Ecosystem-Based Adaptation: the Key to Addressing Climate Change in Nepal

Climate change; Policy and planning Keywords: Ecosystem-based adaptation, Nepal, Briefing adaptation Issue date October 2018 Policy Ecosystem-based adaptation: pointers the key to addressing climate Nepal’s policymakers change in Nepal could make significant progress in tackling climate change by scaling All governments in developing countries face the challenge of addressing up ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) in climate change impacts and identifying the best ways to help their people federal, provincial and local development and adapt, with ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) an increasingly popular adaptation planning, and response. Research in Nepal suggests that EbA approaches can 1) boost by providing the necessary budget. community adaptive capacity or resilience, 2) help ecosystems produce services for local communities and withstand climate change impacts and The institutions involved in planning and other stressors, and 3) be financially and economically viable. Despite EbA’s implementing EbA will potential in Nepal, a number of policy, institutional and political obstacles to need to embed participatory approaches implementation remain. This briefing explores these challenges and identifies and collaborate effectively opportunities and priorities for scaling up EbA. if the effort is to succeed. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches improve their adaptive capacity or resilience? Does Government and donors make use of biodiversity and ecosystem services to it reduce their vulnerability to climate change, while should support programmes to boost help people adapt to climate change, as part of an enhancing co-benefits that promote wellbeing? overall strategy. They are an increasingly popular the capacity of Nepal’s 2) Ecosystem resilience and services: does an local, provincial and response to the linked challenges of climate EbA initiative restore, maintain or enhance the federal government to change and poverty in developing countries. implement EbA. capacity of ecosystems to continue to produce Positive findings from a recent initiative assessing services for local communities? Does it allow Researchers can play the effectiveness of EbA suggest that ecosystems to withstand climate change impacts their part in helping to policymakers should consider scaling up the and other stressors? propagate EbA in Nepal approach to tackle climate risks in Nepal. The 3) Economic viability: is an EbA initiative by growing the evidence initiative — Ecosystem-based adaptation: base supporting the 1 financially and economically sustainable? approach — including strengthening the evidence and informing policy cost benefit analysis — — looked at 13 EbA sites around the world, with an People first and exploring ‘payments additional focus on learning how challenges can Experience from the Mountain EbA Project in for ecosystem services’ be overcome. The Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Nepal demonstrates that the approach can be an and other ways to Mountain Ecosystems project — otherwise known incentivise excellent way to help people adapt to climate as the Mountain EbA Project — in Nepal (Box 1) implementation. change impacts and hence meet the first criteria was among them. of EbA effectiveness. The efficacy of EbA can be assessed according to Changes in climatic patterns were already quite three main criteria:2 noticeable in the Panchase region of Nepal when 1) Adaptive capacity and vulnerability: does an the project was implemented in 2011, and where EbA initiative allow communities to maintain or temperatures have been increasing. In terms of Download the pdf at http://pubs.iied.org/17482IIED IIED Briefing precipitation, the frequency of rainfall events has • Broom grass and timur (bamboo-leaved prickly decreased but the intensity of monsoon rainfall has ash) cultivation restored hillsides and reduced increased. Local communities have also observed landslide risk. Broom grass plantations also a reduction in snowfall, with the protected roads (and thus access to markets) snowline shifting upwards. and provided communities with an alternative Experience from Nepal source of income Examples of improvements in shows that EbA can be adaptive capacity under the • Forest management activities diversified project include: livelihoods, reduced water-induced disasters and an excellent way to help protected rural infrastructure • The restoration and people adapt to climate conservation of more than 60 • Commercialisation of plant products diversified community ponds and 45 water livelihoods change impacts sources/natural springs buffered • Project awareness raising and capacity the community against flooding, drought and building activities — such as EbA learning landslides, and provided a sustainable water groups, exchange visits, establishment of an supply for households and agriculture, even information centre, training and awareness during dry periods raising on different issues, events and radio • More than 1,000 households improved their broadcasts — helped improve understanding livestock sheds (to collect urine and improve and capacity around EbA and sustainable farmyard manure) so less water is needed in the natural resource use. farmyard, which helps during droughts The people whose resilience and adaptive • Soil management interventions and ‘climate capacity improved were among the most smart’ farming practices increased the resilience vulnerable to climate change: mountain of agriculture ecosystems and improved the communities (targeted by the project), women community’s capacity to cope with climate and also poor, vulnerable, young and indigenous change risks. Increases in productivity and farm groups. Since homestay businesses are largely income, along with savings made from reducing run by women, they tend to benefit most from external inputs, reduced vulnerability homestay-related interventions. • Crops were selected with climate change in Some social groups experienced bigger mind; for example, drought-resistant seed improvements in resilience and adaptive capacity varieties provided food during droughts than others, but these did not come at a cost for others. Similarly, although it took time for some of Box 1. The Mountain EbA Project in Nepal3 these gains to materialise, they were not associated with short-term costs. There may, The Mountain EbA Project was implemented in Nepal, Uganda and Peru however, have been trade-offs in terms of where between 2011 and 2016, with funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry for gains in adaptive capacity, resilience or Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The project’s main vulnerability occurred — notably between objective in Nepal was to enhance decision makers’ ability to plan and implement upstream and downstream areas. EbA strategies and measures at the national and ecosystem level, through various pilot activities. EbA measures implemented under the project included: Many social co-benefits emerged from the project, including the provision of sustainable water and • Maintaining and restoring ecosystems through agroforestry, forest resource livelihoods; improved social cohesion; disaster risk conservation, and plantations of fodder and forage species and broom grass, reduction and increased security; market access; particularly by roads to reduce landslides health improvements for livestock and people; • Restoring wetlands, springs and ponds to ensure year-long water supplies food security; reduced conflict over resources; • Enhancing soil health and increasing crop productivity and soil moisture climate change mitigation; enhanced traditional during dry periods, using integrated soil nutrient management (promoting the and cultural customs; and knowledge generation. use of organic compost dung and animal urine, and better livestock shed As with adaptation benefits, some social groups management), vegetable seed distribution and training on integrated plant (notably women and other particularly nutrient systems and organic farming vulnerable groups) may have accrued more of • Strengthening homestay businesses to diversify livelihoods and build local these social co-benefits than others, but not at a people’s resilience to climate change. cost to the others. Key project partner institutions included: United Nations Development Project activities incorporated local and indigenous Programme, UN Environment, International Union for Conservation of Nature, knowledge, and many of the participatory Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, Ministry of Population and approaches that were adopted supported Environment, district government authorities, two local non-governmental community agency and leadership. It was very organisations, Panchase Protected Forest Council and 17 Village Development clear that these participatory processes were an Committees in the Panchase Protected Forest area. important factor in improving adaptive capacity. IIED Briefing Ecosystem resilience and service approach demonstrated significantly better net provision present values, benefit-to-cost ratios and internal rates of return than the latter, suggesting the need Mountain ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to to explore such approaches in the context of climate change and the Panchase region is no future funding for EbA. exception. To improve ecosystem resilience, the project purposefully adopted a landscape approach A number of broader economic costs and benefits at the sub-watershed level. These ecosystem-related emerged from the various project interventions boundaries, however, did

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