Adaptation to climate change in Africa Synergies with biodiversity and forest

Climate change, biodiversity and forest loss are issues inextricably interlinked and need to be addressed simultaneously. This is especially important with regard to climate change adaptation in Africa particularly with the emergence of contemporary global challenges such as the current food crisis. The same drivers of biodiversity loss in Africa are also largely responsible for increased vulnerability to climate change, most importantly drought, poverty, low institutional capacities that affect the adaptive capacity of communities, and inappropriate policies with preferences for short–term economic gains. The synergy between adaptation to climate change and biodiversity conservation requires a unifying strategy to enhance the sustainability of the forest resource pools on which poor communities directly depend for their livelihoods. This approach has recently been acknowledged in discussions on cooperation between conventions within the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), both of which have stressed the need for common approaches in their national implementation, which also provides a cost-saving option for African countries.


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Tropical Forests and Climate Change Adaptation (TroFCCA), Center for International Forestry Research 2 Stockholm Environmental Institute Climate change, biodiversity and forest loss are issues inextricably interlinked and need to be addressed simultaneously.This is especially important with regard to climate change adaptation in Africa particularly with the emergence of contemporary global challenges such as the current food crisis.The same drivers of biodiversity loss in Africa are also largely responsible for increased vulnerability to climate change, most importantly drought, poverty, low institutional capacities that affect the adaptive capacity of communities, and inappropriate policies with preferences for short-term economic gains.The synergy between adaptation to climate change and biodiversity conservation requires a unifying strategy to enhance the sustainability of the forest resource pools on which poor communities directly depend for their livelihoods.This approach has recently been acknowledged in discussions on cooperation between conventions within the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), both of which have stressed the need for common approaches in their national implementation, which also provides a cost-saving option for African countries.
In spite of the frequency of droughts and floods in several parts of Africa, there are very limited national or regional institutional structures dealing with climate change adaptation, and also for biodiversity conservation outside designated protected areas, such as there is for food and water in response to drought and desertification.The role of biodiversity and the integration of biodiversity conservation into climate change adaptation programs remain insufficiently addressed.
Tropical forests have important roles on the African landscape but they are currently experiencing rapid deforestation and degradation with significant reduction in forest cover and fragmentation across the landscape.Over 4 million ha/yr of forest in Africa is estimated to be lost annually since 2000 ( 3 FAO 2005).
Forests, and the biodiversity contained within them play key roles in supporting national economic activities and providing livelihood portfolios for many in Africa.They provide valuable ecosystem services such as climate regulation, hazard protection, water conservation, watershed protection, and also provisioning goods such as fuelwood, foods and nutritional supplements, and medicinal products etc.Forests are therefore at the frontline in moderating climate impacts on Africa by reducing exposure to climate extremes such as heat, drought and floods, and also the sensitivity and adaptive capacity of forest dependent people.Inarguably, forests should play a major role in national development strategies and be the entry point for climate change adaptation in Africa.

No. 3 November 2008 African Tropical Forests, Cameroon
Carbon emissions resulting from this annual loss in forest and other vegetation are estimated to range from 440 to over 1200 Mt CO 2 /yr in sub-Saharan Africa (IPCC ( 2007)).
Tropical forests provide livelihood opportunities for over 1.6 billion people worldwide living in extreme poverty ( 4 UNCCD et al. 2004).They also provide an indispensable asset for contributing to national poverty reduction strategies and, consequently, the realization of some of the millennium development goals (MDG 1 and 7) in developing countries.have resulted in habitat modifications and the loss of endemic species and have also endangered other species.
Several studies and predictive models have strongly emphasized the vulnerability of African tropical forest biodiversity to various climate change scenarios, and the resulting direct consequences on wildlife populations, and the livelihoods of humans.Such loss of biodiversity amplifies the vulnerability of the continent to the impacts of climate change.According to the IPCC 1 , although there are some conservation plans for ecosystems and biodiversity implementation in many parts of the world, these plans have failed to consider current and projected climate change impacts.The conservation of biodiversity is strongly targeted at protected areas, yet adaptation options need to be designed and executed outside these areas, particularly in complex human-dominated landscapes.Climate change adaptation strategies in Africa should therefore simultaneously have an integrated plan for biodiversity conservation and livelihood adaptation strategies that match local resource use patterns without jeopardizing the resilience of the forest ecosystem to climate change impacts.

Recommendations for synergies with biodiversity and forests
It is important to recognise the linkages between 1) biodiversity loss and vulnerability to climate change in Africa, and how these could exacerbate poverty and further compromise food security Adaptation strategies should encourage the 2) conservation of habitats and biodiversity (fauna and flora) that underlies livelihood adaptation especially in rural areas There is need to provide and support participatory 3) actions and multi-stakeholder discussion platforms that encourage the integration of biodiversity conservation into climate change adaptation strategies, and beyond protected areas It is essential to build the capacities of actors, sectors 4) and institutions in their use and management of multiple forest resources across scales (local, national and regional) and over time in order to balance economic growth and livelihood adaptation without jeopardising the resilience of the forest ecosystem to climate change Implement institutional arrangements and 5) governance structures that promote synergy in the planning and implementation of agro-ecosystems and forestry programmes for mitigation and adaptation projects to derive maximum benefit to the environment as well as the local communities or economies Encourage afforestation and reforestation 6) programmes that are in compliance with climate, community and biodiversity standards Building regional institutional capacity and decision-7) support systems for managing transboundary resources that ensure quality, regulation capacity and demand in the use of resources Planning management strategies that are long-term 8) and dynamic, and which encourage the sharing of information, intelligence and experiences in tracking natural resource flow across territorial boundaries in curbing illegal trade and practices that affect biodiversity conservation and adaptation.Integrate landscape approaches in land use 9) management to avoid maladaptation in other sectors and section of the communities Multi-stakeholders Meeting, Burkina Faso Photo by Joffrey Monnier The significance of synergies with biodiversity and forests The significance in jointly addressing biodiversity and forests for adaptation to climate change in Africa include: The linkages between livelihood benefits of • biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation could serve as incentives for change of practices such as bush burning and overgrazing that could result in maladaptation A space for a direct impact in policy Photo by Daniel Tiveau • implementation is expected as new forest governance reform schemes are currently ongoing in Africa such as the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Building climate change adaptation capacity into • transboundary resource management strategic plans will reinforce regional initiatives such as wildlife corridors (e.g.Northern Savannah Biodiversity Conservation Project), river basin authorities (e.g.Nile, Niger Rivers), and forest management (e.g.Congo Basin Forests) in response to climate variability in Africa