Global climate change is adversely impacting the world’s ecosystems and communities directly dependent on these natural resources for their sustenance. The changing climate is directly threatening the services that ecosystems provide such as food, clean water, coastal protection, fuel-wood, soil stability and pollination. While global efforts to mitigate the causes of climate change are currently under way, adaptation is about ‘managing the unavoidable’ and addressing the impacts that are already being experienced by people and ecosystems. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is a relatively new concept which uses the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems to provide services that enable communities in adapting to climate change.

Watershed development is an important component of Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) in a country like India where effects of desertification are being felt as our water reserves are running out. The Wasundhera approach adopted by Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR) in 2005 has been implemented in 200 villages all over India. This approach has helped develop partnerships between NGOs and villagers based on regeneration of the resource base, equitable distribution of benefits and gender equality incorporating the economic, environmental and social tenets of EbA.

Each village programme is context specific and caters to that region’s natural and human resources. The watershed development activities are supplemented by incorporating local women and people from the lower socio-economic classes in the Village Watershed Committees and Village Development Committees. For example, in Pangam village in Dhule district in Maharastra, five stakeholder groups namely big farmers, marginal farmers, landless, women and youth were identified to determine actionable priorities. After deliberation with the stakeholders, it was found that the common thread linking most problems was the lack of water. The field of concerns in the village was narrowed down to three main issues: unemployment and lack of future work opportunities, shortage of drinking and irrigation water and poor communication facilities in terms of transportation and access to markets. The watershed management programme for Pangam village was developed keeping these concerns of the stakeholders in mind.

Making linkages between natural resource management and economic prosperity is an important feature of EbA. In some of the villages in Madhya Pradesh where the Wasundhera approach has been operational, marked improvements have been observed in just two years. The number of medium and better off families have gone up from 12% to 23% and the number of poor families have dropped from 22% to 11%. Out of four ranks in the socio-economic status, the average family progressed from the 3rd to the 2nd rank. Greater involvement of villagers through Village Development Committees helped them in organising Gram Sabhas and Gram Panchayats. Once they knew their rights, the villagers were able to organise government-funded improvement works within their villages such as repairs to roads, household toilet construction etc.

EbA can generate significant social & economic benefits, contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and build on the traditional knowledge of indigenous people and local communities. In addition, well managed ecosystems have climate change mitigation potential through the sequestration and storage of carbon in healthy forests, wetlands and coastal ecosystems. Thus, EbA approaches provide extensive interlinked benefits.

An important feature of Ecosystem based adaptation as compared to other approaches is the pursuit of not only environmental and adaptation benefits, but also of social benefits for the local communities including vulnerable groups such as women, youth and indigenous people. For example by promoting increase in income, diversification of jobs, educational opportunities and gender equality. Properly implemented EbA projects have the potential to deliver benefits for local communities including water and food security, shelter, risk reduction, medicine supply and local climate regulation.

It is very important to take the social dimension into account when developing and implementing ecosystem based approaches to climate change adaptation. Designing supporting government policies and policy instruments is also very essential. Another critical factor is to undertake the valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. We rely on the ecosystem’s regulatory services (climate, flood control, waste treatment) and provisioning services (freshwater, food and fibre). Historically no price has been paid for these services but they do come at a cost and need to be accounted for.

The concept of Ecosystem-based adaptation can be applied at different geographical scales (local, regional, national) and within various time frames (short to long term). It is most effective when implemented as part of a broad portfolio of adaptation and development interventions.

EbA is a cost-effective, robust and flexible strategy that can cope with the magnitude and uncertainty of climate change. It is prominent in both national and international funding mechanisms as it provides a viable strategy for pursuing development goals simultaneously with climate change adaptation and mitigation. Synergies between climate change adaptation and other economic and social goals have the potential to be achieved through the EbA approach.

However, additional actions and supportive local conditions are required to successfully pursue Ecosystem- based adaptation at a broad scale. Necessary factors include adequate and locally accessible financing, exploration of public-private partnerships and payment for ecosystem services, cross-sector integration of investments in EbA as well as an alignment between goals at the national and local levels. There is also a need for effective collaboration between policy makers, local communities and capacity building organisations as well as the existence of supportive political will. q