected, synthesised and used to support the adoption of effective EbA in the design of policies, governance structures and decision-making processes. The project has also developed a monitoring and evaluation methodology to understand EbA’s contribution to food and water security.
Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: Strengthening the evidence and informing policy. Research results from the adaptation, vulnerability and ecosystems (ave) project, Costa Rica and Panama
The report concludes that project activities improved community resilience and adaptive capacity, and reduced community vulnerability. For example, some settlements in critical areas affected by floods, gales and frequent rain now have a reduced sense of risk and climate-related vulnerability because of improved ecosystem management, while annual agrobiodiversity and seed fairs, along with tree-planting, have built local capacity to cope with climate change. The project has also improved ecosystem resilience and helped maintain or restore ecosystem services, although it could take time for improvements to the delivery of some services to materialise. Interviewees felt that the project work was costeffective and compared favourably with other adaptation options. A range of policy, institutional and capacity barriers to implementing EbA were apparent at the local, provincial and national levels, and it is unclear whether activities will be sustainable over the long term without better national environment and climate change policies, more collaboration between different levels of governance and across borders, improved funding and technical capacity, and better knowledge management.
