Enhancing community resilience to climate change in mountain watersheds

This innovative project, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, aimed to strengthen capacities in risk-based watershed management while promoting sustainable agricultural value chains to improve local livelihoods.

Implemented in Peru and the Philippines, the project generated lessons learned to support climate adaptation in other mountain regions.

Impact

The project enhanced institutional and community capacities in risk-based watershed management and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR). It supported livelihoods through sustainable practices, including maguey honey production, improved livestock grazing, resilient coffee value chains, and eco-agritourism initiatives. These actions helped diversify income, reduce vulnerability and improve the long-term resilience of mountain communities.

Selected activities

Peru

• Strengthened technical capacities for ecosystem mapping and risk assessment at the regional level
• Conducted ecosystem and risk assessments in the Huascarán Biosphere Reserve and Río Negro sub-basin to support watershed planning
• Developed a participatory watershed management plan and implemented reforestation of 7.35 ha of Polylepis forests and 28.5 ha of Andean grasslands
• Organized workshops on public financing opportunities for Eco-DRR stakeholders, including women’s associations.

Philippines

• Delivered training workshops on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for climate risk assessment and ecosystem-based impact analysis
• Supported two pilot areas—Ambongdolan and Tuel—in developing communal forest management and reforestation plans, incorporating agroforestry and Eco-DRR practices

Global

• Disseminated knowledge through reports, policy briefs and 22 outreach events on forest management, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable agroforestry
  
  

Publications

The following publications were outcomes of this project:

• Enhancing community resilience to climate change in mountain watersheds
• How coffee value chains foster climate-resilient livelihoods: The FAO-Slow Food Coffee Coalition experience
• Local efforts for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and resilient forest livelihoods in the mountain watersheds of the Philippines
• Restauración de ecosistemas y medios de vida resilientes para reducir el riesgo climático en montañas del Perú