Hannah Reid

Healthy ecosystems such as forests and wetlands have a great potential to support adaptation to climate change and are the foundation of sustainable livelihoods. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) can help to protect and maintain healthy ecosystems providing resilience against the impacts of climate change. This paper explores the role of EbA in reco...

Non-technical summary Ecosystems across the globe are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as are the communities that depend on them. However, ecosystems can also protect people from climate change impacts. As the evidence base strengthens, nature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly prominent in climate change policy, especially in deve...

Ecosystems are not merely vulnerable to climate change but, if sustainably restored and protected, are a major source of human resilience. Not only is the evidence-base for the importance of these “Nature-based Solutions” (NbS) growing rapidly, but NbS are featuring with increasing prominence in global climate change policy. Here we report on the p...

Ecosystems are not merely vulnerable to climate change but, if sustainably restored and protected, are a major source of human resilience. Not only is the science evidence-base for this perspective growing rapidly, but ecosystems are featuring with increasing prominence in global climate change policy. Of 167 climate pledges submitted by the signat...

Cambridge Core - Climatology and Climate Change - Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation - edited by Douglas Nakashima

The unplanned climate change adaptation benefits of a programme focused on Bangladesh’s freshwater ecosystems is making a case for this kind of initiative to be formally included in the country’s ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and climate change responses. The ‘incentive-based hilsa conservation programme’ was not designed with adaptation in mind...

The unplanned climate change adaptation benefits of a programme focused on Bangladesh’s freshwater ecosystems is making a case for this kind of initiative to be formally included in the country’s ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and climate change responses. The ‘incentive-based hilsa conservation programme’ was not designed with adaptation in mind...

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 Monito...

This chapter describes work aimed at addressing the evidence base for ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and issues around governance for EbA. It describes a framework for assessing EbA effectiveness that was recently developed as part of the “Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy” project, and emer...

Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation (EbA) involve the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. This research looks at two components of effective EbA: ecosystem resilience and the maintenance of ecosystem services. It assesses EbA effectiveness in terms of how such approaches sup...

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and its sister community-based adaptation (CBA) have gained traction over recent years, and policy-makers and planners are increasingly promoting ‘integrated’ EbA and CBA approaches. Improved learning from older natural resource management disciplines such as community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), howe...

This chapter assesses the role of community-based/participatory natural resource management (CB/PNRM) in supporting adaptation to current and potential future climate change impacts among pastoral communities in Ethiopia. Such communities are expected to experience significant changes in the natural environments on which their livelihoods rely. Cli...

The 8th international CBA conference reported on in these proceedings was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, 24-30 April 2014. The theme was “Financing Local Adaptation” in recognition of the need to understand how best to finance the growing number of CBA project and programme activities. Roughly 450 people from 58 different countries attended, including r...

This chapter assesses the role of community-based/participatory natural resource management (CB/PNRM) in supporting adaptation to current and potential future climate change impacts among pastoral communities in Ethiopia. Such communities are expected to experience significant changes in the natural environments on which their livelihoods rely. Cli...

Ecosystem-based approaches for adaptation (EbA) integrate the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall strategy for helping people adapt to climate change. To date, however, insight into these approaches has often been based on anecdotal case studies of local peoples' use of ecosystems. A systematic map of EbA-relevant peer-review...

There exists a wealth of largely overlooked experience that has been accrued over generations by small-scale farmers and pastoralists in poor countries as they cope with climatic extremes and increasing uncertainty – climate-change related or otherwise. IIED has 40 years’ experience of working with these producers; this Gatekeeper paper draws lesso...

The IIED Climate Change Working Paper Series aims to improve and accelerate the public availability of the research undertaken by IIED and its partners. In line with the objectives of all climate change research undertaken by IIED, the IIED Climate Change Working Paper Series presents work that focuses on improving the capacity of the most vulnerab...

Background Ecosystem-based approaches for adaptation (EbA) integrate the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall strategy for helping people adapt to climate change. To date, insight into these approaches has often been based on reports from isolated anecdotal case studies. Although these are informative, and provide evidence tha...

Summary of Key Points: - Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) provides numerous opportunities for natural solutions to manage the impacts of climate change. - EbA interventions generate a range of significant social, economic, and environmental co-benefits by reducing society’s vulnerability to natural hazards, improving the availability of ecosyst...

Local farmers and pastoralists in poor countries have long coped with droughts, floods and variable rainfall patterns. This first-hand experience is invaluable for those working on climate change adaptation policies, but how do we access it? IIED has 40 years’ experience working alongside vulnerable communities to help inform regional, national and...

Community-based adaptation (CBA) has a growing group of interested supporters, researchers, practitioners, policy makers, donors and indeed local communities themselves who see it as a way to tackle some of the many challenges of a world altered by climate change. The sixth international CBA conference in 2012 was held in Hanoi, Vietnam from 16-22...

The least developed countries (LDCs) are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, due to a combination of physical vulnerability and limited coping capacity. The poor in these countries rely heavily on natural resources, are severely affected by climate variability such as floods and droughts and have limited savings and few altern...

There are two main policy responses to climate: prevention of climate change (mitigation) through reducing emissions and coping with its effects (adaptation). Mitigation has been given more priority in climate negotiations to date. Because the impacts of climate change are likely to increase in the coming years and there is growing realisation that...

"Resilience to climate change has many roots. A healthy, biodiverse environment is increasingly recognised as key to resilience, particularly in poor communities directly dependent on natural resources. Knowledge about ways of coping with climate variability is also essential – and for many of the poor who live in climate-vulnerable regions, alread...

Climate change is likely to exacerbate the dry conditions already experienced in southern Africa. When rainfall does come, it is likely to be in bursts of greater intensity, leading to erosion and flood damage. However, these predictions have had very little influence on policy in southern African countries. Computable general equilibrium (CGE) mod...

Climate change is likely to exacerbate the dry conditions already experienced in southern Africa. When rainfall does come, it is likely to be in bursts of greater intensity, leading to erosion and flood damage. However, these predictions have had very little influence on policy in southern African countries. Computable general equilibrium (CGE) mod...

"Biodiversity — the variety of all life, from genes and species to ecosystems — is intimately linked to Earth’s climate and, inevitably, to climate change. Biodiversity and poverty are also inextricably connected. For instance, changes to natural ecosystems influence both climate change and people’s ability to cope with some of its damaging impacts...

The IPCC recognises Africa as a whole to be “one of the most vulnerable continents to climate variability and change because of multiple stresses and low adaptive capacity. Climate change is likely to exacerbate the dry conditions already experienced in southern Africa. And when rainfall does come, it is likely to be more intense, leading to erosio...

This draft was prepared for the Rockefeller Foundation. The text draws heavily on a series of background papers that are acknowledged in the references; this paper and the accompanying Annex incorporates sections of text drawn directly from these papers and so parts of this draft are by Debra Roberts (case study on Durban's adaptation strategy), Jo...

"Helping the millions of poor people at greatest risk from climate change to adapt to its impacts is a daunting task. One new approach that deserves greater support is community-based adaptation (CBA). This briefing paper outlines the concepts behind CBA, shares some early lessons learned, and calls for greater networking, information sharing and s...

"Climate change is already affecting European biodiversity, as demonstrated by changes in species' ranges and ecosystem boundaries, shifts in reproductive cycles and growing seasons, and changes to the complex ways in which species interact (predation, pollination, competition and disease). These effects vary between regions and ecosystems. Strateg...

This paper describes the independent evolution of climate change and development discourses, and provides some explanation as to why the two fields have operated largely independently from one another. The recent initiatives to strengthen links between the climate change and development communities are also described. These are of particular import...

The first protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in Kyoto in 1997 and entered into force in February 2005. It is a unique international law instrument which sets legally binding targets for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. The targets are unprecedented in an e...

The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are a group of 49 of the world's poorest countries. They have contributed least to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) but they are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This is due to their location in some of the most vulnerable regions of the world and their low capacities to adapt to these ch...

Human induced climate change is one of the most pressing and complex issues facing society in the 21st century. Increased use of forests and wood products, while not replacing the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at source, does make an important contribution towards tackling the problem of climate change. The use of wood products can also p...

Adaptation to climate change is a growing concern, but it still receives less attention in the international policy arena than efforts to mitigate climate change. This is of particular relevance to poor countries, which contribute little to increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, and yet suffer disproportionately from the affects...

Wood is better for the climate than a range of alternatives • More wood use, and improved wood use would help mitigate climate change • European wood has strong sustainability credentials-but there is still much room for improvement • Elsewhere, sustainable forest management is often an elusive goal • If carefully done, forestry can play a part in...

Human induced climate change is one of the most pressing and complex issues facing society in the 21st century. Increased use of forests and wood products, while not replacing the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at source, does make an important contribution towards tackling the problem of climate change. The use of wood products can also p...

"Contractual national parks in South Africa and Australia have been established on land owned either by the state or a group of private individuals. They are managed by the national conservation authority according to the terms of a joint management agreement drawn up by a joint management committee usually consisting of representatives from the na...

Many disasters take place in urban areas, affecting millions of people each year through loss of life, serious injury and loss of assets and livelihoods. Poorer groups are generally most affected. The impact of these disasters and their contribution to poverty are underestimated, as is the extent to which rapidly growing and poorly managed urban de...

This report provides information on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in relation to their population size, reliance on certain sectors, vulnerabilities to climate change, and current or recommended strategies for climate change adaptation. It is hoped that this report will act as a resource to governments, NGOs, researchers and practitioners wo...

The LDCs are a group of 49 countries considered to be the world's poorest as they have a per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) under US$900 and they have very low levels of capital, human and technological development. These 49 countries have a combined population of 614 million, which is equivalent to just over 10% of the world's population, but...

Contractual national parks in South Africa are established on land owned either by the state or by a group of private individuals, but managed by South African National Parks (SANP) according to the terms of a joint management agreement drawn up by a joint management committee consisting of representatives from SANP and the landowners. Since majori...

Neolamprologus pulcher, a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika, lives in permanent social groups comprising one breeding pair and helpers of both sexes. Variation in group size (1-14 helpers) provides an opportunity to investigate factors that affect how many helpers remain in a group and in turn how group size affects reproduct...

Several hypotheses aim to explain the evolution of helping behavior, but conclusive experimental support for evaluating the relative importance of individual hypotheses is still lacking. We report on two field experiments conducted to test the “territory inheritance” and “pay-to-stay” hypotheses in the cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Neolamprol...

This publication contains abstracts (mainly in English, some in French) from papers presented at the fourth International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change which was held on 21-27 February 2010 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Conference was structured around plenary and technical sessions on a variety of important subject a...

"The growing market for carbon offers great opportunities for linking greenhouse gas mitigation with conservation of forests and biodiversity, and the generation of local livelihoods. For these combined objectives to be achieved, strong governance is needed along with institutions that ensure poor people win, rather than lose out, from the new chal...