J A N U A R Y 2 015

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TUMACO, COLOMBIA PHOTO: Hanz Rippe

In Tumaco, on Colombia’s Pacific Coast, Rafael Cuero prunes cacao trees to increase their productivity. USAID’s BIOREDD+ program works with more than a dozen communities along this forest-rich coast – one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots – to help develop alternative livelihood activities that support sustainable forest management. High-value crops like cacao can increase income from planted areas in already deforested zones, reducing the pressure to clear native forest. BIOREDD+ is supporting some local communities to attract private investment in the forest carbon they safeguard with sustainable land management practices.

LEARN MORE http://bioredd.org

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVE

F E B R U A R Y 2 015

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DHITAL, NEPAL PHOTO: Bimala Rai Colavito

In Nepal’s Western Development Region, warmer temperatures, shifting rain patterns and melting mountain glaciers are making water supplies less reliable. In the village of Dhital, women are using a solar-powered drip irrigation system to produce off-season, high-value vegetables. Drip irrigation can reduce water use by nearly half, while increasing crop yields by as much as a third. It can also reduce the average three hours per day that women spend collecting water. USAID is working with NGO partners in Nepal to bring these and other climate-resilient livelihood options to 20,000 smallholder families in the country’s Western and Mid-Western Development regions.

LEARN MORE www.usaid.gov/nepal/fact-sheets/initiative- climate-change-adaptation-icca-project

M A R C H 2 015

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SUMATRA, INDONESIA PHOTO: Anne Usher

In the village of Gunung Padang Alai, Rawiyah is one of many women learning climate-resilient farming techniques. With support from USAID, Rawiyah is growing organic eggplant, carrots, celery and other herbs and vegetables – and selling whatever her family doesn’t eat through a village cooperative she now leads. Growing vegetables at home saves Rawiyah money and time travelling to market. She also says the vegetables taste better and improve her family’s nutrition. Home vegetable gardens can be a critical adaptation technique in Sumatra, where hotter temperatures and drought are hurting rice yields in some areas, and where villages like Gunung Padang Alai can quickly become isolated by intense rains and flooding, risks that are increasing with climate change.

LEARN MORE www.field-indonesia.or.id/en/

A P R I L 2 015

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CHOISEUL PROVINCE, SOLOMON ISLANDS PHOTO: Carlo Iacovino

In Choiseul province, community leaders come together to learn and discuss responses to climate change. Across the Pacific Islands, people are experiencing the impacts of climate change on vital livelihood resources, from coastal infrastructure to fisheries to water supplies. USAID is partnering with the Pacific Regional Environment Program Secretariat (SPREP) to support a range of adaptation trainings and activities that will reach 90 communities in 12 Pacific Island states. Officials and community members are getting engaged in disaster prevention, climate-smart land use planning and small-scale community infrastructure projects. In Choiseul province, community members are working to create protected natural areas and restore damaged forests and mangroves, which provide critical ecosystem services.

LEARN MORE wwww.facebook.com/ coastalcommunityadaptationproject

M AY 2 015

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NOVO SELO, MACEDONIA PHOTO: Aleksandra Todorovska

In the rural village of Novo Selo, an elderly man learns about affordable techniques to adapt crops for climate change. About half the people in rural Macedonia depend on small farms and orchards, and harvests are highly sensitive to climate variations and weather extremes. USAID is working with small farmers to develop and disseminate affordable practices to protect crops from current and future risks, including hotter temperatures, droughts, floods and storms. Simple techniques like placing nets over orchards to block ultraviolet radiation have already proven useful in protecting fruit from hail and sun damage. A “caravan” of climate change experts periodically travels the countryside, distributing information and hosting open question-and-answer sessions with farmers. These benefits stem from non-climate programs.

LEARN MORE www.usaid.gov/macedonia/fact-sheets/adaptation-climate-change-agriculture

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J U N E 2 015

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OUTAMBA-KILIMI NATIONAL PARK, S IERRA LEONE PHOTO: Willie McGhee

Outside Sierra Leone’s Outamba-Kilimi National Park, Soriba Kamara holds a tin of Parkia biglobosa seeds, known for their edible and medicinal properties. The Outamba-Kilimi Park lies on the border with Guinea, and communities on both sides of the park rely on unsustainable hunting and agriculture practices, owing to a lack of sustainable livelihood options. With support from USAID, the U.S. Forest Service and other partners, the STEWARD program is engaging local communities in planning and developing new sustainable, low-carbon livelihood options to support improved forest management and curb emissions from forest loss. STEWARD is sparking interest in planting trees, which can create critical firebreaks, by offering seedlings of valued native species, like Parkia biglobosa. STEWARD is also bringing villagers together to map local land uses.

LEARN MORE http://stewardprogram.org/where-we-work/ priority-zone-1/

J U LY 2 015

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HINCHE, HAITI PHOTO: Ron Savage

Near Hinche, in Haiti’s Central Plateau, a woman proudly displays two healthy mango seedlings, raised at a small commercial tree nursery established by local women. With support from USAID and World Vision, women at this nursery planted thousands of seedlings on nearby hillsides. Planting trees is a crucial activity across Haiti’s deforested landscape. Fast-growing tree species can stabilize the soil, reducing erosion and preventing dangerous mudslides – risks that could become even worse if hotter temperatures bring more intense and less predictable rains, as many models predict. Trees can also sequester atmospheric carbon, helping to mitigate climate change. In Haiti, USAID has supported the planting of fruit trees, which have the added benefits of providing a source of nutrition and income for local people and being less likely to be cut down for charcoal production. These benefits stem from non-climate programs.

LEARN MORE http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pdacu612.pdf

A U G U S T 2 015

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ST. ELIZABETH PARISH, JAMAICA PHOTO: Kimberley Anne Weller

In Jamaica’s St. Elizabeth parish, farmer Hicks Holness protects his scallion crop from the beet armyworm, a pest that has destroyed dozens of hectares and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop damages in one season. Higher average temperatures and extended dry seasons have favored increased outbreaks of this pest in recent years. But with support from USAID/Jamaica’s REEACH program, onion and scallion farmers in eight communities across St. Elizabeth parish are now winning the battle against the beet armyworm. A climate-smart field school has trained more than 200 farmers in integrated pest management. Graduates serve as integrated pest management experts in their communities.

LEARN MORE www.usaid.gov/documents/1862/jamaica-reeach

S E P T E M B E R 2 015

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NUQUÍ, COLOMBIA PHOTO: Hanz Rippe

In Nuquí, on Colombia’s Pacific Coast, women proudly display their culinary wares against a backdrop of pristine tropical forest and unspoiled beach. This area is known as one of the natural marvels of the world – both for its tropical forests, teeming with biodiversity, and for its rich cultural and gastronomic traditions. USAID’s BIOREDD+ program is supporting local communities along Colombia’s Pacific Coast to develop alternative livelihood activities that support sustainable land management and involve men and women in forest conservation. Ecotourism is one sustainable livelihood option in this region, where pristine forests and beaches attract eco-tourists. This provides local people with improved livelihoods and economic incentives to protect forests, which in time will capture more carbon and help to mitigate climate change.

LEARN MORE http://bioredd.org

O C TO B E R 2 015

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KOLO HILLS, TANZANIA PHOTO: Andrea Athanas

In Tanzania’s Kolo Hills, village forest scouts read about Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (REDD+), a global policy framework to create incentives to protect forests. Using REDD+, USAID has supported local governments and communities in Tanzania to curb deforestation and promote alternative livelihood activities. In the Kolo Hills, where forests are being cleared for logging, charcoal production and agricultural expansion, several local communities have adopted measures to curb deforestation. Village forest scouts enforce the measures communities have adopted – such as planting trees for timber or using more productive farming practices – and verify the benefits for accounting purposes. This work is carried out by the African Wildlife Foundation and today has major support from Norway. USAID support came from non-climate programs.

LEARN MORE www.usaid.gov/tanzania/environment

N O V E M B E R 2 015

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KALIWA WATERSHED, PHILIPPINES PHOTO: Josephine Rodelas

In the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve, an 83-year-old Igorot woman plants seedlings alongside other indigenous and non-indigenous community members. USAID’s B+WISER program supports communities across the Philippines to restore natural landscapes, which are critical to preventing storm- and erosion-related disasters. As climate change brings more intense and less predictable storms, B+WISER is working with communities to articulate clear roles in forest and watershed conservation and rehabilitation. In the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve, B+WISER has identified many dynamic women and women-led organizations. More than 50 women have participated in trainings to grow and plant seedlings for forest restoration in the province where the reserve is located.

LEARN MORE www.usaid.gov/philippines/energy-and-environment/bwiser

D E C E M B E R 2 015

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IÑAPARI , PERU PHOTO: Marcela Youle

In Peru’s Madre de Dios region, an employee of the Maderacre timber company uses a small metal plate with a code to mark a tree for sustainable harvest within the firm’s forest concession. USAID’s Peru Bosques program works closely with this local forestry company to develop and support sustainable forest management practices, ultimately helping to curb forest loss and related carbon pollution. Peru Bosques also works with indigenous communities and organizations in Peru’s Amazon forest, in some cases helping them establish fair trade rules with logging companies. Agreed standards that support sustainability and profitability can help communities protect the forest resources they depend on and avoid the conflicts that can arise when forests are over-exploited.

LEARN MORE http://www.usaid.gov/peru/our-work

ISABELA PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES PHOTO: Marvin Abarca Malana

In the Philippine province of Isabela, an elderly farmer grasps his straw coat while participating in a flood evacuation drill. Across the Philippines, USAID supports disaster preparedness exercises and measures to increase people’s readiness for extreme weather events. Climate change work provides a critical complement to readiness efforts by helping to ensure that national and local agencies and institutions can benefit from the best available climate and weather information. Access to data is critical to forecasting extreme weather events, identifying danger zones and providing more lead time for people and communities to evacuate. Data services are becoming even more critical as extreme weather events become less predictable due to climate change.

LEARN MORE www.usaid.gov/philippines/energy-and-environment

DHEY, NEPAL PHOTO: Bronwyn Llewellyn

In Nepal’s upper Mustang region, the villagers of Dhey are abandoning their ancestral home after the mountain glacier they relied on for water disappeared. With support from USAID, the Hariyo Ban project is helping the people of Dhey prepare to move to a new village, closer to the main stem of the Kali Gandaki River. Community members are learning to adopt new water-efficient agricultural tools and approaches and develop long-term strategies for community resilience in their new home. Unpredictable water supplies is one of the most pervasive effects of climate change across Nepal, as rainfall patterns shift and mountain glaciers recede.

LEARN MORE www.usaid.gov/nepal/fact-sheets/hariyo-ban-project

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