Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples

such as the African Sahel and the semi-arid Caatingaof Brazil can check the advance of desertificationand help farmers cope with the impacts of drought.• Avoiding deforestation in Central America canreduce the likelihood of devastating landslidesprovoked by the more intense rainfall, projected as aconsequence of climate change.• Conserving wetland habitats, from the cypressmarshes of the Mississippi Delta to the mangroveforests of Sri Lanka, can shield coastal communitiesfrom increasingly violent storms. 7ReducingemissionsForests accountfor more than halfof the global stock ofcarbon stored in terrestrialvegetation and soilBiodiversitysafety netsLand races of many cropsare providing geneticmaterial for thedevelopment ofdrought-resistantcrop varietiesBioshieldsThe value of mangrovesas coastal protection hasbeen estimated at$25- $50 per hectare• Careful assessment of adaptation policies at the timeof their design can help avoid the following negativeconsequences that are counter-productive whengovernments do not recognize the importance ofbiodiversity: Large-scale engineering projects that movefresh water to drier areas might weaken theresilience of river ecosystems from which thewater is abstracted, making communities morevulnerable to climate impacts. Introduction of drought-tolerant crops mightinadvertently introduce invasive alien species toforests or savannahs, jeopardizing the essentialservices provided by those ecosystems.PART VI: Climate Change, Biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples 105