Bulletin n. 2/2015 | ||
September 2015 | ||
Pasquini Lorena, Cowling Richard M. |
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Opportunities and challenges for mainstreaming ecosystem-based adaptation in local government: evidence from the Western Cape, South Africa | ||
in Environment, Development and Sustainability , Volume 17, Issue 5, October , 2015 , 1121-1140 | ||
Ecosystem-based adaptation can reduce social vulnerability to climate hazards and can be more sustainable in the long term than hard technical solutions to adaptation. Thus, it can provide a strong argument for the conservation of natural ecosystems. As the entities most directly responsible for local-level planning and management, municipalities represent a potentially key site for implementing ecosystem-based climate adaptation. This paper presents the results of a study that investigated the extent of eight local municipalities’ knowledge and mainstreaming of ecosystem-based adaptation issues in the Western Cape, South Africa. Most municipalities had little understanding of ecosystem-based adaptation issues and limited implementation of relevant actions. Our findings suggest that ecosystem-based adaptation mainstreaming in local governments will be assisted by increasing learning and networking opportunities for municipalities and by increasing the “profile” of the concept of ecosystem-based adaptation, as well as by conducting research on barriers and enablers to collaborative governance. | ||