Solutions to the climate crisis that centers on natural ecosystems and people are gaining traction around the world. For decades, nature-based solutions have been pursued to mitigate climate change and adapt to climate change impacts. Recently, governments and climate advocates have turned to the growing field of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) as a part of an overall strategy to combat the negative impacts of climate change. As a subset of the broader field of nature-based solutions, EbA helps people adapt to the impacts of climate change through conservation, sustainable management, and restoration of ecosystems.
EbA solutions highlight the importance of ecosystem services and biodiversity in reducing the vulnerability of communities to the climate crisis. By improving ecosystem health to adapt to climate change, EbA solutions are more sustainable over the long term and often more cost-effective than stand-alone grey infrastructure solutions, which utilize human-made materials like cement to adapt to climate impacts. Hybrid approaches, or green-grey infrastructure – combining traditional engineered approaches with ecosystem-based infrastructure – provide combined adaptation benefits for communities. EbA practices can provide social, economic, climatic, and environmental benefits to local communities. Implementing EbA solutions in mountain regions is important because of the unique climate risk these areas face. Enhancing natural systems will allow these regions to adapt to these risks while ensuring the resilience of water resources.
This case study aims to advance knowledge on traditional water resource management and climate change adaptation planning. Interviews with policymakers and government representatives, civil society representatives, and local community members in Nepal and Perú were conducted to understand the knowledge exchange around water adaptation practices and technologies between local communities and state and national actors through the lens of ecosystem-based adaptation. This study assessed the prioritization of ecosystem-based adaptation in the Andean and Hindu Kush Himalayan regions and the role of sustainable economic development. This analysis also highlights differences between adaptation planning implementation in practice and high-level policies on climate change adaptation, including National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).