Climate change adaptation planning in remote contexts: insights from community-based natural resource management and rural development initiatives in the Pacific Islands

ABSTRACT

Planned climate change adaptation initiatives are being developed with both external and endogenous resources at an increasing rate, especially in developing countries. As climate change continues to pose risks to vulnerable communities, there is a growing need to identify lessons learned in the process of planning and implementing climate change adaptation strategies. This is even more pressing for communities in remote contexts where access to resources and support services is limited. This study used thematic analysis to identify key insights from a 20-year old community-based resource management and development initiative on a remote island in Fiji. Four themes emerged relating to: perceptions of environmental change, links between conservation initiatives and people’s livelihoods, balance between external support and community-driven efforts, and the continuity of initiatives. Whilst acknowledging that every community in the Pacific has unique capacities for dealing with climate change, the four identified themes are considered applicable to other subsistence-dominated peripheral communities within Fiji, the Pacific Islands region and beyond. This has the potential to improve planning processes and ensure both continuity and efficacy of efforts towards supporting sustainable livelihoods in communities already experiencing the impacts of climate change.

KEYWORDS:

• Adaptation
• climate change
• community
• Fiji
• development
• planning

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the communities of Gau Island for their support and involvement in this study. We would also like to recognize the support provided by the Institute of Applied Science of the University of the South Pacific, which facilitated the logistic aspects for the fieldwork conducted for this study. DMH is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Postgraduate Scholarship. Ethics protocols for this project were compliant with the Australian National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. The ethics approval number for the project is S191360 and was granted by the University of the Sunshine Coast Human Research Ethics Committee. 

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Australian Government, Department of Education and Training [grant number Research Training Program Scholarship]; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) [grant number Postgraduate Scholarship.].

Notes on contributors

Daniela Medina Hidalgo

Daniela Medina Hidalgo is a PhD candidate at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She holds a BSc in agricultural engineering and an MSc in environment with a specialization in climate change adaptation. She has 10 years of work experience in the field of agriculture and natural resource management. Prior to commencing her PhD, she worked with an international cooperation agency, engaging with policymakers in the development, implementation and evaluation of climate change strategies for the agriculture sector in the Americas and the Caribbean regions.

Patrick D. Nunn

Patrick D. Nunn after his BSc in Geography and Geology from the University of London King's College, Patrick went on to undertake a PhD on Quaternary landscape evolution at University College London. After completing this and holding various short-term appointments in British universities, Patrick was appointed to a Lectureship in Geography at the University of the South Pacific, an international university serving 12 Pacific Island nations, based at its main teaching campus in Suva, Fiji. Patrick in fact spent 25 years there, being appointed to a Personal Chair (Professor of Oceanic Geoscience) in 1997 and then in 2009 becoming Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and International). Patrick left the University of the South Pacific in 2010 to become Head of the School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences at the University of New England, a position he held until joining the University of the Sunshine Coast as Professor of Geography in March 2014.

Harriot Beazley

Associate Professor Harriot Beazley is a human geographer and community development practitioner with experience in rights-based child centred research with children and young people, and in community based, gender-focused research in South East Asia especially Indonesia and Cambodia. Harriot's research interests are located within social and development geography and children's geographies. Her current research includes participatory research with children who migrate for work in South East Asia; migrant communities and stateless children in Lombok Indonesia; and marginalised communities' experiences of change and threat in the Thai Gulf in Cambodia.

Joji Sivo Sovinasalevu

Joji Sivo Sovinasalevu is a community liaison officer with the University of The South Pacific, based in Suva Fiji. He works for the Institute of Applied Sciences and has vast experience engaging with indigenous communities in Fiji and collaborating with them for development and environmental projects.

Joeli Veitayaki

Joeli Veitayaki is an Associate Professor at the School of Marine Studies. He is also Director for the International Ocean Institute Pacific Islands based at the University of the South Pacific (USP) and is Co-Chair of the Korea-South Pacific Ocean Forum. He is a trained teacher who did his Bachelor of Arts in Education and Masters of Arts studies at USP. He obtained his PhD in Environment Management and Development from the National Centre of Development Studies (NCDS) at the Australian National University. Apart from teaching, Joeli conducts research in different parts of Fiji and the Pacific Island Countries with partners from USP and abroad to promote the sustainable use and management of marine resources.