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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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4 RISK AND VULNERABILITY CLIMATE CHANGEclimate risk in<strong>to</strong> development plans, governance at local, regional, andnational levels must be strengthened; information systems <strong>to</strong> accuratelyforecast and moni<strong>to</strong>r climate impacts must be established; technologiesmust be developed or adapted for changing local conditions; andinfrastructure and ecosystems such as forests must be protected.In planning and implementing climate adaptation, local andnational governments must ensure that adaptation initiatives givepriority <strong>to</strong> those people most vulnerable <strong>to</strong> climate risks. That meanstaking account of the different impacts of climate change on womenand men, and likewise understanding the impacts on and needs ofindigenous communities. Rural women and indigenous communitiesgenerally face more climate risks because of their intense dependenceon natural resources. However, their knowledge of biodiversity andthe options for managing it in times of stress will be essential forspurring innovative approaches, and so their involvement must lie atthe heart of successful plans <strong>to</strong> adapt.On Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast, the traditional authorities of theMiskitu Indians are trying <strong>to</strong> remedy some of the damage alreadycaused by climate change. The community’s long-standing equilibriumwith the forest was based on its ability <strong>to</strong> forecast the weather and soknow when <strong>to</strong> plant crops,but that predictability has gone.‘The summernow is winter. April used <strong>to</strong> be summer, but it rained all month. Now,in May (winter) it doesn’t rain. We listen <strong>to</strong> the thunder, we see thelightning that should let us know the rain is coming, but it is not’, saysMarciano Washing<strong>to</strong>n, a farmer on the bank of Coco River. ‘We can’tdepend on nature any more. We don’t know when <strong>to</strong> plant our crops.’The traditional indigenous authorities, along with a local NGO,Christian Medical Action (CMA), are introducing an early-warningsystem <strong>to</strong> moni<strong>to</strong>r rainfall and river levels, in order <strong>to</strong> provide thatinformation in a format useful for the community’s way of life.Effective state action on adaptation may also call for a reconsiderationof wider economic policies, such as land ownership and use.Economic reforms in Viet Nam, for example, have seen public mangroveforests along the coast replaced by private shrimp farms, which havebrought income <strong>to</strong> some but at the same time have curtailed poorpeople’s livelihood options and destroyed vital natural buffers againsts<strong>to</strong>rm surges. The increasing income inequalities that have resulted265

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