Through the project Articulating Global Agendas from the Local Level, it has been possible to conserve and restore biodiversity and reduce the risk of disasters in the two countries. In addition, 1,205,098 citizens have benefited.
08 February, 2022. Alma Álvarez Mejía works as secretary of the ejidal office, a meeting place for agricultural producers in the Cofradía de Juárez ejido in Armería, a municipality in the state of Colima in Mexico. Alma is one of the people in charge of the nursery for the agriculture of native species, implemented in collaboration with the inhabitants.
Alma is very motivated by the organisation and the involvement she has had with the local people, with whom she has learned to carry out reforestation measures in areas adjacent to rivers that provide benefits to agriculture and mitigate and prevent flooding due to overflowing. In addition, they contribute to urban revegetation that allows them to adapt to climate change.
For Alma, a 36-year-old mother of a five-year-old child, participating in the project Articulating Global Agendas from the Local, which is being implemented in Mexico and Brazil, is a way to reduce the vulnerability faced by the locality, as the area is prone to being affected by the impacts of climate changes such as floods and droughts, which are becoming more frequent and intense.
Since 2019, the project has been implementing training actions for adaptation through the conservation and restoration of native species such as rosa morada, guaje and mesquite in the Cofradía de Juárez ejido, and has improved the quality of life of the inhabitants of Armería by increasing biodiversity and reducing vulnerability to climate change.
Alma Álvarez says that the project has incorporated the work of different families, who in turn have helped the community and the country.
Like Alma, 1,205,098 citizens of the local territories, mainly producers and agricultural producers, benefited from and developed actions with the project, which was implemented in seven municipalities: Colima, Tláhuac and Xochimilco in Mexico; and Porto Seguro, Santa Cruz Cabralia, Cielo Azul and Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil.
Find out where the project is located
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| Brazil | Mexico |
Articulating Local Agendas from the Global, part of the EUROCLIMA+ programme, was implemented by Pronatura Mexico and the National Association of Municipal Environmental Bodies (ANAMMA) Brazil, from February 2019 to December 2021. During this period, multi-stakeholder and multi-level synergies were also established with various bodies, including federal, state and local governments, private companies, non-governmental organisations, civil society and local communities.
Gerzain Zamora, territorial coordinator of the federal programme Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) in the state of Colima, says that "the multi-level linkage that the project has provided and the participation of society in local actions for global changes is important".
Gender approach and EbA actions in Mexico and Brazil
The project held a total of 56 workshops at priority sites in Mexico and Brazil for decision-makers and members of civil society to incorporate the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) approach into municipal planning, which takes into account the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services that help people and their livelihoods to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.
This facilitated the drafting or revision of the 7 municipal plans that incorporate the EbA approach and are articulated with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Risk and Disaster Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the governance agenda and gender issues in both countries. In this way, local resilience has been increased.
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Workshop for technical staff and facilitators of Sembrando Vida, |
Alejandra Tenorio Peña, bi-national coordinator of the project, says that through the actions the communities have increased their resilience to climate change.
"Reforestation actions were included in municipal planning, and together with communities and civil society, issues were identified and a bridge was built between the private sector and civil society to address them. We had a lot of involvement from the private sector, from banks, civil society organisations, additional funds, and a paper company in Brazil (Veracel), which donated native plants. We changed the intervention mechanism of the private sector to adjust them to the territory and to the communities," emphasised Alejandra Tenorio.
The project also facilitated the exchange of knowledge on gender-sensitive municipal governance with 144 representatives of local governments and citizens in Mexico and Brazil, through citizen councils, municipal environmental councils and local working groups in rural properties and indigenous communities.
“Understanding local capacities and needs has a good voice from women, who are able to understand the relationship between vulnerability, health and food security. My biggest lesson learned is the importance of including women, empowering them, supporting them and learning from them," says Ana Luisa Toscano, coordinator of Social Participation at Pronatura Mexico, A.C.
Among the climate change adaptation actions implemented in Mexico and Brazil are the reforestation of a total of 406 hectares of forest in both countries, as well as the implementation of six adaptation measures comprising agroforestry systems, agrosilvopastoral systems, reforestation in areas adjacent to rivers, urban revegetation, ecological restoration and chinampas adapted to climate change; the latter is a traditional technique of ancestral agricultural production on floating islands built with trunks, sticks and native trees.
In Brazil, actions are connecting two ecological corridors between three Conservation Units, which cross indigenous territories, two national parks and a private natural heritage reserve.
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Agricultural production in chinampa in Xochimilco, Mexico City |
The effort made with the communities is also reflected in the two countries, through the development of digital platforms for monitoring and evaluation of the EbA actions implemented, and participatory plans, which will follow up on the analysis of vulnerability of agriculture to high temperatures and floods, allowing for the visibility and prevention of the negative impacts of climate change and social monitoring as a local public policy.
Brazil: Four municipalities of Mata Atlántica incorporate actions for EbA
Mariana Gianiaki, coordinator of the project in Brazil, says that the activities were carried out in four municipalities located in the Mata Atlântica biome, which is one of the ten most biodiverse places on the planet. Through different actions, the Mata Atlântica Municipal Plan included EbA measures as strategies, which were constructed in a participatory manner, and which were approved and monitored by the Municipal Environment Council.
The vulnerable populations identified by the project are direct beneficiaries, and are communities belonging to the Pataxó ethnic group, organised in priority conservation or restoration areas within the Atlantic Forest, which includes two national parks: Pau Brasil National Park, Monte Pascoal National Park and the Private Natural Heritage Reserve, where a station of the paper company, Veracel, is located.
Through a public consultation, the Municipal Council was able to raise awareness among the populations and prefectures about the benefits of EbA actions and other aspects of environmental management, which are also related to national and international climate, biodiversity and governance goals.
The Methodological Guide for the Preparation of Municipal Plans for the Atlantic Forest, adopted for the Plans in the 4 Brazilian municipalities, has a climate perspective and a component consisting of a vulnerability analysis and indicates measures that are aligned with the processes of conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of the territory. These actions are established within the framework of the new climate reality projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which establishes the need to implement initiatives in a context of social emergency and important losses of endemic ecosystems, essential for the maintenance of biodiversity.
“The communities, rural smallholders, indigenous groups of the Pataxó ethnic group, and citizens are direct beneficiaries of the project and also benefit from the ecosystem services that the Atlantic Forest promotes. The creation of a public policy containing EbA actions was developed together with different actors such as the government, municipalities and the private sector, which has made it possible to guarantee legal security and territorial planning in these areas of action," said Gianiaki.
For her part, Virginia Camargos, coordinator of Environmental Strategy and Integrated Management at Veracel Celulose, one of the private companies with which the project worked in Brazil, collaborated to expand the project's capacity in restoration actions by donating financial resources, plants and inputs.
“It is no use thinking only about restoration and the forest if we don't connect with people, public entities, government, private institutions, non-governmental organisations and civil society in general, and with landowners. With all of them we can see our future and connect with forests, but also with people," explains Camargos.
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Indigenous people in Brazil implement Ecosystem-Based Adaptation actions |
Replicability in municipalities of Latin America
The project's actions can be replicated in other rural and urban municipalities in both countries, as well as in other Latin American and Caribbean nations. To this end, an advocacy model called "Municipal Programmes for Adaptation to Climate Change" was developed that summarises the main findings to make municipalities more resilient to climate change.
One of the points highlighted in the document is the importance of conducting a vulnerability analysis of each livelihood, considering the resources and activities required, which allows identifying how the development goals of local governments are compromised by the impacts of climate change. With the results of this analysis, decision-makers and the population can identify issues arising from climate change and incorporate them into the process of adaptation and disaster risk reduction for natural events (e.g. droughts or floods) that are exacerbated by climate change.
Javier Muñoz, coordinator of Communication and Environmental Culture of the Institute for Environment and Sustainable Development (IMADES) of the subnational government of the State of Colima, explains that the implementation of the project managed to systematise a novel intervention methodology, linking diverse actors of society.
As the project Articulating Global Agendas from the Local level has shown, it is possible to develop adaptation processes; and for communities, sub-national governments, the private sector, and civil society organisations to work together and join actions for addressing climate change.
DATA:
- The project "Articulating Global Agendas from the Local: Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) as a catalyst for municipal actions to achieve global goals" is part of the thematic sector "Forests, Biodiversity and Ecosystems" of the EUROCLIMA+ programme, implemented by the agencies Expertise France (EF) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH. Find out more here.
- The project has been developed together with its local partners: the City Council of Armería (State of Colima), the City Councils of Tláhuac and Xochimilco (Mexico City), the Secretary of Environment of Mexico City, the Institute for Environment and Sustainable Development of the State Government of Colima, the Ejido Cofradía of Juárez, the federal programme Sembrando Vida of the Secretary of Welfare of the Government of Mexico, Fundación Grupo México, Fondo Unido, 3M. In addition, the Porto Seguro City Council and the Santa Cruz Cabrália City Council (Bahia State), Cielo Azul City Council and Foz do Iguaçu City Council (Paraná State), Councils of the 4 city councils, Bahia and Paraná State Secretariats, World Research Institute, WWF, Naturaleza Bela, Rede Verde Conservation Network, Mater Natura, Grupo Cataratas, Moema Viezzer Observatory, Itaipu Binacional, Porto Seguro Defence Movement and Veracel.
Articles about the project
- Municipality of Armería implements ecosystem-based adaptation actions
- Learn more: Mexico: 200,000 trees planted to restore biodiversity
Entre los estudios elaborados por el proyecto se encuentran:
- Advocacy Model. Municipal Programmes for Adaptation to Climate Change
- Municipal Programme for Adaptation to Climate Change (PMACC) Armería, State of Colima 2021-2024
- Programme for Adaptation to Climate Change (PMACC) of the Tláhuac Mayor's Office, Mexico City 2021-2024
- Programme for Adaptation to Climate Change (PMACC) of the Xochimilco Mayor's Office, Mexico City 2021-2024
- Toolbox for the implementation of climate change adaptation measures.
- Revisão do Plano de Ação e Estratégia de Monitoramento e Avaliação do PMMA, Porto Seguro- Bahia
- Revisão do Plano de Ação e Estratégia de Monitoramento e Avaliação do PMMA de Santa Cruz Cábralia
- Strategy for integrating Ecosystem-based Adaptation into municipal planning
- Application of the Climate Lens in the Municipality of Foz do Iguaçu
- Public Consultation on Environmental Perception in Porto Seguro Municipality
- Public Consultation on Environmental Perceptions Municipality of Santa Cruz Cabrália
- Public Consultation on Environmental Perceptions Municipality of Céu Azul
- Public Consultation on Environmental Perceptions Municipality of Foz do Iguaçu
- Municipal Plan for the Conservation and Recovery of the Atlantic Forest of Céu Azul
- Guidance for Monitoring and Evaluation of Ecosystem-based Adaptation Interventions - Adaptation Community
- Guidance for Monitoring and Evaluation of Ecosystem-based Adaptation Interventions – Adaptation Community
About EUROCLIMA+
EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union and co-financed by the German Federal Government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as by the governments of France and Spain. Its objective is to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects in 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries by promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation, resilience and investment. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, and the UN Environment Programme.
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