Adapting to climate change: an assessment of local adaptation planning processes in forest-based communities in Nepal

ABSTRACT

Since 2000, adaptation has been the focus of the response to climate change in many least developed countries. However, there are recognized overlaps and tensions between mitigation, adaptation and development, and between top-down and community-based approaches to adaptation. This paper explores the approaches used to develop Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs) by three different programmes in the forest sector of Nepal. The analysis of information drawn from 37 interviews, with government, non-government and community representatives at national, district and local levels, shows that although the LAPAs in Nepal are prepared with limited external and scientific contribution, they are rich with local information. However, the limited knowledge and capacity of local people in relation to specific climate change impacts and potential solutions mean the plans bear little difference to regular development activities. Nearly all the activities identified contributed to adaptation and mitigation, as well as economic development, within a context of environmental sustainability, but appeared not to address the social equity and justice aspects of social sustainability. Moreover, this article argues that the community has greater confidence in plans prepared when donor funding is channelled through existing government mechanisms than through more directly donor funded approaches. It may continue to be necessary to keep adaptation plans separate from development plans until there is a greater understanding of the means to and need for adaptation as part of mainstream development planning.

KEYWORDS:

• Local adaptation plan of Action (LAPA)
• planning approaches
• community
• bottom-up
• forests
• sustainable development
• vulnerability

Acknowledgements

The first author wishes to acknowledge the funding for her studies from the Mingma Norbu Sherpa Memorial Scholarship (WWF, The Greater Himalayan Trust and Lincoln University).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Pratigya Silwal works as a Programme Officer for an initiative under the Regional Programme – Adaptation and Resilience Building at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) based in Kathmandu, Nepal. She completed her Master in Natural Resources Management and Ecological Engineering, a joint degree from Lincoln University, New Zealand, and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Austria. She is mainly interested in work on natural resource management and climate change adaptation, as well as social and climate resilience.

Lin Roberts is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainability and Environmental Management at Lincoln University, New Zealand. Her research focus is pathways to a sustainable future, exploring the changes needed in paradigms, economic models, infrastructure models, social practice and action competence for sustainability, and the role of disruption in triggering transformation.

Hamish G. Rennie is an Associate Professor of Planning in the Department of Environment and a member of the Centre for International Development at Lincoln University. He is a Principle Investigator in the ‘Resilient Rural Backbone’ research project of the New Zealand Government funded National Science Challenge – Resilience to Nature's Challenges.

Manfred J. Lexer is a professor at the Department of Forest and Soil Sciences at the University for Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. His main research interests are natural resource management, ecosystem modelling, and planning and decision-making.

Notes

1 UN-REDD is the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries, a multilateral body launched in 2008. It provides support to developing countries in implementing and meeting REDD+ requirements http://www.un-redd.org/

2 REDD+ is a voluntary approach by Parties to the UNFCCC to mitigate climate change through incentivising conserving and enhancing forest carbon stock and sustainable forest management. Developing countries receive financial payments for results-based performance in such activities http://www.unredd.net/documents/redd-Nepal’sApproachpapers-and-publications-90/un-redd-publications-1191/fact-sheets/15279-fact-sheet-about-redd.html.

3 This was based on disadvantage indicators (such as household food sufficiency, socio-political marginalisation, access to public services and gender discrimination).

4 MSFP criteria included: geographical remoteness, vulnerability assessment, forest coverage, number of community forestry users groups in the area and number of households dependent on forests.

5 UCPVA is a tool developed by CARE (an INGO) and is intended to identify the poor, vulnerable and socially excluded people and to identify and understand the root causes of poverty and vulnerability of any location.

Additional information

Funding

The first author wishes to acknowledge the funding for her studies from the Mingma Norbu Sherpa Memorial Scholarship (WWF, The Greater Himalayan Trust and Lincoln University).