Community-based adaptation, in principle, leverages existing local knowledge, capabilities, and priorities.Although there is an increase in adaptation activities in the Pacific region, it remains uncertain whether these are effectively promoting long-term adaptive capacity. Here we evaluate the performance of 32 community-based adaptation initiatives across 20 rural communities in the Pacific Islands. We find that initiative appropriateness was a strength while sustainability was a consistent issue; locally-funded initiatives and those implemented by non-governmental organisations were more likely to perform better; climate-awareness raising initiatives and those integrated with ecosystem-based adaptation performed best. We also identify four interdependent optimization points for future community-based adaptation initiatives: local approval and ownership; shared access to and benefit from initiatives; integration of local realities; and systems-thinking and forward planning. Our analysis suggests a need for a praxis shift whereby adaptation is locally-led, communities drive their own agendas, and donors and implementers become facilitators that resource the diverse capacities of communities.The Pacific Islands are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, despite having contributed little to its causes 1 . With projections showing that island communities will continue to face worsening climate change impacts over the remainder of this century and beyond, understanding what successful adaptation looks like for the Pacific Islands is urgent 2,3 . Significant donor-funded adaptation investment means efforts have already been carried out, with the Pacific receiving the highest per capita climate aid globally 2 , a focus likely to be maintained at least in the short term 3 .With growing understanding of diminishing returns resulting from top-down climate change responses, assistance is increasingly being delivered at the local scale through bottom-up responses such as community-based adaptation (CBA) 4,5 . CBA is an approach that is small-scale, place-based and grassroots driven, while also having synergies with broader development aspirations 6 . In principle, the local scale focus of CBA provides an opportunity for adaptation to better acknowledge and integrate existing local knowledge, capabilities, priorities and context of the community, and for impacts to be addressed at the scale at which they are experienced 7,8 . Effective and sustainable adaptation that fosters reflective engagement with the community (i.e. ideal CBA) 9 , however, is not as straightforward as often implied 10 .Negative impacts can occur if CBA fails to adequately represent vulnerable populations and generate long-term social resilience 11,12 .Despite the increasing number of CBA activities across the Pacific region, uncertainty remains around whether these communities are becoming better prepared to cope in the long-term 13,14 . Bottom-up approaches such as CBA are important in Pacific Islands as they can support and utilize traditional ...
Purpose-Climate change poses diverse, often fundamental, challenges to livelihoods of island peoples. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that these challenges must be better understood before effective and sustainable adaptation is possible. Design/methodology/approach-Understanding past livelihood impacts from climate change can help design and operationalize future interventions. In addition, globalization has had uneven effects on island countries/jurisdictions, producing situations especially in archipelagoes where there are significant differences between core and peripheral communities. This approach overcomes the problems that have characterized many recent interventions for climate-change adaptation in island contexts which have resulted in uneven and at best only marginal livelihood improvements in preparedness for future climate change. Findings-Island contexts have a range of unique vulnerability and resilience characteristics that help explain recent and proposed responses to climate change. These include the sensitivity of coastal fringes to climate-environmental changes: and in island societies, the comparatively high degrees of social coherence, closeness to nature and spirituality that are uncommon in western contexts. Research limitations/implications-Enhanced understanding of island environmental and social contexts, as well as insights from past climate impacts and peripherality, all contribute to more effective and sustainable future interventions for adaptation. Originality/value-The need for more effective and sustainable adaptation in island contexts is becoming ever more exigent as the pace of twenty-first-century climate change increases.
The Green Climate Fund, donors, governments and non-governmental organisations, among others, are pouring vast amounts of financial and human capital into community-based adaptation across the developing world. The underlying premise is that the world's majority-who have the minority of financial capital-are living on the margins and are the most vulnerable and at risk from climate change. Such a reality, coupled with a deficit understanding of the majority world, is resulting in significant implications for how the 'adaptation industry' (those that fund, design and implement projects) go about their work. Drawing on research evaluating 15 communitybased adaptation projects in Vanuatu we found that despite genuine attempts, projects invariably fell short of success, longevity and sustainability. We argue that the indifferent, albeit variable, success of most projects is attributable to the construction of the geographical scale of 'communitybased' and the deficit view flowing down to the 'community' through hubris policy, funding guidelines and individual implementers. Our findings show that 'experts' are working in Pacific communities, conducting assessments that involve asking what 'community' needs are, going away to design projects, coming back and implementing projects, which communities are inevitably challenged to sustain once funding has ceased. We postulate that these limitations stem from such a formation of adaptation work that pejoratively fails to see Pacific Islanders in situ as the best litmus test of their own agendas, needs, aspirations and futures and in the best position to make decisions for themselves about what and how they might become more resilient. We claim from a growing body of evidence and new frontiers in research that, rather than adaptation being 'community-based', it needs to be 'locally led', not limited to 'communities', and should take place across different entry points and incorporate, as appropriate, elements of autonomous/ Indigenous peoples ownership.
Many developing countries are dependent upon richer countries for underwriting costs of climate-change adaptation. This is unsustainable: as the costs of adaptation in richer countries escalate, the willingness to allocate funds to developing countries is likely to decrease. Although unpalatable, developing countries should consider returning to times when adaptation cost nothing.
In 2003 the authors discovered and excavated a Lapita site at Naitabale close to the southern end of Moturiki Island (central Fiji). Today the site is 350 m inland from the coast, but in Lapita times it was located behind the active beach ridge. A large collection of potsherds (including 92 dentate-stamped or incised Lapita sherds), shell, and animal bones was recovered, together with a human burial. Sherd decorations show affinities with the Western Lapita Province rather than the Eastern Lapita Province (which includes Fiji). Temper analyses of 45 Lapita sherds do not show any unmistakably exotic (to Fiji) pottery, but 29 percent are nonlocal to Moturiki and nearby islands. Fish bones are mostly from inshore species (dominated by Scaridae), while nonfish vertebrates are dominated by turtle and include dog and chicken. Shellfish remains are dominated by gastropods, mostly Strombus spp. (43 percent of gastropod MNI). The surf clam (Atactodea striata) accounts for 38 percent of bivalve MNI, with Anadara antiquata and Gafrarium pectinatum each representing 14 percent of the bivalve MNI. The skeleton is that of a woman (Mana) 161–164 cm tall who died at 40–60 years of age. Six radiocarbon dates from bones overlap 2740–2739 cal. years B.P. (790–789 B.C.). The mandible lacks antegonial notches but is not a proper rocker jaw. The cranium was better preserved than any Lapitaassociated skeleton hitherto described, which allowed the head to be reconstructed. Stable-isotope analyses show that her diet contained significant amounts of reef foods but was probably dominated by terrestrial plants. The Lapita occupation of Naitabale is likely to have begun by 2850 cal. years B.P. (900 B.C.). Radiocarbon dates and pottery decorative styles both suggest Naitabale was first occupied within the early part of the Lapita history of Fiji.
Pacific Island countries are particularly vulnerable to future manifestations of climate change due to high coastline‐to‐land‐area ratios, and high dependence of inhabitants on natural ecosystems. While everyone in the Pacific Islands should participate in climate change adaptation activities, it is the young people, given they are the generation likely to not only bear the burden of climate change, but to lead and live effective climate change adaptation activities and strategies specific to their region, the involvement of youth is critical. Pacific Island youths are often marginalised within traditional decision‐making hierarchies, therefore they are typically excluded from participating in meaningful discussions at community and government levels. Discussions were held with 30 adolescents aged 14–18 years in Fiji to explore knowledge and experiences regarding climate change. Participants revealed their dismay at their inability to talk to family – who they consider are not doing enough – about what they consider as appropriate responses to climate change, recommending the help of an authoritative outsider who could speak to their community leaders and family. Discussions also revealed that Fijian youth could not distinguish between changes in the climate and normal weather events, attesting to the importance of climate‐change education and awareness‐raising efforts within the Pacific Islands more generally.
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