Socio-Ecological Resilience to Climate Change in a Fragile Ecosystem

Socio-Ecological Resilience to Climate Change in a Fragile Ecosystem
Author: Sosten Chiotha
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2018-06-13
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1351057081

The Lake Chilwa Basin Climate Change Adaptation Programme was a seven-year research and development programme in Malawi that concluded in March 2017. The programme was designed to protect the livelihoods of the population and enhance resilience of the natural resource base upon which it depends. The Lake Chilwa Basin is an important wetland ecosystem which is a designated Ramsar Site under the Ramsar Wetland Convention and a Man and Biosphere Reserve designated by UNESCO. This book provides a review of the research and programme interventions done based on the ecosystem approach (EA), a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources. This is designed to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way in its implementation of mitigation and climate change adaptation interventions. It is shown how: local and district institutions were strengthened to better manage natural resources and build resilience to climate change; cross-basin and cross-sector natural resource management and planning for climate change throughout the Basin were built; household and enterprise adaptive capacity in Basin hotspots was built; and improved forest management and governance contributed in mitigating the effects of climate change. The study followed all the twelve key EA principles with involvement of all key stakeholders. It is one of the first programmes to apply EA on such a wide temporal and spatial scale and provides key lessons to be learned for the protection of other fragile ecosystems in an era of climate change.

An Ecosystem Services Approach to Assessing the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

An Ecosystem Services Approach to Assessing the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2013-12-20
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0309288487

As the Gulf of Mexico recovers from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, natural resource managers face the challenge of understanding the impacts of the spill and setting priorities for restoration work. The full value of losses resulting from the spill cannot be captured, however, without consideration of changes in ecosystem services-the benefits delivered to society through natural processes. An Ecosystem Services Approach to Assessing the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico discusses the benefits and challenges associated with using an ecosystem services approach to damage assessment, describing potential impacts of response technologies, exploring the role of resilience, and offering suggestions for areas of future research. This report illustrates how this approach might be applied to coastal wetlands, fisheries, marine mammals, and the deep sea-each of which provide key ecosystem services in the Gulf-and identifies substantial differences among these case studies. The report also discusses the suite of technologies used in the spill response, including burning, skimming, and chemical dispersants, and their possible long-term impacts on ecosystem services.

Investigating Climate and Human Induced Landscape Change for Improving Social-ecological System Resilience

Investigating Climate and Human Induced Landscape Change for Improving Social-ecological System Resilience
Author: Susan Kotikot
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023
Genre:
ISBN:

Arid and Semi-Arid Landscapes (ASALs) support millions of people worldwide yet these livelihoods and landscapes are increasingly vulnerable in the face of multiple environmental stressors. In recent decades, climate change and variability of rainfall -- from droughts to increasingly patchy rainfall - have exacerbated this vulnerability and worsened aridity in many ASALs. Climate change is also expected to cause shifts in climate suitability of crops and increase the suitability of some crop disease vectors, pests, and diseases, potentially leading to further decrease in productivity of crops and pastoral systems. Increasing demand for row crop agriculture has further caused unsustainable intensification and expansion of cropland into ASALs and forests leading to continuous degradation of the ecological landscape. Such dynamics collectively change the structure and function of ASALs in unknown ways that reduce social-ecological system (SES) resilience. Recent expansion of cropland into arid and semi-arid land and forests further threatens traditional livelihoods and ecosystem services. Successful mainstreaming of climate change adaptation policies requires integrative approaches that span the socioeconomic and biophysical spheres, especially within complex social-ecological systems. Limited studies have been done to characterize dynamics of agropastoral landscapes in the sub-Saharan region where vulnerability to climate change is highest, and where local assessment of impact is necessary to adequately determine adaptation strategies. My dissertation research investigated landscape dynamics of the agropastoral landscape of Narok, Kenya -- as a case study site, focusing on the nature and impacts of climate induced changes in rainfall patterns, and historical legacies of land policies to understand how the resultant landscape supports ecosystem services abundance and access to address local vulnerability. To begin with, in Chapter 2, I investigated the influence of historical land policies on contemporary patterns of land use and land cover to determine potential impacts on ecosystem services. In Chapter 3, I characterized the spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall variability. In Chapter 4, I explored local perceptions of change in rainfall patterns, and its impacts. Collectively, my dissertation generated essential knowledge on dynamics of a complex and vulnerable agropastoral landscape that are necessary for determining contextualized adaptation strategies and enhancing social-ecological resilience.

The Palgrave Handbook of Socio-ecological Resilience in the Face of Climate Change

The Palgrave Handbook of Socio-ecological Resilience in the Face of Climate Change
Author: Sunil Nautiyal
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-09-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789819922055

This book shares experiences and knowledge on climate change impacts and adaptation, risk reduction strategies, communities’ responses, and best practices from different landscapes of India. It provides insights into climate change risk reduction in trans-disciplinary frameworks. The findings and discussions put forward in the chapters, largely based on micro-level case studies, provide an in-depth understanding of interactions among ecology, society, and economy under different conditions of changing climate. It contains critical discussion on both existing and required actions as adjustments to climate change impacts by different actors at diverse scales and contexts. The recommendations will be beneficial in climate change adaptation planning for India and other developing countries, where a large portion of the population directly depends on climate-sensitive sectors. The content of the book is interdisciplinary and it will be beneficial for scholars and practitioners from natural science, social science, policy, and governance across the continents.

The Economics of Climate-Resilient Development

The Economics of Climate-Resilient Development
Author: Sam Fankhauser
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2016-07-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1785360310

Some climate change is now inevitable and strategies to adapt to these changes are quickly developing. The question is particularly paramount for low-income countries, which are likely to be most affected. This timely and unique book takes an integrated look at the twin challenges of climate change and development. The book treats adaptation to climate change as an issue of climate-resilient development, rather than as a bespoke set of activities (flood defences, drought plans, and so on), combining climate and development challenges into a single strategy. It asks how the standard approaches to development need to change, and what socio-economic trends and urbanisation mean for the vulnerability of developing countries to climate risks. Combining conceptual thinking with practical policy prescriptions and experience the contributors argue that, to address these questions, climate risk has to be embedded fully into wider development strategies

Handbook of Climate Change Resilience

Handbook of Climate Change Resilience
Author: Walter Leal Filho
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019-08-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783319933351

Climate resilience, or the capacity of socio-ecological systems to adapt and upkeep their functions when facing physical-chemical stress, is a key feature of ecosystems and communities. As the risks and impacts of climate change become more intense and more visible, there is a need to foster a broader understanding of both the impacts of these disruptions to food, water, and energy supplies and to increase resilience at the national and local level. The Handbook of Climate Change Resilience comprises a diverse body of knowledge, united in the objective of building climate resilience in both the industralised and the developing world. This unique publication will assist scientists, decision-makers and community members to take action to make countries, regions and cities more resilient.

Climate Change, Disasters, Sustainability Transition and Peace in the Anthropocene

Climate Change, Disasters, Sustainability Transition and Peace in the Anthropocene
Author: Hans Günter Brauch
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2018-09-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319975625

This book provides insight into Anthropocene-related studies by IPRA’s Ecology and Peace Commission. The first three chapters discuss the linkage between disasters and conflict risk reduction, responses to socio-environmental disasters in high-intensity conflict scenarios and the fragile state of disaster response with a special focus on aid-state-society relations in post-conflict settings. The two following chapters analyse climate-smart agriculture and a sustainable food system for a sustainable-engendered peace and the ethnology of select indigenous cultural resources for climate change adaptation focusing on the responses of the Abagusii in Kenya. A specific case study focuses on social representations and the family as a social institution in transition in Mexico, while the last chapter deals with sustainable peace through sustainability transition as transformative science concluding with a peace ecology perspective for the Anthropocene.

Climate Change Adaptation and Development

Climate Change Adaptation and Development
Author: John Carstensen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2018-04-19
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 131552547X

Climate change is real and it is man-made. We have put so many greenhouse gas pollutants into the atmosphere that we will see significant and long-term change that we need to adapt and adjust to. It is important for development practitioners to understand these impacts and the challenge of how and when to adapt to climate change. There are plenty of grim presentations of what the extremes of the possible climate scenarios will throw at us over the next 100 years, but not all change will be disastrous; some change will be beneficial, but much of the change will happen at an unprecedented rate that will require the best possible analysis and understanding of how and when we should adapt to climate change. This is important for development practitioners as we invest in ensuring that poverty is reduced and eliminated and the well-being of everyone is improved. Many countries and communities around the world are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but developing economies may on one hand be less resilient to the impact, but could on the other hand be in a better position to make their development climate smart by making the most efficient use of their economic resources. The chapters in this book shine a light on the complexity and the multi-dimensional aspects of climate change adaptation. They gather some of the experiences of addressing climate change impacts in a development context. This book was previously published as a special issue of Development in Practice.

Nature-based Solutions for Resilient Ecosystems and Societies

Nature-based Solutions for Resilient Ecosystems and Societies
Author: Shalini Dhyani
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2020-07-07
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9811547122

Over the past few decades, the frequency and severity of natural and human-induced disasters have increased across Asia. These disasters lead to substantial loss of life, livelihoods and community assets, which not only threatens the pace of socio-economic development, but also undo hard-earned gains. Extreme events and disasters such as floods, droughts, heat, fire, cyclones and tidal surges are known to be exacerbated by environmental changes including climate change, land-use changes and natural resource degradation. Increasing climate variability and multi-dimensional vulnerabilities have severely affected the social, ecological and economic capacities of the people in the region who are, economically speaking, those with the least capacity to adapt. Climatic and other environmental hazards and anthropogenic risks, coupled with weak and wavering capacities, severely impact the ecosystems and Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) and, thereby, to human well-being. Long-term resilience building through disaster risk reduction and integrated adaptive climate planning, therefore, has become a key priority for scientists and policymakers alike. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is a cost-effective approach that utilizes ecosystem and biodiversity services for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, while also providing a range of co-benefits like sustainable livelihoods and food, water and energy security. This book discusses the concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) – both as a science and as art – and elaborates on how it can be applied to develop healthy and resilient ecosystems locally, nationally, regionally and globally. The book covers illustrative methods and tools adopted for applying NbS in different countries. The authors discuss NbS applications and challenges, research trends and future insights that have wider regional and global relevance. The aspects covered include: landscape restoration, ecosystem-based adaptation, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, ecological restoration, ecosystem-based protected areas management, green infrastructure development, nature-friendly infrastructure development in various ecosystem types, agro-climatic zones and watersheds. The book offers insights into understanding the sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the grass roots level and can help indigenous and local communities harness ecosystem services to help achieve them. It offers a unique, essential resource for researchers, students, corporations, administrators and policymakers working in the fields of the environment, geography, development, policy planning, the natural sciences, life sciences, agriculture, health, climate change and disaster studies.