The scars left by severe wildfires across Oregon’s forests are not only a reminder of nature’s power but also of the critical need for immediate and decisive action to prevent future disasters. Dead and dying trees—referred to as snags—pose severe
Confronting the Adaptation Challenge in the World’s Largest Transboundary Conservation Area
jschoshinski
Thu, 12/05/2024 – 15:10
The Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) is the world’s largest transboundary conservation area, encompassing parts of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The KAZA TFCA was created to conserve shared natural and cultural resources, safeguard biodiversity, and support tourism. Additionally, it promotes sustainable development and economic resilience for over three million residents who rely on its natural resources. However, the park is now threatened by rapid economic growth and climate change.
Image
The KAZA TFCFA.
Photo Credit: Chemonics
To address the area’s climate risks, USAID’s Resilient Waters Program conducted a Livelihoods-focused Climate Risk Assessment to inform and stress test the KAZA TFCA’s Livelihood Diversification Strategy. Here is a summary of the assessment’s key findings and recommendations:
Findings
Drying Patterns
Prolonged dry periods threaten agriculture, which is vital for food security and income because rain is the primary method for irrigating crops. Extended droughts also lead to increased human-wildlife conflict as animals search for scarce water. Climate models predict more severe and prolonged dry seasons, which may endure weeks or even months longer than in the past depending on future warming rates.
Wildfires
Wildfire risk is increasing, with the fire season expected to lengthen from six to eight months. As fires occur under drier, hotter conditions, regrowth of woodlands becomes difficult, transforming forested areas into savannas. This shift affects communities dependent on forest resources. Fire management is particularly challenging in Zambia and Angola, where restrictions are less controlled.
Flooding
Seasonal floods are crucial for fishing, livestock, and recessional agriculture. However, proximity to waterways also brings risk, as seen in previous floods that displaced many of the KAZA TFCA’s communities and damaged infrastructure in 2003, 2009, and 2020. Using advanced hydro-climatic models coupled with high-resolution terrain models, the assessment shows expanded flood risk under future climate scenarios—affecting communities, tourist operations, and transportation infrastructure. This analysis is one of the first forward-looking flood analyses in the KAZA TFCA, mapping future inundation under different climate scenarios and flood levels. Alarmingly, extensive development has occurred in recent decades within the 1-in-100 year flood zone.
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Spatial extent of inundation under 1-in-10 (a), 1-in-100 (b), and 1-in-1000 (c) year flood events in 2020 (left column), moderate emissions scenario (RCP4.5) in 2050 (middle column), and high emissions scenario (RCP8.5) in 2050 (right column).
Photo Credit: Chemonics
Extreme Heat
Extreme heat will affect all aspects of life in the KAZA TFCA, including labor productivity, livestock health, fish preservation, and even tourism, as thermal comfort thresholds are increasingly surpassed. By mid-century, the frequency of extreme heat days could rise three- to four-fold, including during peak tourist season, which could make the KAZA TFCA less attractive for wildlife tourism.
Taken together, the assessment found that drying patterns will grow more pervasive, reduce the reliability of rainfed agriculture, and significantly limit the range and abundance of non-timber forest products. New wildfire and flood zones will directly affect key tourist-related infrastructure and strand livestock and farm assets, while extreme heat will affect seasonal tourism numbers as well as labor and livestock productivity.
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This impact chain shows the causal pathways connecting climate drivers to impacts in the tourist sector, informed by key stakeholder interviews.
Photo Credit: Chemonics
Recommendations: Adaptation Strategies and Actions
Many resource-dependent livelihoods can persist with proper diversification and adaptation measures through a mix of government action and donor programming. To safeguard residents, authorities can provide financial incentives, support insurance options, offer technical support, establish flood and wildfire zoning, and expand fire detection and management efforts. Meanwhile, the KAZA TFCA and its partners are uniquely positioned to invest in climate-adapted livelihoods, such as sustainable tourism, nature-based carbon projects, and non-timber forest products. Advancing these livelihoods requires significant adaptation financing and landscape-level planning. The assessment co-developed nearly forty adaptation actions with the KAZA TFCA Secretariat and its network that would bolster the livelihoods and resilience of the area’s residents.
Teaser Text
To address the area’s climate risks, USAID’s Resilient Waters Program conducted a Livelihoods-focused Climate Risk Assessment to inform and stress test the KAZA TFCA’s Livelihood Diversification Strategy.
Publish Date
Thu, 12/05/2024 – 12:00
Author(s)
Nik Steinberg
Hero Image
Cash for Work group engages in gulley reclamation.jpg
Blog Type
Blog Post
Strategic Objective
Adaptation
Region
Africa
Topic
Adaptation
Agriculture
Climate-Resilient Agriculture
Biodiversity Conservation
Climate
Climate Change Integration
Climate Risk Management
Climate Science
Food Security
Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
Land
Vulnerability Assessment
Natural Climate Solutions
Natural Resource Management
Resilience
Rural
Water Management
Country
Angola
Botswana
Namibia
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Sectors
Water and Sanitation
Projects
Resilient Waters
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Boral has unveiled new carbon-reducing technology at its Berrima Cement Works, with Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen officially opening the upgraded facility on 4 December.
Located in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Berrima Cement Works supplies 40% of cement in NSW and the Australian Capital Territory. The site is strategically important both for the company and Australia’s manufacturing capability.
The upgraded facility represents a significant milestone in Boral’s decarbonisation journey as it moves away from a reliance on emissions-intensive fuels.
A key part of the upgrade is the Chlorine Bypass, which reduces the build-up of chlorides and other alternative fuel by-products as clinker is produced in the cement works’ kiln. This allows Boral to work towards its decarbonisation goal without the risks associated with increased build-up of materials within the process.
Boral CEO Vik Bansal with Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen at the opening of the upgraded facility.
“From our federal highways to the Sydney Opera House and Parliament House in Canberra, for almost a century, the Berrima Cement Works have helped to build and shape Australia,” Boral CEO Vik Bansal said at the facility opening.
“We all understand that though cement is vital to construction and building our nation, it is carbon-intensive. Boral takes its responsibility to decarbonise our operations and comply with the Safeguard Mechanism obligations seriously.
“The Chlorine Bypass Facility reaffirms this commitment and moves our vital cement manufacturing infrastructure and Southern Highlands operations into a new era — one with less impact on the planet.”
Berrima Cement Works is one of the largest employers within the Wingecarribee Local Government Area, with about 115 people working in operational and administrative roles and approximately 350 people employed across integrated sites in the Southern Highlands. The cement works also indirectly support local jobs associated with logistics, contractors and suppliers.
“We thank both the federal government and NSW Government for their respective investment in this facility and remain committed to decarbonising our operations, in line with our net zero commitment,” Bansal said.
All images courtesy of Boral.
