ClimatePrep

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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By Eliot Levine, WWF-US

Hammad Naqi Khan, WWF-Pakistan

Hammad Naqi Khan is Director of Programs at WWF – Pakistan and an expert on field-based environmental and water resource management projects. We caught up with Hammad during a recent conference in Washington, where he told us how WWF – Pakistan is working to prepare government and local communities to face the challenges of climate change.

ClimatePrep: WWF-Pakistan has made great progress in incorporating adaptation into its programs. Can you tell us about some of the projects that are currently going on?

HNK: Well, we have two meta-goals – conserving biodiversity, and addressing humanity’s ecological footprint. And we know that part of the way to meet these goals – a very important part – is to help people adapt to the way the world is changing. Whether it’s because of climate change, or anything else.

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This story is part of a series on adaptation in the Danube-Carpathian region.

Flock in flight. Danube River on the Romanian/Bulgarian border © Anton Vorauer/WWF-Canon

Compared to other river systems such as the Ganges river in south Asia, the Danube basin  is not likely to be dramatically affected by climate change. Nevertheless, some parts of the river basin will probably suffer from more droughts. Floods are already increasing in intensity and frequency. So it’s high time for the nineteen countries in the Danube basin to start thinking about climate change adaptation (CCA) and to adjust their policies accordingly!

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By Eliot Levine, WWF-US

The Lunana area of Northern Bhutan is surrounded by a stunning array of pristine mountains and the glaciers that move slowly through them. Amidst this serene beauty, however, is a growing danger that has the potential to be cataclysmic. As the ancient glaciers melt, their runoff collects and eventually forms pools of water known as glacial lakes. These pristine pools normally pose no danger to the surrounding villages, agricultural fields, temples, and schools. Recently, however, climate change has caused some of these lakes to grow substantially in size, posing a massive risk to the surrounding community.

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By Eliot Levine, WWF-US

Marine turtles and their nesting beaches are threatened by sea-level rise and nest overheating resulting from climate change. A WWF project in Junquillal beach, Costa Rica, joined forces with the community to lead the implementation of adaptation measures such as coastal planning in consideration of sea-level rise, flood risk reduction, restoration of coastal vegetation for shade, and educating children with a new awareness of the links among climate shifts, nature conservation, and community well-being. This video is the abridged (8 min) version of the full length (24 min) documentary “Playas Calientes – Olas Furiosas” (2009).

For more information on WWF’s Adaptation to Climate Change for Marine Turtles (ACT) project, click here and here.

This story is part of a series on adaptation in the Brazilian Amazon.

Figure 1. Location of the community of Igarape do Costa © WWF-Brazil

Located in the lower Amazon floodplain of Brazil, the Santarém region harbors important fisheries that many people depend on for employment, food security, government tax revenues, and items to export to both domestic and foreign markets. Climate change is creating difficulties, but not without hope and new opportunities as well.

These fisheries and the services that they provide are known to be sensitive to shifts in the climate. Precipitation patterns are shifting in the Santarém region, with the amount of annual rainfall generally decreasing and floods and droughts becoming more common. Livelihoods for most people around these lakes combine farming and fishing, both of which will be negatively affected by a reduction in rainfall. Less rain will have an especially big impact on the local economy through the quantity of fish that are locally harvested. If regional climate forecasts are accurate, rural livelihoods in lakeshore regions will become increasingly precarious over time.

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By Nikolai Sindorf, WWF-US

Ploughing rice fields near Bandung, Java, Indonesia © Rob Webster / WWF

In 1997 I went to the western part of Java in Indonesia to perform research on agricultural water management. Java is one of the most densely populated regions and high-yielding rice paddy lands in the world. The focus of my research was how rice farmers dealt technologically and organizationally with ongoing reforms in large, engineered irrigation systems. During this research I met a farmer who had meticulously typed out his traditional cropping calendar. This cropping calendar — a titimangsa — read like a beautiful poem, describing the smell of the dew, the color of the sunset, the touch of the soil, and the observation of insect life cycles.

Based on this titimangsa, the farmer made decisions about when to start land preparation, sowing, harvesting, and other parts of the agricultural cycle in order to support the traditional rate of two to three rice harvests per year. By the late 1990s, farmers had already observed how traditional agricultural decision making was changing to more centrally planned modern irrigation systems, but each village still maintained a traditional water diversion and distribution networks as well. For village farmers, the traditional system added real flexibility to their daily water management.

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