Willy Missack
Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaption and Wellbeing in Vanuatu
Most Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including those in the Pacific, are urbanising quickly. Island communities, both rural and those in the expanding urban areas, are also highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Strategies, methodologies, and policies to enable rapid and effective adaptation to climate change in the Pacific are needed. Groups such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have suggested that nature-based solutions (NbS), where people work with nature to strengthen ecosystem health and therefore human health and resilience, may be a suitable long-term approach to addressing climate change impacts in ‘ocean cities’ of the Pacific. Although the islands of the Pacific are in some instances world leaders in employing NbS to attempt to adapt to the impacts of climate change, there is little research that specifically investigates which kinds of NbS are more effective and why in the Pacific, how NbS impacts community wellbeing, or how NbS is or could be enhanced by integration with traditional knowledge frameworks. Bearing in mind its status as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural disasters and climate change, and given work already done in relation to locally defined frameworks of wellbeing, Vanuatu is the location of this research. Through a case-study approach, this research investigates the various ways in which urban communities in Vanuatu are implementing NbS for climate change adaptation and increased wellbeing. Such solutions are being implemented in some rural communities in Vanuatu and there is some experience too from the urban area of Port Vila. Design and implementation typically are led by non-government agencies, government agencies, and community- driven initiatives traditionally by using top-down approach and methods that needs to centred wellbeing and adaptation by incorporating indigenous knowledge and practices. These methods are to be evaluated in terms of the adaptation to climate change benefits they result in, and the effects on the wellbeing of the communities involved. How traditional knowledge is or could be incorporated into NbS and the impacts of that is key to the research. This aspect of the research makes it unique and is a key contribution to knowledge. I will also research how NbS in other countries are evaluated in terms of impacts on communities’ livelihoods, and see whether similar methodologies can be used in Vanuatu. Additionally, I will also investigate how government and non-government aid agencies view the effectiveness of NbS, why they have these views, and which forms they are mostly likely to support in terms of financing. Finally, I will use results to recommend particular approaches that could be taken towards future NbS for climate change adaptation in Vanuatu.
Supervisors
Dr Victoria Chanse, Dr Luke Kiddle, & Dr Maibritt Pedersen-Zari (AUT)