Local communities are on the frontlines of climate change impacts and have a leading role in managing natural resources. When landscapes and water resources are managed sustainably through holistic and inclusive approaches, they can provide a wealth of ecosystem services that are vital for climate change adaptation and mitigation. These services include water regulation and provision, habitat provision for biodiversity and maintenance of carbon stocks. 

COP28 UNFCCC Resilience Hub event  

To showcase locally led action at this year’s UNFCCC COP28, the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation, Australian Water Partnership, Stockholm International Water Institute and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations with support from UN-REDD co-hosted a session at the Resilience Hub under the theme 'Water and Natural Ecosystems'. 

This session was held on Friday the 8th of December from 13:30-14:30 GST (10:30-11:30 CET) and focused on best-practices, tools, and local initiatives that strengthen climate action and water resilience across landscapes, followed by a discussion on how they can be upscaled and systematically incorporated into global and national processes. 

You can click here to view the recording.

Putting the spotlight on the importance of local action: Community-based monitoring in Latin America 

The integrated management of forestand water resources can be significantly more effective when local communities and government entities in charge monitoring come together.This can lead to improvedlandscape management practices for data collection, allowing stakeholders to improve decision making processes. This was one of the keyconclusions of a recent panel to share experiences and lessons learned on community monitoring of forests and waterthrough a landscape approach. The panel was an initiative supported by UN-REDD Programmeandled by the Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies –IDEAM-as well as the FAO Colombia Office.Participants joined the panel from Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala and Ecuador. 

The panelists shared experiences from their countries and highlighted numerousbenefits of community-based monitoring. For example, it reinforces the gathering of high quality and updated information from the communities for better decision making;integrates ancestral and community knowledge with scientific and technical knowledge; strengthens the communication between local communities and environmental authorities; and addresses community monitoring not only as something local, but also as something institutional, contributing to the generation of public policies which are grounded in reality.  

Importantly, the local communities and indigenous peoples are at the centre of this approach. By having first-hand experience of the territory,theyare familiar with the species andcycles of the forests, as well as the synergies and trade-offs of the different components of nature. This knowledge makes it a priority tosupport and include community monitoring of forests and water in national monitoring efforts.  

Ultimately, improved monitoring of forest and water resources leads to the continued provision of ecosystem services that are vital for climate change mitigation and adaptation.