EbA
Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA)
EbA is a nature-based and human-centric approach to adaptation. This approach aims to restore the health of the ecosystem by encouraging participatory governance, while contributing to resilient incomes, food security and better adaptive capacity of the local communities.
In practice, EbA is a holistic approach that combines several areas of intervention, both at the farm and landscape levels. WOTR’s comprehensive approach to Watershed development (WSD) is the foundation on which climate-adaptive and ecosystem-based measures are integrated under the EbA strategy. These measures include interlinked soil and water conservation techniques, sustainable agriculture, locale-specific crop and weather advisories, water-use management, and biodiversity conservation.
If practiced more widely, such a response can help India, as well as semi-arid drylands around the world, make progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG India Index), the Paris agreement on Climate Change, and the land degradation neutrality (LDN) targets, amongst others national and international targets.
Upscaling Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Maharashtra
WOTR in partnership with TMG Research gGmbH, a German-based think-tank organization, is implementing a project that proposes Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) as an approach that can both contribute to reducing vulnerabilities at the local level and help governments comply with their global commitments under the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030. The project´s objective is to contribute to an enabling policy environment that recognizes and implements EbA on a broader scale in Guatemala and India. The project aims to elaborate roadmaps, prioritize EbA measures and identify avenues for integrating EbA solutions into policy and practice.
Events
Roadmaps for scaling up EbA – international webinar
While the world is still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, the other persisting crisis is climate change, continuing species extinction, and rising global hunger. Over the past 3 years TMG Research, together with WWF Mesoamerica and ADIMI in Guatemala, and WOTR in India, have been exploring pathways to upscale EbA. This webinar explored a roadmap development process to upscale EbA, outlining their specificities, success factors, and challenges. It aimed to inform discussions around this year’s summits (like UNFCCC COP26 in Glasgow), promoting EbA as an effective, scalable, and integrated adaptation solution with multiple benefits.
Roadmap for upscaling EbA in Maharashtra – online workshop
Over the past year, Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), the WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS), TMG Research, with a committee of experts from the government, scientists and practitioners, have been engaged in drafting a roadmap to upscale EbA in Maharashtra. In this workshop, WOTR team presented the findings and the draft outline of a roadmap, strategy and action plan for upscaling EbA in Maharashtra in the upcoming online consultation. The workshop was conducted on 16th February 2021.
EbA info-brief series
#1: Adapting to climate change in India – the value of an ecosystem-based response
This info-brief is the first in a series of info-briefs from the project on Upscaling Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to Climate Change in the Rainfed Regions of Maharashtra, India. Ecosystem-based Adaptation…
#2: Strengthening biodiversity to enhance ecosystem-based adaptation
This is the second info brief, part of five others in the series, which refers to strengthening biodiversity conservation to enhance EbA in Maharashtra. These info briefs are…
#3: Managing Land and Forests– the value of Ecosystem-based Adaptation
The third info brief in the series touches upon the importance of Managing Land and Forests for Upscaling Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to Climate Change in the Rainfed Regions of Maharashtra…
#4: An Ecosystem-based approach to Climate Resilient Agriculture
The fourth info brief highlights the influence of an Ecosystem-based Approach to Climate Resilient Agriculture. Climate change, ecological degradation, and market pressures threaten sustainable agriculture production in Maharashtra, India…
#5: Livestock and Ecosystem-based Adaptation
This is the fifth info brief, in a six-part series, that discusses the symbiotic role of livestock in ecosystems, the challenges and opportunities for upscaling EbA in the livestock…
#6: Why Ecosystem-based Adaptation for Water Management?
The sixth info brief in the series presents Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) as a systemic approach for Water management. It highlights the challenges to water management and opportunities for upscaling…
Other Resources
Derived from extensive research and case studies located in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, the report shows that EbA can help build systemic resilience in ecosystems and communities.
This paper highlights the Windows of Opportunity or the entry points for scaling up Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in Maharashtra.
Insights from a water stewardship initiative in Maharashtra, India
This blog explores the scope of the participatory governance component of EbA
