Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning ...

2.0 Planning a Vulnerability AssessmentGenus and common name Species Cameroon Tanzania FijiRhizophora Red mangrove Rhizophora harissonii 4Rhizophora racemosa 4Rhizophora mangle 4Rhizophora mucronata 4Rhizophora stylosa 4Rhizophora samoensis 4Bruguiera Oriental mangrove Bruguiera gymnorhiza 4 4Avicennia Black mangrove Avicennia marina 4Avicennia germinans 4Heritiera Looking-glass mangrove Heritiera littoralis 4 4Excoecaria Blind-your-eye mangrove Excoecaria agallocha 4Lumnitzera Black mangrove Lumnitzera littorea 4Lumnitzera racemosa 4Conocarpus Buttonwood Conocarpus erectus 4Laguncularia White mangrove Laguncularia racemosa 4Ceriops Yellow mangrove Ceriops tagal 4Sonneratia Mangrove apple Sonneratia alba 4Xylocarpus Cannonball mangrove Xylocarpus granatum 4 4Table 4. Native mangrove species present at WWF mangrove project sites, Cameroon, Tanzania and Fiji.These pilots involved interdisciplinary data collectionusing high-and low-technology methods and analysisof how each method helped to identify the overallvulnerability of a particular mangrove ecosystem.Working with local communities, conservationpractitioners also used the vulnerability assessmentresults to identify and test a range of adaptationoptions. The findings of these pilots guided thedevelopment of this generalized methodology.2.3 Objectives of the vulnerability assessmentA vulnerability assessment (VA) begins with anexamination of the mission, vision, goals andobjectives of the group doing the assessment (Hansen& Hoffman, 2011). Therefore, the first activity isto clearly document why the assessment is beingundertaken. What are the unanswered questions, andwhat is to be achieved by the assessment? Most VAshave the objective of identifying vulnerability in a givensystem; and then proposing adaptation or adaptivemanagement strategies to reduce that vulnerability.The objectives of this manual are to describemethodologies and give case studies for a vulnerabilityassessment that is specific to mangrove ecosystems;and to demonstrate how the results of that assessmentcan be analyzed and applied to adaptation planning.2.4 Overarching principles for any VAThe following six principles best guide any VA(adapted from Schroter et al., 2005):1. The approach should be interdisciplinary toencompass the human-biophysical environmentsystem, rather than human or environmentalsystems in isolation.2. The approach should be participatory, involvingstakeholders to understand their perspectives andknowledge; engaging local communities living inand adjacent to the area of interest; and includingthem in planned adaptation actions.10 | Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning for Mangrove Systems