Coastal Resources

Capitalizing on its vast network of trainers throughout Vietnam, the Red Cross integrated a climate change and adaptation unit into its disaster preparedness training modules.  One component of this project was awareness-raising about the impacts of climate change on livelihoods and the need to be prepared to adapt.

Thailand: Friends of the Reef

The impact of climate change and El Niño is increasingly causing coral reefs to bleach. WWF’s Friends of the Reef project is an effort to protect Asia Pacific’s coral reef ecosystems, which are the source of new coral recruits for reefs throughout the region and a source of livelihood for coastal people, especially in the fishery and tourism sectors. Friends of the Reef engages local stakeholders and decision makers in developing, testing, and implementing plans to increase coral reef resilience to major threats in the region, including climate change.

Mangrove forests are located in 23 coastal provinces in Thailand.  These forests used to cover 368,000 ha in Thailand in 1961, but the area dropped to 240,000 ha by 2002.  The major causes of the loss of mangrove forests are timber and charcoal industries, while some areas were converted for urbanization, agriculture, and aquaculture especially shrimp farms.  In 2004, a five-year Action Plan for Mangrove Management in the Gulf of Thailand was established to preserve mangrove forests, as well as to promote the sustainable use of mangrove resources.

The aim of this study is to strengthen the capability of Suriname to deal with the aspects of sea level rise and other relevant aspects of climate change and to contribute to the formulation of national policy and planning, aiming to promote and strengthen sustainable livelihood within the coastal zone. The central theme is therefore the identification of adaptation measures and formulation of national policy and planning.

The project promotes the restoration and sustainable use of ecosystems along the Eastern Coast of Sri Lanka damaged by the Indian Ocean tsunami. It is designed to overcome three key barriers to the restoration of coastal ecosystems and to catalyse a replicable low-cost system. By the end of the project, at least 1,000 ha of coastal lagoons, 75 ha of sand dunes and 250 ha of mangroves will have been rehabilitated and be under sustainable management.

This project is an effort by the residents of Matafa’a village to conserve the local mangrove ecosystem in response to fears that the growing population of the village will encroach upon the mangrove. The village wishes to protect the mangrove because of its ecological value and its role in protecting the community from strong storm surges.

Samoa: Mangrove Restoration in Vaiusu Bay

The overall goal of the Vaiusu Bay Restoriation Project is the replanting of the mangrove area along the whole of Vaiusu Bay, as part of a large restoration project, which is intended to cover the neighboring villages of Vaigaga.

Philippines: Friends of the Reef

The impact of climate change and El Niño is increasingly causing coral reefs to bleach. WWF’s Friends of the Reef project is an effort to protect Asia Pacific’s coral reef ecosystems, which are the source of new coral recruits for reefs throughout the region and a source of livelihood for coastal people, especially in the fishery and tourism sectors. Friends of the Reef engages local stakeholders and decision makers in developing, testing, and implementing plans to increase coral reef resilience to major threats in the region, including climate change.

This UNDP project seeks to implement priority country-driven strategies to adapt to climate-induced coastline erosion within the framework of integrated coastal area management planning, through a combination of demonstration projects, integration of climate change into coastal management policies, capacity building initiatives including training, stakeholder consultations, climate and coastline erosion monitoring mechanisms, as well as  the promotion of regional cooperation.

Mangroves are the most degraded forest habitats in the world and climate change threatens to make this situation worse. Rising sea level and increasing storm intensity/frequency make coastal systems extremely vulnerable. WWF is working to develop a generalizable approach to building the resilience of mangrove forests, and by extension associated coastal ecosystems and coral reefs. This project also aims to build the capacity of natural resource managers and communities to assess vulnerability to climate change and to develop management strategies to decrease vulnerability.