Asian Grantees of the Global EbA Fund Convene to Share Knowledge and Discuss Strategies for Expanding Ecosystem-Based Adaptation
In a bustling city like Bangkok, Thailand, from 4-7 March 2025, a unique gathering took place. The Global EbA Fund hosted a learning exchange and networking workshop, organized by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN). The event brought together representatives from 18 grant projects in the Asia-Pacific region, with a shared goal of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA).
Silvia Gardo, Programme Management Officer at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), set the tone for the discussion, emphasizing the need for collaboration. Anke Wolff from the Federal Ministry for the Environment called for continued synergies and learning from one another to scale lessons and best practices. Dr. Dindo Campilan, Regional Director of the workshop's website Asia, reiterated the importance of providing convincing evidence and compelling stories.
The workshop aimed to emphasize the importance of sharing experiences and lessons learned to scale EbA across projects and countries. Participants presented their project experiences, successes, and learnings, focusing on topics such as strengthening coordination mechanisms, sustainable financing, participatory approaches, measuring impact, and scaling projects.
EbA relies on healthy ecosystems to help people adapt to climate change, requiring engagement with diverse actors. The community's efforts have resulted in the restoration and expansion of mangrove forests, providing protection from flooding and natural disasters, livelihood opportunities, and rich biodiversity. The Mangrove Forest Nature School in Samut Songkram demonstrates the importance of collective action for restoring coastal community forests.
A visit to Benchakitti Park, an urban forest park in Bangkok, demonstrated the benefits of integrating nature into grey infrastructure to address climate change. The park showcases flood management, urban heat regulation, recreation, food provision, water recycling, and habitat provision for animals and birds.
Participants identified root causes that hinder EbA uptake, including insufficient financing, lack of knowledge and information, technical capacity constraints, insufficient political and public support, lack of awareness and understanding, governance challenges, and working in the policy and regulatory environment. It was evident that a combination of measures is needed to address these root causes more effectively.
The workshop highlighted the long-term nature of community and stakeholder engagement for effective EbA implementation. Without community participation, the vision of one leader, Mr. Wisurt Nuamsiri, would not have been successful. Inclusivity should start before the project and continue beyond the project cycle. The community is looking to engage the next generation of leaders to continue building a more resilient community with nature.
The need to develop compelling evidence emerged as a key challenge and solution to scale EbA interventions. The Global EbA Fund encourages those interested in learning more about the workshop and its outcomes to contact them at contact.EbAFund@[redacted]. Together, we can continue to learn, share, and grow in our journey towards a more resilient future.
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