A new report from the UN Capital Development Fund examining how their flagship mechanism, the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility, uses nature-based solutions to build community level resilience to climate change, was launched as part of an event at the Gobeshona Global Conference this week. That event brought together speakers from Bangladesh, who illustrated the report findings with direct experiences of mangrove and vetiver grass planting in the southern delta region of the country.

Coastal community in Bangladesh, LoGIC ©UNCDF LoCAL 2023

The event, titled ‘Working with nature and communities for building resilience to the impacts of climate change’ took place at the online Gobeshona Global Conference, which brings international organisations, community representatives, technical experts and thought leaders together each year to advance thinking and drive action on locally led adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

“Nature-based solutions work with the natural environment to deliver the resilience that communities need and when we looked at the reporting period of LoCAL Facility activities, we found that we have more than two hundred examples of implementing these kind of actions across eleven countries,” said Lena Bratlie, UNCDF Programme Officer and author of the report: ‘LoCAL and Nature-based Solutions’

Photo: Pineapple Farmers in Mozambique, ©UNCDF LoCAL 2024

“I was thrilled to be able launch the report at the Gobeshona event and alongside speakers and community representatives from Bangladesh because of all the countries studied, Bangladesh has a particularly high proportion of projects that apply this NBS approach to finding sustainable solutions to tackling climate change,” she added.

Bangladesh is one of the most climate-vulnerable and population dense countries in the world. Much of the nation lies on low-lying delta, which has historically supported a large population of farmers and fishers but today is increasingly vulnerable to rising temperatures, fluctuating rainfall, rising sea levels and associated impacts like increased water salination. The majority of the country’s 169 million-strong population live in rural areas, according to data from the World Bank, though this is changing and climate change is one of a multitude of factors pushing populations to relocate.

Farmers using locally adapted crops in Bangladesh, LOGIC ©UNCDF LoCAL 2023

In Bangladesh, the LoCAL Facility is working with rural populations to build resilience to climate change across the country through the Local Government Initiative on Climate Change, LoGIC (2018 to June, 2025), a joint initiative supported by the UN Development Programme Bangladesh, UNCDF, European Union, Sweden, and Denmark. LoGIC uses LoCAL’s approach of channeling finance to communities with Performance Based Climate Resilience Grants – a mechanism that provides the basis for ISO 14093. From January 2020 to May 2023, the approach has delivered results in participating communities, with 206 out of 377 adaptation interventions in the country applying sustainable natural resource management approaches, of which 36 out of 88 use nature-based solutions.

“The scheme is playing a vital role in advancing the socioeconomic well-being of the coastal communities that are vulnerable to the harmful effects of climate change,” said Md. Abduklkah-Al Mahmud, Chairman of Moharajpur Union Parishad in the Khulna District of southern Bangladesh. “Mangroves aid in stabilising land in coastal regions by preventing erosion… [and]… help in purifying water by removing pollutants.”

Multiple farming groups were created in coastal communities in Bangladesh under LoGIC ©UNCDF LoCAL 2023

Md. Sabbir Ahmed, Chairman of Pankhali Union Parishad, also in Khulna District explained how positive results in his community in the use of veviter grass – a tall, fast growing grass that holds soil together and can withstand flooding – is encouraging neighbouring communities to follow his lead.

“I spoke about the success of this eco-friendly climate tolerant vetiver grass planting project in the monthly Upazilla coordiantion meeting, “ said Mr Ahmed. “Hearing the story, the Chairman of [another community] decided to implement it in his area.”

Observing the success, the initiative was replicated in other parts of Khulna and Sunamganj in subsequent years.

Key takeaways from the event:

• Bangladesh community representatives underscored the value of their active participation and engagement in building local level resilience to the impacts of climate change. Residents engaged in adaptation projects that used nature based solutions to build resilience and learned how to manage and protect native flora, giving the examples of experience with mangroves and vetiver grass by LoGIC project. Speakers, both from Khulna District in southern Bangladesh, highlighted the threat of soil erosion and falling water quality, which mangrove and vetiver grass both address. Women in particular have benefitted from the investments, with one speaker noting that improved water quality as a result of mangrove planting has boosted women’s livelihoods enabling them to farm crabs in the shallows of the delta. While nature-based solutions are cost effective, both speakers underscored that more investment in such solutions to tackle the climate threats (e.g. soil erosion, flood risk, drinking water crisis etc.) affecting their communities.
• A technical presentation highlighted the vast potential of native flora in tackling some of the most pressing climate impacts in Bangladesh, such as soil erosion, poor water quality and water salination. While community participation is positive, as it raises awareness of the value of these species, Prof Islam recommended additional investment and awareness building to assure better planting outcomes: - improve quality of seedlings/ shrubs/ grasses and the overall supply chain - train those involved in planting to optimise results - more training needed on maintenance as for mangrove and especially vetiver to flourish, they need long-term care and tending for maximum effectiveness
• At new report from UNCDF’s Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL), launched at the event, highlighted how NBS and sustainable natural resource management are being applied in LoCAL projects globally. An assessment of 1,602 projects between January 2020 and May 2023 in 11 countries (Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Cambodia, The Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Tanzania) revealed a range of adaptation strategies are being leveraged to address climate change impacts through the conservation and rehabilitation of ecosystems. From this analysis, Bangladesh is a stand out case with 206 out of 377 adaptation interventions were applying sustainable natural resource management, of which 36 out of 88 were in a synergetic manner with NBS. As well as mangrove and vetiver grass planting examples include:
  • Wildfire protection using green firebreaks
  • Rainwater harvesting
  • Bio-engineering technologies to stabilize critical landslide areas
  • Planting of trees
  • Promoting sustainable land-use management

Find out more about LoCAL here

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