In Costa Rica, the role of forests in climate change adaptation and mitigation is widely acknowledged and various political and financial mechanisms have been developed to support ecosystems in facilitating adaptation processes and act as carbon sinks that directly contribute to mitigation. However, there is a lack of instruments to facilitate access to information for improving the decision-making process for climate change adaptation and mitigation when it comes to the management of forests and associated ecosystem services.
This paper introduces a GIS framework (Polyscape) designed to explore spatially explicit synergies and trade-offs amongst ecosystem services to support landscape management (from individual fields through to catchments of ca 10,000 km2 scale). Algorithms are described and results presented from a case study application within an upland Welsh catchment (Pontbren). Polyscape currently includes algorithms to explore the impacts of land cover change on flood risk, habitat connectivity, erosion and associated sediment delivery to receptors, carbon sequestration and agricultural productivity.
Resilient Cities 2011, the second world congress on cities and adaptation to climate change in June 2011, Bonn, Germany, brought again a broad diversity of actors together. Cities, local governments, public institutions, researchers, NGOs, business and many others took stock and continued their dialogues on sustainable and resilient urban development. The debate on the meaning of and interaction between climate adaptation, risk reduction, and broader resilience has intensified. This briefing sheet provides a quick overview on the congress proceedings.
Forest ecosystems play an important role in both adaptation and mitigation and there is a need to explore the linkages between these two options in order to understand their trade-offs and synergies. In forests, potential trade-offs can be observed between global ecosystem services, such as the carbon capture relevant for mitigation, and the local ecosystem services that are relevant for adaptation.
ARIES is a web-based technology offered to users worldwide to assist rapid ecosystem service assessment and valuation (ESAV). Its purpose is to make environmental decisions easier and more effective. ARIES helps discover, understand, and quantify environmental assets and what factors influence their values, in a geographical area and according to needs and priorities set by its users.
The document provides a detailed review of selected transboundary basins to ascertain the application of ecosystem-based approaches and draw specific lessons for effective integrated water resources management in international contexts. Selected basins represent Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and West Asia, showcasing regional variables and a range of ecosystem service vulnerabilities.
