This guide is about taking account of, and managing, ecosystems to help people adapt to climate change in coastal areas: coastal Ecosystem based Adaptation (EBA). Vital to human wellbeing, adaptation to climate change is increasingly important in international policy discussions such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which have acknowledged the potential importance of EBA in meeting this challenge.

With increased population, the world will see an intensification of food production. This report details implemented programs and room for improvement in ecosystem services, investments from sustainable agriculture practices to clean water and sustainable forestry.

The forests of the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, are internationally recognized as one of the worlds’ most bio-diverse ecosystems. Despite past conservation efforts, these forests face an on-going threat from land clearing for smallholder agriculture and timber harvesting. As many remaining fragments of forest lie on farmers’ properties, often in the form of modified agroforestry systems, a potential means to slow or halt forest loss is a ‘payments for ecosystem services’ (PES) programme, where farmers are paid to protect trees on their farms.

Payments  for  ecosystem  services (PES)  provide a market based instrument to motivate changes in land use that degrade ecosystem services.

This report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is aimed as a handbook for policy makers, technical audiences and others interested in peatlands. The publication informs on management and finance options to achieve emission reductions and enhance other vital ecosystem services from peatlands. The report provides guidance on these action: securing undrained peatlands to prevent emissions, rewetting drained peatlands to reduce emissions and adapting management of peatlands that cannot be rewetted.