Climate change is forecast to bring more severe weather to low-lying coastal areas already at high risk from flooding: Cyclone Affected Aquaculture Rehabilitation Project II
Funded by USAID Scientists involved with this project are working to rehabilitate the livelihoods of 80,000 households in Bangladesh affected by cyclone Sidr and to introduce strategies to cope with future climate change effects. Specifically, researchers work to build resilience and improve economic opportunities through use of integrated aquaculture-agriculture. Researchers also suggest means to improve market chain linkages, improve input supplies, embed services into products and increase quality as a basis to demand better prices. Additionally, efforts are made to develop a better approach to disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation.
Partners include International Development Enterprises and 15 local non-governmental organizations.
Contact: a.brooks@cgiar.org
Poverty Alleviation, Mangrove Conservation and Climate Change; Carbon Offsets as Payments for Mangrove Ecosystem Services in Solomon Islands
Funded by AUSAID
Researchers working on this project are testing the idea of trading voluntary carbon credit offsets on mangrove carbon sequestration in the Solomon Islands. Mangroves not only provide critical ecosystem services (including the provision of a nursery area for many juvenile fish, trapping sediments and preventing coastal erosion) but also function as critical global sinks for carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. The conservation of mangroves may therefore be able to play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
Through the project, Solomon Island researchers and government officers are being trained on the issues and opportunities associated with carbon credit trades, and the quantification of mangroves’ contribution to carbon sequestration. One goal is to determine an appropriate mechanism for reimbursement of revenues, in partnership with Solomon Island communities and the Solomon Island government. A key partner in this project is the Solomon Island Ministry of Environment Conservation and Meteorology.
For further information see article in CGIAR news September 2009.
Contact: a.schwarz@cgiar.org
What Futures for Fisheries Production Systems in West Africa? Development of Scenarios for Adaptation to Climate Change
Funded by BMZ/GTZ
West African economies are heavily dependent on fisheries that are vulnerable to climate change and climate variability. In West Africa, fish exports contribute about 28 percent of total agricultural exports and account for over 30 percent of average daily animal protein consumption. In the Canary and Guinea Large Marine Ecosystems — including territorial seas of Mauritania, Senegal and Ghana — uncertainties exist on how future biophysical changes due to climate change will interact with other stresses, and how people will be able to respond and adapt fisheries production systems to meet climate change challenges. Researchers seek to identify the key features of fisheries production, the drivers of change, and the impact of climate change on these systems in an effort to create planning scenarios.
The Leibniz-Zentrum fuer Marine Tropenoekologie is the lead partner in this project.
Contact: m.badjeck@cgiar.org
Hotspots of Marine Biodiversity in the Southeast Asian Seas: Mapping Current Location and Climate Change Impacts
Funded by the Asean Center for Biodiversity
Researchers working on this project help policymakers reach informed decisions by providing information on the range of possible and/or probable consequences of climate change on marine biodiversity. Researchers develop mapping tools that display changes in Southeast Asian marine biodiversity due to climate change, using a biogeography modeling tool (AquaMaps) linked to existing information systems. Partners in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia are working together to create a web interface that policymakers can use easily to visualize the impacts predicted by models and information provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Researchers produce maps of the current hotspots of Southeast Asian marine biodiversity, maps of future hotspots for biodiversity given climate change induced changes in the environment, and a web interface to enable visualization of changes on a regional level.
Partners include DENR-PAWB of the Philippines, the Philippine National Museum, the Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Studies of Indonesia, Bogor Agricultural University, the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Fisheries Research Center.
Contact: n.bailly@cgiar.org
Enhancing the Resilience of Lake Chilwa Basin Communities to Climate Change
Funded by the Government of Norway
The WorldFish Center is working with communities in the Lake Chilwa Basin (Malawi) to help meet the challenges of climate change. Through participatory rural appraisals, researchers are engaged in project design using thematic working groups to solicit the views of community stakeholders including farmers, fishers, fish traders and others. They assess stakeholders’ natural resource and livelihood priorities, and the constraints and opportunities stakeholders face in adapting to climate change.
Partners include LEAD-SA, the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi/the Department of Forestry, and the National Herbarium and Botanical Gardens.
Contact: k.snyder@cgiar.org