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Climate change will present new challenges for transboundary governance of international river basins, many of which will experience increasing levels of environmental variability in the coming decades. Failure to adequately respond to these challenges will increase vulnerability for people across the globe who rely on these river systems for their livelihoods. To be effective, governance systems will need to embrace uncertainty, increase international cooperation, and authentically engage local actors in decision-making. This paper considers the potential for transnational governance that accounts for local livelihoods by presenting findings from qualitative research in Namibia and Botswana, two of the three countries located in the Cubango-Okavango River Basin of Southern Africa. Findings show the importance of local livelihoods for communities in the basin, which have been historically overlooked by governance systems, and which now face increasing threats from development and climate change. The paper illustrates how these livelihoods are governed by a complex institutional arrangement that includes national governments inclined to protect their own interests and a transnational governance body whose mission is to coordinate decision-making across the basin to support sustainable development. The paper concludes with a call for increased attention to the impacts of governance decisions on the livelihoods of river basin communities, with insights for the Cubango-Okavango River Basin specifically, as well as for international river basins more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic is experiencing a rapid temperature increase, four times faster than lower-latitude regions, disproportionately affecting rural, coastal, and Indigenous communities. These areas confront multiple urgent climate challenges. Adaptation strategies encompass out-migration, community relocation, and enhancing resilience, yet research in this critical area is notably limited, particularly for the most vulnerable communities. This paper presents a comprehensive review of environmental stressors and contextual factors influencing migration decisions in the North American Arctic. While migration is primarily driven by job opportunities, education, healthcare, cultural, and infrastructural factors, factors such as family, culture, safety, subsistence life, and community ties strongly influence residents to stay. The study reveals a lack of clear evidence for climate-driven migration at the individual/household level, but it underscores well-documented community-level relocations. Two major challenges in studying Arctic climate migration are identified: the complexity of migration and the uniqueness of Arctic climate change. Recommendations include considering migration typology, disentangling climate drivers from contextual factors, and addressing data limitations through systematic collection, integration, and creative use of traditional and nontraditional data. The paper underscores the importance of establishing partnerships with local communities to achieve a holistic understanding of factors driving migration or immobility, ensuring research outcomes are connected to addressing community challenges. This review lays the groundwork for empirical research on Arctic migration and community adaptation, aiming to comprehend the challenges faced by these communities and explore potential solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, people have always had to deal with climate-related hazards, and in the majority of places, they have adapted gradually. However, these gradual adaptations may not be enough to withstand the expected intensity of climate-related hazards in the future. In this paper, our focus is on the effect of storms in the Faroe Islands. The islands are highly exposed to storms, which are projected to increase in intensity and potentially also in frequency in this region. The islands are characterized by being small, remote, and with a rough terrain, which makes it difficult for external actors to provide assistance. As a result, the civilian population—especially in the outer regions—often have to deal with storms and their consequences themselves. The geographical focus in this paper is the Northern Islands, and in particular the communities of Viðareiði and Hvannasund. The approach applied is qualitative, and the central question this paper tries to answer is how aspects of place attachment (social, physical, functional) affect the way in which the local population handle storms. The findings show communities that are impacted by storms, but also that their previous experiences with storms have led to an improved adaptation level, which today enables them to cope with more severe storms. The attachment they have to where they live will assist them in coping with future storms, although it can also be a hindrance to the implementation of the necessary adaptation and preparedness measures, since they presume that they are already safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, water governance struggles to reconcile increased demands on water resources with climate change–induced reductions in supply, making climate adaptation in water governance a pressing concern. The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework has emerged as a climate adaptation tool designed to help make adaptation decisions. However, there is limited understanding of social and political factors, which are critical in driving RAD decisions. This paper explores how communities are employing RAD to make climate adaptation decisions, using a case study of the Goulburn-Murray Resilience Strategy (the Strategy); a community-led strategy that uses a version of the RAD framework to build regional resilience in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District (GMID) in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The Strategy focuses on building socio-economic, rather than ecological, resilience, making this research a valuable contribution to RAD literature. To apply the RAD framework to socio-economic adaptation, we adapted the framework to include IPCC language around incremental, transformational, planned, and autonomous adaptation. With the GMID considered a leader of resilience thinking in Australia, the Strategy may help decision-makers address water overallocation and contested governance in the MDB, and provide lessons for water governance globally. Data analysed from 20 semi-structured interviews with people involved with the Strategy revealed two main findings: (1) Communities and governments prioritise different actions under the RAD framework. Governments, particularly at the state level, preference incremental planned adaptation to maintain the status quo (resist), over incremental autonomous adaptation to changing conditions (accept), and transformational planned adaptation at various scales (direct). (2) Community and government actors perceive that factors driving governments’ preference for incremental-resist adaptation include electoral short-termism, linear planning, and conservative government culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within scenario-based research of social-ecological systems, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of normative scenarios that define positive outcomes for both nature and society. While several frameworks exist to guide the co-creation of normative scenario narratives, examples of operationalizing these narratives in quantitative simulation modelling are still limited. To address this gap, this paper presents an example of how aspects of normative scenarios can be realized within a spatial model of land use and land cover change. This is achieved through a combination of data-driven approaches to encapsulate scenario-specific differences in local and global scale phenomena, as well as iterative expert elicitation to quantify descriptive trends from narratives. This approach is demonstrated with a case study simulating five scenarios of landscape change (three normative and two exploratory) in Switzerland between 2020 and 2060. The resulting maps of future land use and land cover exhibited distinct variations between the scenarios, notably with regard to the prevalence of areas of heterogeneous semi-natural land, such as alpine pastures and grassland, often considered culturally emblematic of Switzerland. While the simulation results were generally consistent with the outcomes expressed in the scenario narratives, following a process of expert feedback, we reflect that there are clear challenges in leveraging such results to elicit further discussions as to the desirability and plausibility of future scenarios. Specifically, the need to summarize spatial simulations in a manner that is easily interpretable and encourages consideration of the broader patterns of change rather than focusing on fine-scale details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China-Vietnam border plays a crucial role as a vital ecological barrier in China, and along with the development of the border, the pattern of production-living-ecological (PLE) spaces has been significantly affected by human activities. Therefore, the resulting landscape ecological risk is worthy of attention. Based on the perspective of PLE spaces, the paper employs transfer matrices, landscape ecological risk evaluation model, and spatial models to examine the evolution of land space and landscape ecological risk over the past 40 years along the China-Vietnam border. The findings are as follows: (1) agricultural production space is shrinking by 49.82 km2, and the problem of arable land non-agriculturalization is escalating. Meanwhile, industrial and mining production space has witnessed considerable expansion of 94.38 km2. Similarly, urban living space experienced an increase of 52.91 km2. Although rural living space initially contracted, it later experienced rapid growth, surpassing urban living space. In 2020, rural living space is 2.3 times larger than urban living space. Woodland ecological space has slightly expanded but subsequently contracted. Grassland ecological space reduced by 44.20 km2, while watershed ecological space expanded significantly by 88.42 km2. Other ecological space decreased sharply by 807.84 km2. (2) Both ecological protection and destruction behaviors are observed in the study area. Landscape ecological risk (LER) is increasing. Moving from west to east, the LER index consistently rises. (3) LER in the study area exhibits a significant spatial aggregation. High-high (H–H) areas are predominantly concentrated in the mineral resource-rich regions and coastal tourism zones of the central-eastern region, while low-low (L-L) areas are primarily distributed in border villages and cottages. Based on our findings, we can conclude that human activities in the study area have resulted in the transformation of PLE spaces, leading to a deterioration in the quality of the ecological environment. To address this issue, it is essential to strengthen the construction of ecological civilization and improve the ecological compensation mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation has been at the heart of the transformation of the Amazon. Global concerns over deforestation and its impact on climate change have resulted in the adoption of a number of initiatives in the framework of zero deforestation. However, undifferentiated application of the concepts of zero net, gross, and illegal deforestation has revealed a lack of understanding of their scope and of challenges to their implementation. Zero legal and illegal deforestation is, in particular, a controversial subject from the point of view of regulation and sovereignty but an essential aspect from the perspective of public policy design. In Colombia, zero deforestation commitments make no mention of legal deforestation. Papers that analyze deforestation and official data sources fail to incorporate the legal dimension in their analysis. This article addresses this gap by identifying areas where deforestation is legal and where it is illegal in one deforestation hotspot of the Colombian Amazon, the administrative department of Guaviare. Our results show that deforestation has increased since 2013, mainly occurs in illegal zones, and that Guaviare department, 85% of which is covered by forest, has very little legal deforestation potential. Our findings reveal that assessing the legality and illegality of deforestation is more complex than often assumed and must become a priority, especially in forested countries where regulation on forest and land management is shared between different level of governments and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many coastal places around the UK face change, with impacts on communities, livelihoods, and landscapes. A tidal surge in 2013 caused significant erosion and flooding on the east coast of England (UK). This was the catalyst for the innovative Bacton to Walcott Coastal Management Scheme, also known as the Sandscaping Scheme, implemented in summer 2019. It is a one-off, large-scale beach nourishment scheme with a design prediction of 15–20 years functional life, the first of its kind in the UK and worldwide outside of the Netherlands. Through stakeholder interviews and a household questionnaire survey, this paper examines the institutional and political challenges, expectations, and hopes associated with this Scheme just before its implementation. The findings indicate that a combination of factors enabled technical and institutional experimentation and innovation at this location: critical erosion risk at a site of strategic infrastructure adjacent to two highly vulnerable villages, extensive stakeholder collaboration across scales, resolute leadership, and recognition of co-benefits. Although most interviewees and local residents foresaw significant benefit from the Scheme—not least respite from the deep anxiety caused by the threat of flooding and erosion risk—tensions were expressed around uncertainty beyond the Scheme’s lifetime and the need to start effective conversations about future adaptation options for the area. This study provides reflections for similar nature-based coastal management schemes elsewhere. It highlights the fundamental challenges facing the governance of natural and social coastal systems for adapting to current and future coastal change and the importance of articulating local and sometimes intangible understandings and expectations of adaptive coastal management interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mangrove ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and services including timber, fuelwood and fish products, for the local population and nationwide. However, these ecosystems are undergoing significant degradation and deforestation because of local and regional/global drivers. Local drivers relate to mangrove use by local populations. Regional/global drivers include changes in abiotic parameters of mangroves due to sea level rise (global) and sedimentation (regional). The aim of this paper is to analyze the relative importance of these two sets of drivers, with a particular focus on mangroves in western Madagascar. We analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of mangroves in the study site over the last 30 years by processing four Landsat satellite images (1990/2000/2010/2020) using a supervised classification method with the maximum likelihood classification algorithm. Transition matrices have been developed between the years 1990 and 2020 to identify the causes of mangrove degradation and deforestation. An annual loss of 0.38% was recorded during this period of time. This loss is primarily the result of local drivers such as charcoal production and timber extraction (85% loss over the last 30 years vs 15% of losses attributed to regional/global drivers). Excess sediment input and coastal erosion are the regional/global drivers of mangrove degradation and deforestation. Developing deep-sea fishing is the main way to sustainably manage mangrove wood resources and reduce the dependence of local populations on them. Future research should analyze the effects of mangrove degradation and deforestation on the diversity and biomass of fish in this ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, the biofuel boom for climate mitigation, energy security, and socio-economic development has triggered large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) and land grabbing in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, several of these LSLAs and land grab deals have failed, leading to large-scale land abandonments. In rural SSA, land is a primary asset for climate change adaptation because it enables income and livelihood generation thereby improving adaptive capacity. However, land abandonment raises critical issues for climate adaptation. Drawing on empirical data from household surveys and interviews, this paper explores the implications of land abandonment on local adaptation and ecological restoration in Ghana. It was found that land abandonment can positively influence climate mitigation through ecological restoration for carbon sequestration, and negatively influence adaptation through loss of employment and income by lowering the adaptive capacities of households. These mechanisms are embedded in broader socio-economic and political processes that can be addressed through policy instruments securing land rights to boost adaptive capacity for climate adaptation after land abandonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of an increasing frequency of climate change–related hazards such as landslides, climate adaptation is increasingly on the agenda of Norwegian municipalities. Nevertheless, municipalities face constraints in addressing these challenges, with smaller, remote municipalities being particularly susceptible. They often cover expansive geographical areas with high landslide risk, yet have limited financial resources, expertise, and personnel for climate adaptation. Consequently, the active involvement of citizens in adaptation plays an important role in these remote places. This paper investigates how citizens of three small remote communities deal with landslides, emphasizing the role of people–place relations in shaping adaptive practices. Grounded in assemblage theory, our analysis reveals that most citizens maintained a pragmatic relation to landslides, while only a few expressed concern. Regardless of the degree of concern, all citizens constructed landslides as integral element within their socio-material place assemblages, as part of their lives in the respective places. Furthermore, citizens developed various adaptive practices, including nature observation, reporting to authorities, and implementing practical preventive measures to control water that could trigger landslides. These practices are manifestations of socio-material assemblages that have evolved through citizens’ relations to their specific places. Importantly, irrespective of the level of concern regarding landslides, these practices were carried out as part of everyday life. Through these practices, enabled by experience-based, embodied, and often tacit local knowledge, citizens acted as community guardians. Thus, comprehensive people–place relations emerge as a pivotal factor for a community’s adaptative capacity in the face of climate change-induced hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of tidal flat wetland is closely related to the ecological security of the Yangtze estuary. Based on the method of multi-sourced data analysis, this paper aims at revealing the evolution process of the tidal flat of Chongming Island on a centennial scale and the phases of reclamation intensity change over the last thousand years, and discussing the driving human and environmental factors. The results of this study show that the landscape transformation from natural wetland to reclamation region of Chongming Island has experienced four stages: early development during the seventh to eighteenth centuries, slow reclamation from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, rapid reclamation in the 1960–1990s, and limited reclamation in the last 20 years. The proportion of natural tidal flat above 0 m in elevation (Wusong Datum) outside the sea dikes in total land area of this island dropped from about 50% of the mid-twentieth century to less than 20% of the early twenty-first century. Sediment accumulation was the main cause of tidal flat growth before the 1950s, while human reclamation after the 1950s was the driving factor of tidal flat shrinkage. The rapid urbanization of the Yangtze estuary in the last 30 years has exerted great pressure on the protection of tidal flat wetland. With the evolution trend of tidal flat from expansion to erosion, sharp decline of sediment, and shrinking of the northern branch in the Yangtze estuary, there will be limit space for further expansion of the shape of Chongming Island, and the environmental conditions that supported the past rapid reclamation were no longer held. Maintaining the present tidal flat wetlands space, and constructing ecological reclamation and coastal engineering system for promoting the dynamic balance between human reclamation intensity and tidal flat evolution will be the key to the future ecological security of the Yangtze estuary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores community perspectives on forest landscape restoration (FLR) initiatives and their impacts on ecosystems, livelihoods and social cohesion. The study is based on data collected from 08 focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted in local communities involved in FLR activities. A coding process was used to identify key themes and patterns that shed light on the impacts of FLR. The results show that FLR initiatives have led to social cohesion and conflict resolution, including the establishment of community-based organizations (CBOs), the involvement of community volunteers in various FLR tasks, a cooperative/collaborative approach to forest management, conflict resolution, and the empowerment of local communities. In addition, the results of the study showed that FLRs have successfully regenerated and restored the forest ecosystem, including restoration of biodiversity, plant diversity, improvement of animal populations and livestock health, soil health, and water quality. Ecosystem restoration has improved community livelihoods, including increased crop productivity, access to education, affordable health care, improved economic conditions, and food security. Based on the findings, policy recommendations include strengthening support for community FLR initiatives, promoting stakeholder collaboration, and promoting social equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peatlands are globally important ecosystems that reflect many of today’s environmental challenges, particularly climate change and biodiversity loss. In recent years, several European countries have adopted national peatland strategies as integrated strategies that provide cross-sectoral policy frameworks to promote the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of peatlands. This paper reviews eight national peatland strategies that have been formally adopted in Europe, i.e., the peatland strategies of Austria, England, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The strategies are analyzed based on six key themes: (1) the motivation for adopting national peatland strategies, (2) the generation of a sufficient database, (3) stakeholder participation and outreach, (4) institutional arrangements for cross-sectoral policy coordination and integration, (5) financial management strategies, and (6) mechanisms for monitoring and reporting. Our comparative study shows that there is a growing political commitment to sustainable peatland management in Europe. Although the national strategies show some differences in terms of the six key themes, they also show a high degree of similarity in terms of procedural aspects and the issues addressed. We conclude that the national strategies are currently performing quite well in terms of raising awareness and building capacity. However, the main challenge for the effective implementation of national peatland strategies is the issue of cross-sectoral policy integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal governance plays a central role in building the capacities for adaptation and transformation towards climate resilience in coastal social-ecological systems (SES). However, enhancing climate resilience requires effective coordination between organisations involved in coastal governance. Therefore, more information about the role and agency of organisations and the relationships between them is needed. This paper aims to improve the understanding of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and stakeholder agency for enhancing climate resilience in coastal SES, using a case study in Algoa Bay, South Africa. We apply and combine stakeholder analysis and social network analysis, which is currently underrepresented in climate change adaptation research. Results suggest that different top-down and bottom-up processes are needed to improve knowledge exchange and enhance climate resilience in the coastal governance of the Algoa Bay SES. These include improved leadership, effective knowledge transfer, integration of climate information, support for bridging organisations, and inclusivity of marginalised stakeholders. These suggestions may also be more broadly applicable and transferable to similar coastal SES. Ultimately, the results of this study shed light on network structures in coastal governance facing climate change and advance research on combining stakeholder analysis and social network analysis in climate change adaptation and environmental governance research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, water quality monitoring programmes, agri-environment schemes and environmental permits for animal farms have targeted a decrease in agricultural loads. These have been supplemented with more recent policies related to nutrient recycling and a circular economy. However, eutrophication of surface water bodies remains a widespread problem. In this paper, we focus on the nutrient loading and recycling in the catchment of Eurajoki River, Finland. We statistically examine the generation of nutrient loading and its variation on a sub-catchment scale. We extend this examination to the factors behind the loading and estimate the impact of nutrient recycling on it. Our analysis reveals shortcomings in the availability and collection of data on the agricultural nutrient loadings and the parcel-specific data on the presence and application of manure and fertilisers. Nine sub-catchments were responsible for roughly half of the TP loading from the 46 sub-catchments studied. To reveal such hot spots and to better target agricultural water protection measures, we recommend short-term water quality sampling campaigns. Judging from our data, the rate of manure recycling is not high enough to reduce the regional P surplus to manageable levels. Therefore, we suggest facilitated collaboration between animal and crop farms to decrease the nutrient surplus. We also propose setting up a national database containing parcel-specific information, for example, on soil P content, manure and fertiliser application, agricultural practices and the presence of acid sulphate soils. We also suggest an independent soil fertility sampling to provide valid baseline soil P data for field parcels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is the leading sector that is responsible for global climate change through its significant contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Intriguingly, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is experiencing higher temperatures and lesser rainfall due to climate change enhanced by anthropogenic GHG emissions. Agriculture and energy use in the SSA predominantly influence the anthropogenic GHG leading to global warming. Therefore, reducing agricultural GHG emissions (such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) plays a significant role in climate change adaptation. This paper reviews the potential implication of agriculture and energy use on climate change and its implications on environmental sustainability in SSA. Herewith, we explored various GHGs emitted through agriculture-energy use, their effects on climate change, as well as several climate change adaptation mechanisms, and gaps in existing knowledge that necessitate more research, were also explored. We found that agriculture had negative implications on climate change impacts in the SSA countries and that a more focused strategy that is both economically and technically feasible in terms of preferences for land use, effective energy use, and food supply would aid in GHG emission reduction and environmental sustainability. Adapting to the projected changes in the short term while investing in long-term mitigation strategies might be the only way toward a sustainable environment in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]