Supporting Pacific Islands Ecosystem-Based Climate Adaptation

According to a study published in Frontiers, the Pacific Islands are always described as vulnerable to climate change and lack adaptation strategies to cope with it.

However, this description overlooks what Pacific Islanders are doing to adapt through their traditional practices, combining it with scientific knowledge to help implement locally relevant climate solutions.

The study says this lack of appreciation for Pacific Islanders’ leadership in climate change adaptation is made worse by the biases in climate research favouring Western science and technological solutions over other knowledge systems.

The study highlights the importance of supporting and recognising these local adaptation strategies that Pacific Islanders led apart from global climate policy and national governments.

According to the study, these locally led, ecosystem-based adaptations (EBA) are rooted in traditional knowledge and reinforced and supported by climate science, traditional leadership structures, and sustainable climate solutions. These can improve the communities’ resilience and ecosystem health.

Ecosystem-Based strategies

The paper presents examples of local ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) that reinforce the critical role of ecosystems in climate adaptation, which primarily benefits food security, water security, and coastal protection.

These EBA strategies are also projects implemented through the support of governments and NGOs across Micronesia and Melanesia from 2015 to 2018, which include the following:

Revitalising traditional wells

Coastal flooding, high tide events, drought, saltwater intrusion, and pollution affect freshwater security in coastal areas. To improve water quality and reduce environmental impacts and pollution, residents have rehabilitated traditional water wells by cleaning them and planting vegetation to protect them from sedimentation and contamination. 

These actions also support national water policies on good watershed management for sustainable use and conservation of water resources.

Implementing Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)

An integrated approach to managing cropland, livestock, forests, and fisheries designed to support food security under climate change. CSA includes applying agroforestry and experimenting with salt and drought-tolerant crops.

Though the support from the government and NGOs, coastal communities who rely heavily on fishing are encouraged to plant household gardens, introducing new farming practices, and low-cost aquaculture projects designed to improve their food security

Implementation of Protected Areas

The Municipality of Tamil in Micronesia suffers from flooding, erosion, and saltwater intrusion, which affect crop production. The municipality also has poor water management and lacks alternative water sources, which has increased its reliance on the watershed. The health of the municipality’s coastal ecosystems and fish population are also declining.

Problems in water security have led the community to declare its first Watershed Protected Area in 2017, protecting 320 acres of watersheds aimed at improving water security and coastal ecosystem health.

In the island of Chuuk of Oneisomw, the community implemented a marine protection area and enforced a seasonal and extended closure of reef areas.

These climate actions are based on scientific knowledge. They aim to protect coral reefs against dynamite fishing, overfishing, and other damaging activities and ensure that future generations can still access coral reef resources.

The community is also developing a plan to design ridge-to-reef protected areas to prevent pollution runoff and maintain water quality.

These strategies show that Western and traditional approaches can be complementary and mutually beneficial in meeting conservation, resilience, and sustainability goals.

Climate-Smart Development Plans include updating current infrastructure, designated upland lease development for migrating vulnerable community members and infrastructure away from the coast, and recommendations to make future development less susceptible to climate impacts.

Challenges to implementing strategies

The study identified challenges to implementing these strategies, such as the remoteness of the islands, lack of capacity to implement and sustain projects, lack of governance, and the way that impact is measured. These challenges highlight the need for and importance of supportive national policies and political will to reinforce and scale up these efforts.

To read the entire study, click the link below:

PHOTO CREDIT:

Micronesia by User: Kahuroa – Outline: File:World2Hires filled mercator.svg; Map information based on Vaka Moana: Voyages of the Ancestors – the discovery and settlement of the Pacific, ed K.R. Howe, 2008, p57., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61904861

Romanum Island, Chuuk, Micronesia by Euniceminjeong – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48907873