The document discusses climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies in West Africa, focusing on community resilience in Senegal and Burkina Faso. It highlights the use of ecosystem-based approaches and local knowledge to develop effective adaptation strategies while addressing infrastructure and support limitations. The project aims to enhance local capacities and integrate disaster risk reduction into development plans, although challenges persist in policy implementation and research support.

1. Strengthening Local
Climate Change Adaptation
and DRR Strategies
in West Africa
Implementing Ecosystem-Based DRR
Jean-Marc Garreau
IUCN - West and Central Africa Programme

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An old reality in the Sahel
• Droughts and decrease rainfall during last
40 years
• More disasters anywhere, at various
geographical levels, sometimes very
limited in space
• Slow onset and long term consequences
• Affect poor people in degraded natural
environment
• Invisible – unrecorded small disasters

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Two Sahelian sites
• In Senegal, communities coastal
areas facing floods, soil and water
salinity
• In Burkina Faso communities facing
droughts and floods, sometimes
during the same year
• Population is growing fast in a
context of poverty
• Facing rapid environmental
degradation
• Communities get limited support
from the State
• Infrastructures are insufficient
Senegal
Burkina Faso

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Plan the change with disasters and
climate change
• Using a kit of eleven tools already known
such as CRiSTAL, journal of incidence,
climateproofing,…
• Support the communities to assess their
vulnerability, build DRR/adaptation
strategies, plan and monitor their
progress
• Selected techniques : soil restoration,
vegetation cover restoration
• Improving access rules and governance is
an important dimension of the strategies

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Adapted response
• Adapted to local needs and practices,
cheap and easily accessible as based on :
- ecosystem goods and services, such as
protection of people and their belongings,
as well as for reduction of exposure
- complex local knowledge and knowhow
• The project aims at
- demonstrating the best techniques and
strategies with support of science
- supporting dissemination of CC adaptation
tools, approaches and dialogues to reduce
communities’ vulnerability

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Factors ensuring success
• Flexible and locally managed
• Adapted to local practices, social and
technological preferences
• Cheaper because designed by those who
will implement them
• Reproducible at various scales
• Equitable, accessible to most people
• Strengthen the capacities of stakeholders
to satisfy their own needs even without
disasters
• Multi results : short term and long term
needs

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Involving key stakeholders
• Build capacities of local, sub national
governments, State technical services, to
mainstream DRR and CC adaptation into local
and sub regional development plans
• Build linkages between local to national
stakeholders through
– multiple scale planning and steering committees
– local fair on climate change
– exchange visits
• Approach integrated into national
development policies for
- food security,
- infrastructure development and for
climate change adaptation and
- against desertification

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Challenges
• Bring prevention as a national strategy
• Decision makers too much focused on :
– Science and modern style solutions
– Large infrastructure solutions
• Incomplete decentralisation process
because of limited trust in local capacities
• Limited research support

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Added value for the Post 2015 Framework
for Disaster Risk Reduction
• How did your work support the
implementation of the Hyogo Framework for
Action:
– Reducing vulnerability of rural communities
• From your perspective what are the main
gaps, needs and further steps to be addressed
in the Post 2015 Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction in
– Research: Enhance ecosystems services, natural
infrastructure for DRR
– Education & Training:
– Implementation & Practice: Build on local
knowledge and capacities
– Policy: Enhance prevention approaches and
integrate natural solutions

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Main text + picture
Subtitle
Thank you
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