Large-scale Ecosystem-based Adaptation in the Gambia river basin: Developing a climate-resilient, natural resource-based economy

The consequences of climate change in the Gambia are stark and Gambians are extremely vulnerable. Increased temperatures, wind storms, coastal erosion, erratic rainfall, droughts, and floods have intensified, resulting in reduced agricultural and livestock production and unsustainable extraction of resources from forest ecosystems by rural households.

 

UNEP is supporting The Gambia’s government with Gambia’s largest adaptation project. Funded by the Green Climate Fund, the aim is of this large-scale Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) intervention is to build climate resilience over large areas and promote climate-resilient sustainable development. This is achieved firstly by restoring degraded ecosystems, including forests, mangroves and savannahs, and agricultural landscapes with climate-resilient plant species that provide goods for consumption or sale; and secondly, by facilitating the establishment of natural resource-based businesses and management committees to manage the Gambian natural resource base sustainably.