Ecosystems are key to adapting agriculture to climate change
San Jose, Costa Rica, March 6, 2014 (IICA). In Central America, the Trifinio region includes territory belonging to three countries. Although El Salvador has the smallest area of land, the water it obtains from the region — from sources that both feed and are protected by rich ecosystems — drives its development.
“Trifinio is like the ‘water factory’ of San Salvador and surrounding areas,” said Adriaan Vogel, coordinator of the GIZ/Bosques y Agua program, at a workshop on agriculture and ecosystem-based adaptation held at the Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in Costa Rica, organized jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its Regional Gateway for Technology Transfer and Climate Change Action in Latin America and the Caribbean (REGATTA).
The meeting was inaugurated by Tania López and Ana Lorena Guevara, deputy ministers of agriculture and environment of Costa Rica, respectively.
As explained during the activity, ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is the use of ecosystem biodiversity and services as part of a strategy for adapting to the adverse effects of climate change.
“In our world, agriculture is not optional. We need a shared vision and a coordinated effort to continue to produce food for the world’s population, and to find new uses of biodiversity that, at the same time, help to preserve it,” said Rodrigo Gámez, President and founder of the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) of Costa Rica, recognized across the globe for its contributions to the preservation of natural resources and scientific research.
“To harness our resources in a sustainable way, so they serve as the basis for climate change adaptation, innovation is vital,” noted the Manager of IICA’s Agriculture, Natural Resources and Climate Change Program, David Williams.
Examples of such innovations are to be found in the Trifinio region, explained Adriaan Vogel: in the groundwater recharge area, agro-forestry systems used for special shade-grown coffee allow water to accumulate in the subsoil and generate bigger profits for small-scale producers. In other places, environmentally-friendly livestock production is practiced by combining grazing areas with trees and shrubs, while in other areas, people are remunerated for conserving the forest cover.
According to UNEP consultant Mayté González, EbA has advantages over other forms of climate change adaptation for the agricultural sector, since it is accessible for rural dwellers and contributes to the preservation of their traditions and cultural values.
“As well as promoting the conservation of biodiversity, adaptation of this kind generates social and economic benefits for rural communities,” she added.
Increasing knowledge
In Latin America and the Caribbean, UNEP promotes the sharing of experiences on climate change adaptation and mitigation through online communities of practice (groups of users that share information about subjects of interest to them in order to increase their knowledge).
Details of how to join these communities and other, related information can be found in the REGATTA gateway (http://cambioclimatico-regatta.org).
Extension workers are one of the groups that needs to be involved if agriculture in the hemisphere is to incorporate the sustainable use of ecosystems into its climate change adaptation strategies, commented Celia Harvey, Vice President of Global Change and Ecosystem Services at Conservation International (CI).
“Many of the practices of ecosystem-based adaptation are already being implemented in Latin America and the Caribbean, but for their adoption to grow in the region we need to close the knowledge gaps, promote the approach from the political and financial sectors and spur their use via extension services,” Harvey remarked.
For further information:
david.williams@iica.int