Thursday 7 August 2008

1-2pm, in Fenner School's Forestry Lecture Theatre

Lessons for climate change adaptation from better management of six overseas rivers for people and nature

Mr Jamie Pittock, WWF Research Associate & PhD candidate, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University  

This presentation reports on an initial assessment of existing adaptation in water management to derive lessons for more effective climate change adaptation. The research is based on the premise that all water management is a form of adaptation. Six WWF freshwater conservation projects were examined in the lower Danube, Tanzania, India, China, Brazil and Mexico to identify the extent to which adaptation was achieved to water-related vulnerabilities that are expected to be exacerbated by climate change. Adaption to floods, droughts, water scarcity and pollution were assessed. The extent to which benefits were obtained for adaptation, socio-economic well-being and conservation were examined. Factors that enabled successful outcomes and barriers to better implementation were identified. The sustainability of these interventions and capacity to scale them up to further enhance resilience was assessed. Ten lessons to enhance climate change adaptation are identified from this initial assessment, including the: opportunities for win-win freshwater adaptation; need to de-mystify adaptation to better decentralize and engage local communities in its implementation; importance of local ownership and receipt of immediate benefits in successful interventions, leading to a virtuous cycle of iterative adaptation; need to seize post-disaster policy response windows; requirements for sustainable funding; benefits of linking local to global measures; and need for better facilitation from national governments for local adaptation.

The Fenner School Seminar Series in 2008 is held in the Forestry Lecture Theatre
Forestry Building 48, Linneaus Way (comes off Daley Road), ANU (Acton) campus, ACT

The seminar will start at 13:00 and finish at 14:00