Implementing climate change adaptation in Nepal

Geographical location:

Asia/Pacific > Southern Asia > Nepal

Summary

Some of the poorest communities are vulnerable to climate change impacts as they are largely dependent on natural resources for food, water and livelihoods.

Nepal has a varied topography resulting in a diverse climate. Consequently, adaptation responses must be tailored to meet the specific requirements of each location.

This pilot project in Langtang National Park and Buffer Zone (LNPBZ) aims to combine local indigenous knowledge of natural resources with scientific evidence and new technologies to help local communities adapt to the detrimental effects of climate change.

Background

The poorest and most vulnerable communities are most reliant on climate sensitive sectors for agriculture, freshwater, forests and on natural resources that underpin their livelihoods and development prospects. Community and ecosystem based approaches are needed to collectively underpin good adaptation policy, planning and delivery, and are especially significant to communities and peoples directly dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.

Communities in the target area are facing the natural hazards such as landslides, earthquakes and forest fires. Serious drought, temperature increases, and flashflooding are causing serious detrimental impacts on community livelihoods – causing food insecurity; lack of access to freshwater for irrigation and household needs; soil erosion; damage to infrastructure (including irrigation systems, land, property and roads); increase in pests and diseases, and changes to ecosystems (including NTFPs). These hazards are in part as a result of non-climate drivers (such as land use changes, unsustainable use of natural resources, governance, tourism) but are exacerbated by climatic variability.

Communities in the target area do not have adequate access to information on climate data and local planning structures (including Village Development Committee Plans, and Buffer Zone Management Plans) have not taken into account risks as a result of climate change.

WWF will play a crucial role in working with communities to ensure risks to ecosystem integrity (and therefore ecosystem services) are minimized; thereby building on existing or developing new relationships with other NGOs, private sector organizations, government agencies or research institutions to ensure all vulnerabilities facing people and the natural environment are addressed.

Objectives

By 2012, ecosystem services and livelihood strategies in target communities of Langtang National Park Buffer Zone, Nepal, are better managed to reduce risks and increase resilience to climate change and other related drivers.

Solution

1. By 2015, poor and marginalised communities and ecosystems in the Langtang National Park Buffer Zone have significantly increased resilience to climate change impacts and other related drivers of vulnerability.
2. There is a need to pilot local level adaptation methodologies, which can then be refined and up-scaled. The methodology needs to be both bottom-up and top-down, collating local indigenous knowledge from communities about how they cope with climate hazards, reviewing the political and institutional environment and climate science and then introducing new activities, technologies and practices to improve their capacity to adapt into the future.

3. Effective adaptation approaches need to be supported by a conducive financial, institutional and political enabling environment.

4. An important part of the project process will be to develop an understanding of the range of stakeholders relevant to adaptation in the region, and nationally, and to map the policy and institutional environment as this will shape climate change recommendations for local, national and international responses.