Helping India Adapt to Climate Change: One Man Makes an Impact

Climate change has made rainfall patterns in the north Indian state of Rajasthan increasingly unpredictable and is threatening the livelihoods of local people dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Rajendra Singh, also known as ”The Rainman,” realized that indigenous water conservation was key to solving northern India’s most pressing water problems. Check-out this video from ChinaDaily.com to see a great example of how a single person can make an incredible difference for the ecosystems and people of Rajasthan.

What may be most interesting about Rajendra’s work is his innovative use of traditional irrigation technologies such as dams of earth and rock. His work reminds us that although climate change is an unprecedented challenge, we already have many of the tools at our disposal to adapt. After all, species and humands have been adjusting to less dramatic changes in the environment for… well, forever. As a result, when it comes to adapting to events such as droughts brought on by global climate change, we may be more prepared than we think. Learning about what has worked in the past, and sharing these lessons, is the first step.

Sea level rise at Junquillal – modeling future coastlines, and what it means for people and sea turtles

by Ana Fonseca, WWF-LAC and Carlos Drews, WWF-International

In this second installment of a three part series on WWF’s Latin American and Caribbean Program’s coastal adaptation projects in Costa Rica, Ana Fonseca, the Latin America and Caribbean lead with WWF-LAC, together with Carlos Drews discusses the community’s efforts to adapt – both for the turtles and themselves.

Extraordinary high tides accompanied by intense wave action erode many meters of beach covered by vegetation on Junquillal Beach. © Gabriel Francia-WWF y Nicola Lorusso

The fortunes of coastal communities like Junquillal are intimately tied to the sea and the shoreline that sits just meters away from houses and roads, a relationship shared by species like sea turtles, for whom the beach is the sole nesting site. Coastlines are not static however, but instead shift according to storms, currents, and changing sea levels. Scientists warn that the sea-level could rise by at least one meter by the end of the century due to climate change, threatening both coastal communities as well as critically important turtle nesting sites like Junquillal.

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Editor’s Field Journal: Friends in High Places

by John Matthews, WWF-US

I have just returned from the first of three quick trips to China. Even by my standards, the first journey was extremely peripatetic, full of constant motion. But sometimes having so many changes in quick succession shows surprising connections — hidden threads and themes.

VP of Philippines “Adaptation to climate change must be the national priority”

Jojo Binay

Jojo Binay, the newly elected Vice President of the Philippines, spoke at the close of the Asian Development Bank’s Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) this past week. Apart from being his first major policy speech, his remarks at the energy-focused event are noteworthy in that they focused heavily on adaptation.

“The unique circumstances of the Philippines puts us in a situation of acute vulnerability due to the anticipated impacts of climate change” said Binay early in his address.

The rest of his adaptation-focused remarks illustrates that Binay understands the fundamental link between more traditional environmental stresses, such as overdevelopment and deforestation, and the ever increasing impacts that climate change will have on island nations such as the Philippines.

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Video: Marianne Fish on Coastal Adaptation with a Species Focus

As part of ClimatePrep.org’s continuing feature on sea turtles and adaptation, we interviewed Marianne Fish, Program Leader for Marine and Coastal Adaptation with WWF – Latin America and the Caribbean. She spoke about incorporating adaptation into existing conservation efforts, “no regrets” strategies, and how sea turtles are a focal species for adaptation projects in part because they make use of many of the same coastal and marine habitats that are critical to humans – beaches, coral reefs, and mangroves.

 

In the news: The UN on the pivotal role of water

A recent UN policy brief discusses why water-related climate change adaptation is critical for achieving sustainable development around the world. As significant water shortages already exist, water is the medium through which climate impacts are going to be felt most immediately and most severely by many people. “Adaptation to climate change is urgent. Water plays a pivotal role in it, but the political world has yet to recognize this notion.” Among other things, this report recommends implementing “no regrets” strategies since they have positive development outcomes that are resilient to climate change.

UNWater.org: “Climate Change Adaptation: The Pivotal Role of Water”

In the news: COP16 adaptation negotiations

An interesting new brief from WWF and Germanwatch gives us reasons to be optimistic as international climate negotiations continue. In discussing the status of adaptation negotiations under the UNFCCC  as the international community moves toward COP16 at Cancun, the authors argue that “the current negotiating text still bears the opportunity to create a strong, implementation-focused adaptation action framework.” Read the report and get informed about what needs to happen before COP16.

Germanwatch and WWF: “International Action on Adaptation and Climate Change”

Editor’s Field Journal: The Bright Red Line of Faith

by John Matthews, WWF-US   

South Asian rivers experience the best and worst of treatment. The Ganges — also called Ganga or Ganga Ma (Mother Ganges) — is treated like a sacred body, even a person or god, by hundreds of millions of people. Her many tributaries and branches are part of a sacred continuum spanning between the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean. This year, there is a great mela in Varanasi, India, a mass event relishing the river that will involve hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who come to wash the sins of their current and previous lives away. Melas occur every twelve years, and they are widely described as the largest peaceful gathering of humans on the planet. In many towns and villages along the Ganga, you see ghats, which are steps going down to the water for bathing. Many people also hope to bring the ashes of their relatives to the river so that they may find absolution and release. Several times I’ve seen funeral pyres on the banks of the Ganges or, during the dry season, in the dry riverbed. The faithful depths of the Ganges are inspiring, even for those weak in faith.

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The Plain of Reeds: Restoring wetlands in the Rice Bowl of Vietnam

By Jonathan Cook, WWF-US

Sarus cranes (© Nguyen Van Hung )

A densely populated country with a very long coastline, Vietnam appears frequently on lists of the countries that are expected to be most seriously affected by climate change. And the Mekong Delta will be one of the most impacted areas within Vietnam: a broad, flat plain that receives the sediment-laden waters of the Mekong River, the Delta is home to about 18 million people. While it can be difficult to predict how climate change will impact a region as complex as the Mekong Delta, it is expected that sea level rise, increased storm surge, and saltwater intrusion will significantly threaten biodiversity and human livelihoods across the so-called Rice Bowl of Vietnam.

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Community Solutions for Sea Turtle and Coastal Protection

Junquillal students monitor temperature differences among sand samples © WWF - LAC

Junquillal Beach in the north Pacific of Costa Rica is a representative example of many places in Latin American and the Caribbean where wildlife and communities are already feeling the impacts of climate change. In 2005, with the support of the community, WWF started the project “Conservation of Pacific Leatherbacks” (in Spanish, Conservación – Baulas del Pacífico (CBP)). The CBP Program includes the monitoring and protection of sea turtle nesting sites, community education and training programs, and the development of flooding maps for the Junquillal area.

In this three part series, Gabriel Francia, Ana Fonseca, and Valerie Guthrie from WWF’s Latin American and Caribbean Program will discuss their efforts to work with communities and integrate the latest climate science and mapping technologies as part of a multi-faceted sea turtle and coastal adaptation project in Costa Rica. A previous entry on ClimatePrep featured a video from Junquillal.

In this entry, Gabriel Francia discusses the community’s efforts to adapt – both for the turtles and themselves.

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