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ECOSYSTEM-BASED ADAPTATION

Effective adaptation based on
on ecosystems
A framework for defining qualification criteria and standards
quality

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What is Ecosystem-based Adaptation?

Ecosystem-based adaptation is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of a comprehensive adaptation strategy to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change1. It aims to help populations recover as quickly as possible from natural disasters linked to climate change, and enable them to withstand their consequences by reducing their vulnerability, through the sustainable use of natural resources and by restoring or improving biodiversity and the services provided by ecosystems.2.

Ecosystems or ecological systems are made up of all living and non-living things interacting with each other in a given area. Plants and animals (biotic factors) interact in various ways with environmental factors such as weather, sunlight, soil, climate and atmosphere (abiotic factors) in which they evolve. The biotic and abiotic factors of an ecosystem generally depend on each other. The absence or disappearance of one of them can have an impact on all the other factors in an ecosystem. These disturbances may be due to natural factors (floods, droughts, volcanic eruptions or climate change) or human factors (pollution, overexploitation, poor management, etc.).

Healthy, efficient ecosystems strengthen natural resilience to the adverse effects of climate change and reduce people’s vulnerability. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) offers a valuable yet under-utilized approach to climate change adaptation, complementing traditional actions such as infrastructure development.

Climate change represents one of the greatest challenges of our time, and optimal ecosystem services will be able to provide benefits that strengthen people’s resilience to its impacts. Conservation, sustainable management and restoration of natural ecosystems are therefore a major component of this approach. When ecosystems are well managed or improved, they provide regulating, provisioning and other services that help people to withstand the effects of climate change.

Ouagadougou Green Belt and Ecosystem-based Adaptation

The establishment of the green belt by the German forestry mission, at the request of the Burkina Faso government, began in 1976. According to decree no. 98-321 PRES/PM/MEE/MIHU/MATS/MEF/ MEM/MCC/MCA of July 28, 1998 regulating landscaping in Burkina Faso, the Green Belt is an area occupied by natural or artificial plant formations located on the outskirts of towns and cities, with the objectives of preserving the environment, demarcating boundaries and supplying woody forest products. It is subject to the legal regime of forests and should fulfill multiple functions such as :

Functions :

  • City protection to reduce the influence of wind and dust (harmattan).
  • Urban functions as a space for rest and recreation, limiting the city’s uncontrolled growth.
  • Wood production while guaranteeing a permanent stand
  • The function of a vegetation blanket to combat wind and water erosion, especially towards the dams, the main water reservoirs in the city of Ouagadougou.
  • The creation of jobs and income of socio-economic importance.
  • The supply and feeding function of combined agroforestry cultivation.

Objectives

The initial objectives of the Ouagadougou green belt are perfectly in line with those of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), which relies on forest ecosystem services such as the green belt to offer the people of Ouagadougou sustainable socio-economic and cultural development. A healthy green belt contributes to health by purifying the air, attenuating wind speeds, fixing the soil to prevent water and wind erosion, softening the city’s climate, and offering many other benefits. The EbA approach emphasizes the preservation, restoration and sustainable management of these ecosystems as a strategy for adapting to environmental change. Properly implemented and monitored, the green belt initiative would have contributed to climate change mitigation by reducing emissions linked to ecosystem degradation and improving carbon sequestration and adaptation by acting as an ecological shield protecting the city from wind, erosion, dust etc.

However, several decades after its creation, the verdict is bitter: the Ouagadougou green belt (CVO) has lost much of its greenery. It is subject to several forms of occupation that are incompatible with its objectives. It is 31.29% occupied by socio-economic infrastructures and habitats that constitute illegal occupation. It is also occupied by market garden sites (10.33%), rainfed crops and agroforestry (56.29%) and forest land (0.06%), representing almost 2/3 of the total Green Belt area3. Even if these practices could be included in the initial objectives, it remains very important to frame them so that they integrate the restoration and preservation of green belt forest ecosystem services.

A number of players, including the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Urban Planning and Ouagadougou City Council, are taking action to protect, restore and better manage it. However, further initiatives are still needed to enable it to fully offer its natural services to the city of Ouagadougou.