Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)

Resilient Islands is a project thought and directed by the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in 3 Caribbean island nations. It is a project at the intersection between conservation and disaster risk reduction and it comprises actions implemented in the Dominican Republic, Granada, and Jamaica. The negative impacts of climate change are already affecting people, homes, businesses and infrastructure in Caribbean nations. In response to increasingly dangerous hurricanes and rising vulnerability, Resilient Islands will address the need for urgent action by developing adaptation toolkits, best-practice models and access to funding. Caribbean nation islands are the world's most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Coastal flooding and erosion caused by hurricanes and severe storms threaten lives, homes, jobs, and infrastructure. Grenville is a coastal town, the second largest town in Grenada, with a population of around 2,400. It is highly susceptible to flooding and has seen increased coastal erosion in recent years due to the degradation of the fringing reefs, its first line of sea defence. Since 2017, TNC and the IFRC have collaborated with governments, communities, and partners in Grenada and Greenville to develop national plans for a more sustainable future through nature-based disaster risk management and there this is how this intervention was born. (1,4)

Around 90% of Guyana’s population lives in an area that is below sea level, with many inhabiting flood-prone areas along the coast. The coastal plains are also home to about 75% of the country’s economic activities, including almost all of Guyana’s agricultural production. Over the years, degradation and loss of mangrove forests have resulted in increased coastal flooding and saltwater inundation of agricultural land. Mangroves contribute substantially to sea defence in Guyana by damping wave action and reducing wave energy, trapping sediments and stabilizing shoreline substrates while playing an important role in carbon sequestration.
The Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project was executed during 2010-2013 under the National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute. Following completion of the Project phase and given the importance of mangroves to Guyana’s coastal defences, mangrove restoration and management were integrated into NAREI (the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute), a national institution that promotes climate-smart agriculture and resilient citizens. (1,2)

Peru has seen a sharp increase in major flooding, prolonged droughts and water scarcity of supplies in the dry season, negatively impacting agriculture, migration, conflict and economic growth in recent years. As 71% of the world's tropical glaciers are found in Peru these climatic changes affected the country profoundly leading to a decrease in the glacial surface and creating unstable lagoons also causing natural disasters such as alluvium landslides and deadly flash foods. Glacial melt is also disrupting water flow and quality, posing a threat to the flora and fauna that rely on freshwater environments. Unsustainable management of fragile glacier ecosystems is causing environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. To counteract many of these challenges and to safeguard the communities that are in peril, in 2011, the Government of Peru together with a number of stakeholders, initiated an intervention to sustainably manage more than 200 new lakes that affect directly populations in different cities in the Ancash, Cusco and Lima regions, Huaraz being one of the cities targeted. The project benefitted downstream communities and protected fragile high-altitude freshwater ecosystems. (1,2)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s coastal zone stretches 40 km and comprises the towns of Muanda, Banana and Nsiamfumu. The problem of coastal erosion has intensified since 1980 with the significant retreat of the coast in the Banana-Muanda segment, this retreat has been estimated as much as 2,300 meters. According to the report of the second national communication on climate change (2010), the Democratic Republic of Congo’s coastal zone, with a coastline of about 40km, is facing coastal erosion due to a combined effect of topography, sandy nature of the soil and ocean dynamics (height and direction of the swell, tide height, current velocity, storms etc.). With the rate of shoreline retreat that is likely, it is expected that the road between Banana-Muanda will be completely lost between 2050 and 2100. The proportion of lands lost to encroaching sea will double (200 m around Nsiamfumu and 100 m between Muanda city and Banana). In total, DRC can expect to see the reach of its coastal zone reduced from 50-100 m by 2100. To respond to some of these complex challenges the Department of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism, Democratic Republic of Congo implemented the present intervention partnering with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). (1,2)

Douala is the economic capital of Cameroon and one of its largest cities. The city is located on the banks of the Wouri River (hence a port city) and its climate is tropical. The marine and coastal biodiversity of Cameroon is rich and diverse, and it is highly endangered because of human activities including artisanal and industrial fishing and pollution generated from industries, accidental loss of crude oil in transit or during loading or unloading. In Douala, thousands of inhabitants have settled in and around the mangrove swamps, destroying the mangrove ecosystem and endangering biodiversity including snakes, birds, fish, trees and frogs. Biodiversity studies are rare, and even if they exist, they are done in part and do not give an overview of the real state of biodiversity in the city. The city of Douala is full of many ecosystems of various natures (micro-ecosystems), each of which has species adapted to the environment. Besides this, Douala confronts itself with seasonal flooding and high temperatures due to climate change. In response to some of these challenges, a local entity, the Association of academics and researchers for Biodiversity conservation, initiated in 2020 an action that focused on environmental education and biodiversity conservation. The initiative also provides a framework for reflection and exchange on biodiversity issues. (1,3,4)

In 2019, in the city of Ulan-Ude, the most comprehensive and large-scale action "Green City" was launched [2,3,4,5,12], with the goal of creating an efficient and sustainable greening system in Ulan-Ude [1,7]. Nowadays, according to the city's norms, there are two times fewer green spaces per resident than is customary [7]. According to this program, by 2024, the provision of the population with public green spaces should be 10 sq. m per person [1,8]. Within the framework of the project, effective technologies for greening are already being introduced, and all green spaces growing in the city are being monitored [3,5,6]. Planting of green spaces is carried out under the guidance of the Scientific and Technical Council for the Integrated Greening of the City, which includes Buryat scientists and specialists from the City Administration [2].

Ecuador is considered one of the most biodiverse countries in the world (one of the 17th most diverse), due to the high diversity of their natural species. The country has around 23.056 taxonomic species of animals and plants reported, which constitutes the 6,1% of all species reported worldwide. (6) Quito, the country's capital makes no exception and is considered a biodiversity hotspot. In recent years, urban expansion has had a detrimental effect on the environment and the city’s ecology. All of these actions exacerbate the stresses on the different ecosystems, contaminate water sources and networks, and put the city’s capacity to supply ecosystem services at risk. To respond to many of these challenges the municipality of Quito initiated in 2020 a nature-based solution program under the EU framework of Clever Cities. (1) The project intends to position nature-based solutions as a means to improving public health, social cohesion, citizen security and increasing economic opportunities in those areas. (3)

The Jerusalem Forest is located southwest of Jerusalem and is the green lung of the residents of Israel's capital. The forest has a variety of trees, flowers and wildlife, remains of ancient farming implements and burial caves (2). The forest was planted in the 1950s in an attempt to increase the green cover and natural biodiversity of the area. However, due to intensive urban development including road constructions and energy grid installation and forest fires the size of the forest has been shrinking once covering 4 700 000 m2 to the current size of 1 250 000m2. In 2016, a non-governmental green organisation initiated the renewing of the Jerusalem Forest with the aim to preserve the forest, halt its decrease, secure its sustainable maintenance while involving the public in the conservation efforts increasing their environmental knowledge about their local habitat and support nature stewardship through the application of a community forest model. (1,2,8)

As of 2011, Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, has a population of approx. 330,000 people. By 2018, an estimated 40% of Namibia’s 2.4 million population were living in shacks and Windhoek makes no exception. Approximately 30% of the capital population lives in unplanned informal settlements struggling to access basic services such as water and sanitation. Worse than that informal settlements are especially vulnerable to environmental hazards: they are squeezed in next to each other on the slopes of mountainsides. When there's the occurrence of floods, they do so with such force and wash away people’s homes and their belongings. Even more distressing, people often lose their children due to rapid and unannounced flash floods. As a response to these threats and challenges the inhabitants of an informal settlement, Onyika (located in Okuryangava - which is a suburb of Windhoek, situated in the north of the capital city) paired with local authorities, donors and climate change experts to embark on a community-led process of creating a climate-resilient community. Being especially vulnerable to climate change, these forms of settlements require special attention in the development of climate resilience strategies. (1, 6)

Medellin is the second-largest city in Colombia. The city used to be one of the most dangerous in the world, as Pablo Escobar founded here the Medellin cartel. After the death of Escobar, the city's homicide rate has decreased by 95% and extreme poverty by 66%, thanks in part to a string of innovative mayors who laid out plans to integrate the poorest and most violent hillside neighbourhoods into the city centre in the valley below. The same innovative mayors realised that Columbia and its cities are very vulnerable to climate change being located in a tropical zone and is influenced by El Niño and the La Niña. In Medellin, the municipality has built upon a tradition of planning to become an urban lab for the construction of public life with the aim of inclusive, peaceful and sustainable development. As such starting in 2008 Medellin began implementing a green strategy whose goal was the creation of a green belt around the city as well as waste control. The intervention discussed in this case is one initiated in 2014 when the municipality carried out planting and reforestation projects for the protection of the eastern slopes of the city. (1,2,3)