Opportunities and challenges for mainstreaming ecosystem-based adaptation in local government: evidence from the Western Cape, South Africa

Lorena Pasquini () and Richard Cowling

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2015, vol. 17, issue 5, 1140 pages

Abstract: 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. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Keywords: Biodiversity; Ecosystem-based adaptation; Local government; Mainstreaming; Municipalities; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-014-9594-x

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