Proceedings of the Workshop - Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

period, it has been clear that reduction of GHG is a key, if altogether insufficient, issue,
to promote strategies aimed at minimizing the vulnerability of fragile areas (FAO 2009).
In the case of Costa Rica, the government has committed to offset the emissions
of greenhouse gases in the country by 2021 (FONAFIFO s.f). In the pursuit of this
objective, the country has been working on a National Climate Change Strategy based
on mitigation and adaptation key actions.
Among the main areas proposed in this strategy, which overlap with some of the
actions undertaken by the AMISCONDE project, is the biodiversity axis: reducing the
fragmentation of ecosystems by creating biological corridors and promoting biodiversity
connectivity, as well as the agricultural axis: reducing greenhouse gases by promoting
better agricultural practices(MINAET 2009).
Biological connectivity strategies increase tree cover by natural regeneration or
agroforestry actives, which have a positive effect on greenhouse gas balance, since
degraded areas recover, and essential forest areas are preserved and conserved. De
Melo (2008) also reports that preservation of natural forests and agroforestry systems,
especially the cultivation of coffee, are the types of land use that provide the largest
number of Eco-systemic services.
Another aspect also taken into consideration by the AMISCONDE project was
consolidating protected areas for biodiversity conservation, which, according to INBio
(2009) is a strategy in the adaptation process to Global Warming, based on the
premise that ecosystems protected by conservation areas are less vulnerable and
more able to adapt to climate change than those found outside the protected area
networks (Anderson et al. 2008).
According to the experience of the AMISCONDE project, the Payments for
Environmental Services program works as an appropriate tool to promote the increase
of biological connectivity coverage areas, which has a direct impact as a mitigation tool
and also allows integrating agricultural production and conservation. However, PES
needs support from other strategies, such as environmental education and
dissemination of best agricultural practices in production, to reach the best results.
It is crucial to keep in mind that the experience of the AMISCONDE project
showed that setting in place these strategies, such as PES, has primarily legal
limitations, such as land tenure, and most of the time access to these resources are
reserved for small producers, in the sense that procedures are complex and lengthy
and require to be partially financed by the producer.
5. Conclusions
The strategies proposed by the AMISCONDE project, although not designed with the
specific purpose of mitigating and adapting to climate change, showed a synergy with
actions proposed nationally in this field in Costa Rica.
The latter proves that before Global Warming issues played a key role, projects
dealing with the issue of Nature Conservation used strategies such as creating
biological corridors, promoting best agricultural practices and paying for environmental
services, among others, nowadays used as mitigation and adaptation strategies to this
phenomenon.
Throughout the implementation of the AMISCONDE project, it was also observed
that national policies, legal support, and the active participation of society are key
elements to ensure the sustainability of any strategies to mitigate and adaptate to
climate change over time.
6. References
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