Community engagement, participation and empowerment are key to successful adaptation actions at the local level. A novel marine monitoring toolkit has been developed with the participation of community resource monitors to inform local action and management. It has been piloted in North Efate, Vanuatu to allow communities to take ownership of monitoring their marine resources.
The toolkit includes both qualitative and quantitative monitoring methods for coastal habitats and resources, and demonstrates effective participatory development through a series of community workshops with local environmental leaders. The toolkit includes a standardised process for communities to use monitoring results instantly, translating information from their surveys into management actions that target key areas of concern. Using these methods, communities are able to adapt their traditional management to address the immediate and medium-term effects of climate change on their local marine environment. The observed additional benefits of this work include increased local action through community-led environmental awareness days, increases in the size of locally managed no take areas and new local ecotourism initiatives to generate revenue to support climate change adaptation activities.
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