Giving nature breathing room builds climate resilience

El Salvador is a small and densely populated country in Central America, equivalent to the size of the US state of New Jersey. Its small area belies a wide range of climatic conditions with droughts, floods, and soil erosion commonplace. Its two mountain ranges mean much of the agricultural land exists on slopes prone to landslides.

South Ahuachapán is a dry, coastal territory around 90 kilometres from the capital, San Salvador. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is implementing a project in this region – financed by the Adaptation Fund – to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to climate shocks. It is seeking to achieve this through land restoration, efficient water management, and climate-smart agriculture practices.

The project has a target to restore 3,865 hectares of degraded land, in large part by introducing agroforestry techniques. This includes integrating essential crops such as maize with native tree-planting. Doing so provides shade to the crops, improves soil health, and protects against landslides.