By MILLENNIUM REPORTER
THE Ministry of Green Economy and Environment says the Ecosystem – Based Adaptation (EbA) Project has recorded success where knowledge has been used in designing adaptation interventions to mitigate the effects of climate change.
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The four-year project, which ends in 2025, is being implemented in four provinces – Luapula, Northern, Central and Muchinga – and was established because wetlands and forests are valuable environmental and economic resources towards ecosystem restoration and increasing people’s resilience to climate change impacts.
Project Manager Nellie Ngulube said there are benefits of valuing indigenous or local knowledge as major contributors to building adaptive capacity as they understand better the challenges they face.
She however said science has been used to inform spatial and temporal prioritisation of the identified adaptation interventions.
Ms Ngulube noted that the majority of the Zambian poor, estimated at 74 percent, rely on natural resources, mainly wetlands and forests, for a range of ecosystem services from land, water and forests.
She has emphasised the importance of strong policies and laws on mainstreaming of climate change in development planning, including preparation of national adaptation plans and establishment of institutions mandated with climate change issues.
She said that challenges in implementing ecosystem-based adaptation interventions calls for a participatory approach in developing enforcement mechanism balancing the formal and traditional structures, guided understanding of local economies and livelihoods in circumstances of climatic variability.
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