Climate change adaptation Archives - Page 287 of 289

Field and laboratory manual for unsupported 210Pb analyses

This manual provides a general conceptual framework for collecting and analyzing radionuclides related to the ²¹⁰Pb dating method in mangrove ecosystems. The ²¹⁰Pb radionuclide dating method applies alpha and/or gamma spectrometry. This guide outlines procedures for field sample collection, laboratory analyses and data analyses relating to these approaches.

Field and laboratory manual for unsupported 210Pb analyses

This manual provides a general conceptual framework for collecting and analyzing radionuclides related to the 210Pb dating method in mangrove ecosystems. The 210Pb radionuclide dating method applies alpha and/or gamma spectrometry. This guide outlines procedures for field sample collection, laboratory analyses and data analyses relating to these approaches.

Landscape resilience in the Mediterranean: Translating solutions into policy and practice

Policy recommendations

Coordinated and cross-sectoral action is urgently needed to improve landscape resilience in the Mediterranean, a highly climate-sensitive region facing droughts, wildfires and land degradation. This demands policy coherence and coordination across sectors and along geographical, administrative and governance scales.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and related EU frameworks must explicitly address Mediterranean landscape challenges through result-based and locally adapted measures. In addition, non-EU countries could adapt from the CAP.
Two-way EU–non-EU cooperation is essential to align governance, legislation and knowledge sharing for coherent and sustainable forest and landscape management. Knowledge sharing of climate challenge solutions from South to North needs particular emphasis.
Digital innovation, strong extension services, and the empowerment of women, youth and local communities are key to scaling sustainable practices and adaptive management.
Innovative and well-coordinated financing, including public–private partnerships and ecosystem service payments, is needed to secure long-term investment, improve access, reduce duplication and enhance the impact of landscape initiatives.

Climate-Smart Agroforestry for Sustainable Landscapes and Agri-Food Systems’ Transformation in Nepal

Increasing demand for food and non-food products by a growing population accompanied by shrinking area of agricultural land—with 17% abandoned or underutilized—has challenged sustainable agricultural development in Nepal. Yet agriculture, which occupies 24.2% of the land area, contributes 23.9% to GDP, engaging two-thirds of the population. Agricultural practices often combine forestry activities across landscapes, forming agroforestry systems. Application of an innovative, climate-smart agroforestry (CSAF) approach to agricultural landscapes can produce a wide range of ecosystem goods and services. A wide range of policy instruments have made clear provisions for utilizing abandoned and marginal land through agroforestry practices that contribute to climate and livelihood goals. However, abandonment of agricultural land is ever-increasing owing to low productivity, out-migration and lack of labor, off-farm income sources and enhanced purchasing power, unscientific land management policies, rugged terrain and harsh climatic conditions, invasive plants and land fragmentation. We recommend policy and institutional reforms through the development of a national roadmap based on a nexus approach to support land-sector policies and priorities, such as strengthening climate and agricultural information services; conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity through site-specific crops in CSAF; development of value chains of CSAF products in partnership with the larger private sector; subsidies and safety nets for resource-poor smallholding and marginalized farmers; building capacity in CSAF technologies and practices; provision of infrastructure and other facilities for commercial CSAF; establishing CSAF as wildlife corridors; and research into the full set of ecosystem services, including carbon and ecotourism, provided by CSAF. This will not only support the agri-food sector but also contribute to climate, livelihood and development goals. This chapter presents the authors’ perspectives on the key challenges facing the agricultural sector and, particularly, the agroforestry sub-sector, and recommends ways for maximizing economic, social and environmental benefits from a CSAF approach.

Prioritizing mitigation pathways in land use and food systems: A systematic framework to assess opportunities

The global food system generates substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, amounting to 13–23 GtCO₂e annually, or 23–42% (average: 31%) of the total global net anthropogenic GHG emissions. Yet, despite its importance, the food system is still rarely considered holistically in climate policies, strategies and plans. To help fill this gap, this paper develops a simple but systematic, comprehensive and integrated framework to assess and rank alternative mitigation options in land use and food systems, based on their desirability (what we should do) and feasibility (what we can do). This framework consists of 23 indicators covering the six dimensions of feasibility defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), namely: the geophysical, environmental-ecological, technological, economic, sociocultural and institutional dimensions. Such a framework could help policymakers to raise the ambition of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and climate policies by identifying and prioritizing ‘low-hanging fruits’, i.e., mitigation options that have the highest transformative potential; can be implemented the most quickly and easily; and are the best adapted to national or local conditions, priorities and needs.

Markets and incentives strongly drive agroforestry adoption: insights from ethnic minority smallholders in Son La, Vietnam

Agroforestry has been promoted in northwestern Vietnam as a sustainable land management practice that offers multiple benefits, including livelihood enhancement, income diversification, adaptation to climate variability and reduced soil erosion on steep slopes. However, research on the multi-stage adoption process of agroforestry and the complex web of factors influencing farmers’ decisions remains scarce. Our study addresses this gap by investigating the adoption process of fruit tree-based agroforestry practices in the upland farming systems of Son La, a northwestern province of Vietnam. Using a Bayesian Network model, we analyzed the combined effects of socio-economic, household and practice-specific factors that shape farmers’ attitudes and intentions throughout the adoption process, from initial decision-making to sustained use. The Bayesian Network was developed using both qualitative and quantitative inputs from 124 farmer interviews and workshops involving domain experts and farmers. Additionally, through an adoption pathway analysis of 124 interviewed farmers, we explored the diverse trajectories farmers follow to integrate agroforestry into their systems, highlighting the adaptive and non-linear nature of the adoption process. Our findings suggest that effective agroforestry promotion requires coordinated, holistic strategies and sustained support rather than single-point interventions or binary adoption models. This study contributes to the understanding of agroforestry adoption as a dynamic, context-sensitive process and provides insights for designing support mechanisms that align with farmers’ evolving needs and decision-making pathways.

Leveraging mangroves to advance climate action in Africa: Zooming in on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Mangroves are vital for climate change adaptation and mitigation due to their efficient carbon sequestration and coastal protection roles providing often untapped opportunities for countries to enhance their national climate commitments (including the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions) under the Paris Agreement adopted at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP21 in 2015. In Africa, several countries possess mangroves and have signed the Paris Agreement, however, the level of integration of mangrove actions into the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) has not been adequately explored.
Using a systematic review methodology, 33 African countries possessing mangroves were selected and their NDCs were reviewed, scored, and ranked to assess their level of integration of mangrove ecosystems into their NDCs.
Countries like Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan demonstrate commendable progress and leadership in integrating mangroves within their NDCs. However, gaps in budgetary commitments, spatial planning, and temporal specificity for mangrove actions among a majority of the countries hinder broader mangrove inclusion. The study also revealed a disconnect between research outputs and policy frameworks, where countries with increased mangrove research output in Africa failed to integrate mangrove actions into their NDCs.
To increase African countries’ resilience to climate risks and contributions to global climate goals, there is a need to increase effective collaboration between mangrove researchers, local communities, and policymakers in mangrove-possessing countries. This will bolster public education on mangroves and their inclusion of mangrove actions in their NDCs, ultimately enhancing the implementation of mangrove actions on the ground.

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