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Assessment of Capacity Gaps and Needs of South East Asia Countries<br />

in Addressing Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptati<strong>on</strong> to <strong>Climate</strong> Variability and <strong>Climate</strong> <strong>Change</strong><br />

drought-mitigati<strong>on</strong> programmes are found in the<br />

study area.<br />

Indeed, many of above-menti<strong>on</strong>ed adaptati<strong>on</strong><br />

measures are still in the stage of capacity<br />

development, including training of ‘adaptati<strong>on</strong><br />

experts’ am<strong>on</strong>g agricultural extensi<strong>on</strong> teams, pilot<br />

projects implementati<strong>on</strong> in local communities,<br />

promoti<strong>on</strong> of rainwater harvesting techniques,<br />

enhancement of measures to decrease soil erosi<strong>on</strong><br />

and preserve genetic diversity in rice agriculture,<br />

design modificati<strong>on</strong> of reservoirs and irrigati<strong>on</strong><br />

channels to prevent risks from increased peak flows,<br />

and disseminati<strong>on</strong> of less<strong>on</strong>s learned to nati<strong>on</strong>al and<br />

internati<strong>on</strong>al levels (Solar, 2009). A key tool for this<br />

process of capacity development is a training manual<br />

developed by the Internati<strong>on</strong>al Center for Tropical<br />

Agriculture, the Stockholm Envir<strong>on</strong>ment Institute<br />

Figure 41: Level of vulnerability to drought by province<br />

(Cambodian <strong>Climate</strong> <strong>Change</strong> Office, 2005 cited<br />

in Ministry of Envir<strong>on</strong>ment, 2006)<br />

The latter activity, an assessment <strong>on</strong> climate<br />

change impacts <strong>on</strong> the water sector, has been<br />

implemented with a focus <strong>on</strong> the lower Mek<strong>on</strong>g<br />

basin including Cambodia by TKK and SEA START<br />

RC (2009). Their field studies identify key issues<br />

related to adaptive capacity and suggest relevant<br />

adaptati<strong>on</strong> strategies. Although local residents are<br />

well adapted to enormous seas<strong>on</strong>al variati<strong>on</strong> of the<br />

Tônlé Sap’s waters level and flow, their adaptive<br />

capacity towards unusual water regimes such as<br />

extensively high floods or sudden storms is relatively<br />

c<strong>on</strong>strained. In particular, that of the poorest groups<br />

is highly limited, since their low living standards<br />

and asset-base already worsen their vulnerability to<br />

unexpected climatic c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s. Based <strong>on</strong> the study<br />

results, it is recommended to increase the general<br />

standard of living and the prerequisites to maintain<br />

a productive livelihood. For<br />

example, involvement in sec<strong>on</strong>dary<br />

and multiple livelihoods such as<br />

raising livestock and diversifying<br />

crop opti<strong>on</strong>s have allowed them to<br />

increase their asset’s base and, as<br />

a result, their resilience to possible<br />

climate changes (TKK and SEA<br />

START RC, 2009).<br />

and the United Nati<strong>on</strong>s Institute For Training<br />

and Research that guides and enables trainers to<br />

strengthen the capacity of participants engaged in<br />

the UNFCCC process, particularly in the domain of<br />

vulnerability and adaptati<strong>on</strong>. Moreover, capacity<br />

building for development of informati<strong>on</strong> systems is<br />

also promoted by the Department of Meteorology<br />

(DoM), in collaborati<strong>on</strong> with the Nati<strong>on</strong>al Hydraulic<br />

Research Institute of Malaysia, with focused areas<br />

of data colleti<strong>on</strong> and observati<strong>on</strong> related to weather<br />

and climate (Solar, 2009). The collaborati<strong>on</strong> further<br />

has extended into active engagement in formulating<br />

pilot adaptati<strong>on</strong> models that integrate local<br />

development processes, and also in joint assessment<br />

of climate change impacts <strong>on</strong> the water resources in<br />

the Mek<strong>on</strong>g Delta and Tônlé Sap (MoWRAM, 2008<br />

cited in Solar, 2009).<br />

Gaps Identified in<br />

Programmes and Studies<br />

Several gaps related to climate<br />

change and the water sector are<br />

identified at the workshop <strong>on</strong> “water<br />

and climate change in Cambodia”<br />

which was co-organised in Phnom<br />

Penh in February 2009 by Helsinki<br />

University of Technology, SEA<br />

START Regi<strong>on</strong>al Center and Royal<br />

University of Phnom Penh. These include uncertainty<br />

<strong>on</strong> the existing estimates <strong>on</strong> climate change impacts<br />

as well as lack of understanding <strong>on</strong> the changing<br />

factors including n<strong>on</strong>-envir<strong>on</strong>mental c<strong>on</strong>texts that<br />

affect the Tônlé Sap flood pulse system in different<br />

timescales (TKK, SEA START RC and RUPP, 2009).<br />

These gaps are summarised as follow:<br />

Uncertainty related to the existing estimates<br />

<strong>on</strong> climate change impacts remains still high<br />

owning to complexity of climatic-water systems<br />

and the l<strong>on</strong>g-term perspective reflected in the<br />

estimates. Hence, it is necessary to compare<br />

the findings from different estimates and<br />

to c<strong>on</strong>sider these estimates as <strong>on</strong>e possible<br />

projecti<strong>on</strong>. Of another importance is to view<br />

the l<strong>on</strong>g-term climate change separately from<br />

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