Ecosystem resilience

This report presents a rapid assessment of the vulnerability to climate change of coastal habitats and selected species in the eight focal areas of the IUCN project ‘Building coastal resilience in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand’: Koh Kong and Kampot (Cambodia), Chanthaburi and Trat (Thailand), and Ben Tre, Can Gio, Kien Giang and Soc Trang (Vietnam).

There are two principles here, both reflecting the natural world. The first is that natural systems are based on cycles, for example water, nitrogen and carbon. Secondly, there is very little waste in natural systems.

This study focuses on livestock production systems in Africa, as African livestock owners are thought to be among the most vulnerable populations on earth. Yet, livestock also has potential to strengthen resilience to climate change, as livestock production systems tend to be more resilient than crop based systems. This scoping study is a welcome addition to the climate change adaptation literature as it addresses a dimension frequently ignored in climate change adaptation studies.

This document reports on the results of a workshop on selective fishing and balanced harvest which took place in Nagoya in October 2010. The workshop examined the extent to which selective fishing as currently and traditionally practiced is able to contribute effectively to both ecosystem and fisheries sustainability.

With climate change now a certainty, the question is now how much change there will be and what can be done about it. One of the answers is through adaptation. Many of the lessons that are being learned in adaptation are from success stories from the field. This publication contains eleven case studies covering different ecosystems and regions around the world.