MainDB: Conservation of forests and mangroves with economic diversification as a mean to adapt to climate change

Title: Conservation of forests and mangroves with economic diversification as a mean to adapt to climate change
NWPWeblink:
NWPTypeOfOrganization:
NWPGeographicRegion: South America
Scope of work:
NWPMandatesandFrameworks:
NWPModalityApproachandMechanism:
NWPEffortsToAddressSOE:
NWPRelevantStakeholders:
NWPFocusonNElossesFlag:
NWPImpactAreas:
NWPOutputs:
Good practices and lessons learned:
NWPGapsChallenges:
Date of submission:
Abbreviation:
Activities:
The project focussed on: 
Protecting the forests and mangroves, to reduce the area’s vulnerability to erosion and expected sea-level rise as impacts of climate change 
Implementing/strengthening climate change resilient local agriculture/cocoa crops which are produced by local communities in a profitable/sustainable way. This ensured that communities have higher incomes and improve their living standards. Furthermore, this brought about sustainable growth for the local economy
Building a business case proving the integration of local/aboriginal communities in a multinational value chain, while providing both parties with sustainable growth and development 
Monitoring and studying the changes in crops and soil while maintaining a seed bank of other varieties that will be more resilient to climate change
Providing training to farmers on better farming practices to improve both quality and yield and to diversify their activities 
Monitoring the appearance of diseases in the region that are a consequence of climate change

Adaptation element: Adaptation planning and practices; Capacity building; Climate observations; Communication and outreach/awareness; Education and training; Financial support; Impact assessment; Knowledge management; Monitoring and evaluation/M&E; Science and research; Socio-economic data and information; Technology support; Vulnerability assessment
Adaptation sector/theme: Agriculture; Food security; Water resources; Ecosystems; Biodiversity; Coastal areas/zones; Health; Disaster risk reduction
Climate hazard:
Country: Colombia
NWPDataSource: PSI
Description: Bunge, an agribusiness and food company, funded and implemented the project on the conservation of forests and mangrove cover in coastal regions through economic diversification and integration of local communities in coastal areas of Colombia. 
This case study was featured in the guidebook: mobilizing private sector finance for climate change adaptation where its successes are highlighted as a business case proving the integration of local/aboriginal communities in a multinational value chain while providing both parties with sustainable growth and development.
 
The measures from this project are said to have resulted in a reduction of vulnerability to erosion and sea-level rise, conservation of biodiversity in the coastal region as well as engagement of local communities in a profitable/sustainable way (by introducing the production of cash crops like cocoa, palms, non-timber forest products). The harvest of cash crops is being collected by Bunge for its business purposes, resulting in commercial benefits to the funding agency. 
Expected outcome: Strategies to fight against climate change impacts. Conservation strategies to restore ecosystems vulnerable to climatic adversities. The project will create corridors to guarantee genetic flow throughout the 46,000 ha. It will also restore mangroves, as a way to protect from flooding due to sea level rise / changes in precipitation regimes. This will guarantee the conservation of local plant and animal species. These ecosystems provide nurseries to many of the fish species that feeds / economically sustains the local community.
Strengthening of agricultural / agroforestry to combat climate change. The project will support/enhance the cocoa plantation and production practices to guarantee additional revenue. This will enable the community to conserve the forest and avoid future degradation. The project will invest in cocoa production (4000 tons/year), which will strengthen capacity building so that improved hybrids of cocoa will thrive under prevailing climatic conditions. The nursery will have technical advisory from a top cocoa partner and constant cross-breeding of the most resistant crops. Quality / yield improvements are goals with the focus on planting seeds resistant to the local conditions. It will provide economic support to cocoa growers, in a way that competitive qualities and quantities will be produced and exported. Advisory includes the best certification according to the buyer’s needs. The project also will broaden the products that the community grow for income diversification. A seed bank of other varieties that will be more resistant to climate changes will be kept. Agroforestry practices will also be implemented. This implies a combination of trees, bamboos, palms and other non-timber forest products. Agroforestry will enhance diversification and contribute to improve nutrition and food security. The surplus of produce can either be used as part of the family diet or as means to achieve additional income depending on the season and climatic conditions. Agroforestry will total about 5,000 ha.
Capacity building and improving access to information about climate change. This will lead to information on the most urgent requirements for addressing climate risks at the local level. The on-going continuous education and capacity building programs for the communities in the project area are essential adaptation strategies. This strategy reduces vulnerability of livelihoods and empowers communities for active participation in decisionmaking process: workshops with the communities will be conducted periodically throughout the project development in which different aspects on climate change will be dealt with. Training and better practices courses will be delivered to the farmers to enhance quality and yields. A partnership with an experienced global cacao producer and trader has been established including the deployment of a cocoa agroforestry expert. Only by implementing basic and easy cocoa plantation management practices could increase the current yields significantly / reduce diseases. 
Monitor/control disease appearance. Palm oil was cultivated with success and no major influence of plagues or diseases were found in the last 30 years. Later a combination of factors including increased humidity, rainfall and rising water levels around palm plantations led to an exponential increase in a disease called Phytophthora Palmivora (aka PC) that attacks palm and proliferates in humid conditions. Because of this, the oil palm in the region was almost entirely destroyed by the disease and the small farmers were directly affected. This project will monitor the recurrence of crops diseases and human diseases and try to contain cases at the local level while being capable to give an early warning if any disease arises.
Further information:
NWPGeographicScope:
Indicators of achievement: A. Evolution of tonnage of sustainable cocoa produced 
B. Metrics on soil nutrients 
C. Assessment of community approval of the process 
D. Log of diseases /plagues affecting the production
NWPInformationType: Case study
NWPJoinDate:
NWPPartner: Bunge Limited
Purpose: The case study aims to demonstrate the feasibility of conserving forests and mangroves through economic diversification while integrating local communities with a multinational corporation in a business case. This is done in order to search for a sustainable example of adaptation to climate change impacts. The project will support Afro-Colombian communities to develop and implement a conservation project of 46,000 hectares of forest that will foster the adoption of sustainable agriculture and forestry to adapt to climate change. 
Regional group:
Target group: Communities; Policy makers; Private sector
NWPWorkStream: NWP
NWPYear:
NWPOutcome:
NWPPartners:
Type of knowledge resource:
Scale of work:
NWPSlowOnsetEvents:
NWPReferences: Read the case study summary here: https://unfccc.int/files/adaptation/nairobi_work_programme/private_sector_initiative/application/pdf/bunge.pdf

Implementing partners:
NWPYearPublication:
NWPUpdate:
SourceItemID:
NWPSecendaryEmail:
NWPPrimaryEmail:
NWPTypeOfKnowledge:
NWPCountryItem:
NWPRelevantWeblinks:

Created at 21/04/2016 11:46 by Roberto Felix
Last modified at 05/05/2022 20:00 by Lilian Daphine Lunyolo
 
Go back to list
Home(NWPStaging)