MainDBDraft: Climate Resilient Altitudinal Gradients (CRAGs)

Title: Climate Resilient Altitudinal Gradients (CRAGs)
Geographic region: Africa
Target group: Communities; Policy makers
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Date of submission: 14/08/2020
Further information:
NWPPartner: BirdLife International
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Geographic scope: Local; National
Adaptation element: Adaptation planning and practices; Capacity building; Communication and outreach/awareness; Education and training; Monitoring and evaluation/M＆E; Science and research; Stakeholder involvement
Adaptation sector/theme: Agriculture; Biodiversity; Community-based adaptation; Ecosystem-based adaptation; Ecosystems; Food security; Water resources
Climate hazard: Floods; Land and forest degradation; Loss of biodiversity
Implementing partners: - BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat, Nairobi - Association Burundaise pour la protection de la Nature (ABN) - Association pour la Conservation de la Nature au Rwanda (ACNR) - Horizon Nature (HN) - Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
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Weblink: www.birdlife.org
Type of organization: Non-governmental organization - NGO
NWPUserTitle: Mr.
NWPName: Ashton
NWPSurname: Berry
Job title: Global Climate Change Programme Coordinator
NWPStreet: The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge
NWPZip: CB2 3QZ
Country: Rwanda and Burundi
NWPTel: +44 7805 652 859
NWPPrimaryEmail: ashton.berry@birdlife.org
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NWPTypeOfKnowledge: Technical document/report
Description: Climate Resilient Attitudinal Gradients (CRAGs) are landscape units with a minimum altitudinal range of 1,000 meters, and are characterized by climate resilient biodiversity and ecosystem service values. The minimum altitudinal range is set to allow for upward shifts in distribution and for intervention options to increase resilience. Altitudinal gradients are especially vulnerable to extreme climatic events, such as heavy rains, that are predicted to be more frequent in the future. Heavy rains on mountains and hills cascade down their slopes and cause severe soil erosion, flooding and landslides. Droughts lead to the drying up of streams and rivers, and falling lake levels, impacting on urban and rural water supplies and sabotaging food production. Poor farming practices make such problems worse. The CRAGs approach brings together a variety of conservation approaches and activities, such as integrated water management; ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change; soil erosion, pollution and forest management; and community livelihoods, which have impact across a landscape gradient in ways that directly benefit human well-being and biodiversity values. The goal of the project is to help to understand, and respond to, increased environmental pressures from climate change, and to create and expand incentives to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services in the South Kivu and Rusizi River catchments. If altitudinal gradients are properly managed though integrated water catchment programmes and smart agricultural practices, excess rains can be used to offset water shortages during droughts, and soil erosion and the loss of soil fertility can be reduced. Objectives: • identify the most climate-vulnerable CRAGs within the Kivu and Rusizi catchments by combining historical and current data on land use, topography, rainfall, hydrology, demography, urban growth and resource demands, development initiatives, and threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services with future climate change projections. • developed and promote, through a participatory process, involving government agencies, Lake Basin Authorities, NGOs, private sector and local communities, an integrated CRAGs Intervention Plan, which will guide subsequent actions that will increase climate resilience for livelihoods, biodiversity and ecosystem services within the Rusizi and South Lake Kivu catchments. • strengthen and expand the networks and livelihoods of local community groups, and pilot monitoring activities at the three most climate vulnerable sites, with the aim of reducing soil erosion, which if left unaddressed is expected to increase in severity as a result of climate change. • explore, and where viable, initiate opportunities for sustainable financing strategies to protect the ecological functions of the watersheds, particularly Payments for Ecosystem Services, where downstream stakeholders pay incentives to upstream stakeholders. • analyse key sectoral policies and plans that have an impact on the integrity of biodiversity and ecosystem services, including agriculture, land, water and forestry, with recommendations formulated and shared among relevant national and regional forums and institutions.
Outcome: The 1st and 2nd CRAGs projects: • Conducted sediment fingerprinting, to identify the potential sources of erosion in the catchments. This involved the collection of sediment and soil data at different locations, considering hydrological patterns and geological units in the catchments. The fieldwork also engaged local communities who were introduced to the project and mobilised for active participation. The field data went through analyses to trace metals, which were then used to produce models and maps of the erosion hotspots that contribute most to the sedimentation of Sebeya and Ruhwa Rivers in Rwanda and Muhira River in Burundi. The three river systems were selected based on stakeholder workshop recommendations, but also by considering the hydropower production and other complementary projects (Sebeya), sediment load (Muhira) and contrasting land use (Ruhwa). • Engaged and empowered communities at these sites to work towards reducing erosion and sedimentation using well-established ecosystem-based adaptation and soil conservation techniques. In addition, at each river system, two local conservation groups collected sediment and soil data samples. • Analysed existing policies and laws, and proposed improvements to law enforcement and compliance methods. • Held a regional workshop in Gisenyi, Rwanda that was attended by 39 participants, from the project partners (BirdLife, ABN, ACNR, HN and WCS, Anton Seimon – Appalachian State University, USA), the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin Authority (ABAKIR), and various representatives from government, NGOs, and the private sector from Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and Tanzania. • The Association Burundaise pour la Protection de la Nature (ABN) held workshops in Burundi involving 53 community members, to identify challenges and develop climate adaptation plans. • At least 267 community members were engaged in setting up tree nursery beds with 834,000 seedlings in Ruhwa and Muhira Catchments of Lake Tanganyika basin. ABN also provide around 5,000 fruit trees to communities in Murwi and Mugina Communes of Cibitoke Province.
NWPInformationType: Case study
NWPStatus: Processed
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Created at 14/08/2020 15:00 by
Last modified at 14/08/2020 15:05 by crmmocservices
 
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