Climate adaptation with women's empowerment and mangroves - an interim report

The RISK Award 2021 supports the University of Potsdam and the Vietnamese NGO CSRD to establish a mangrove nursery. In addition, climate adaptation measures and resilience building of the local population are being promoted at various levels. Now there is good progress to report.

The nursery is well established, the team is trained and the first 18,000 plants are growing and thriving. In autumn 2021 - as reported - there was heavy flooding, which meant that the plants could only be planted later than planned. Therefore, now, in summer 2022, they have not quite reached the size they should have for release in the lagoon. After consultation with the project's mangrove expert, two adaptation measures were decided: the seedlings in the mangrove nursery will be moved within the nursery-area so that they do not root too deeply. This also makes room for the second production cycle, which will be started this year. Instead of the mangroves from the nursery, external larger seedlings are bought to be planted in the lagoon. This will keep us on track in terms of planting areas under the milestone plan.

CSRD and the nursery members have started preparations for the second production cycle. Two different species of mangroves are to be raised again: Sonneratia Caseolaris and Rhizophora apiculata. For the first species, there are not enough good suppliers in the project region, so we will buy the seeds from northern Vietnam. The project team found suitable suppliers on a field trip. Rhizophora apiculata can be bought in the region, but only in September. As planned - and if no further storms intervene - the second production cycle will then begin in September.

The project also serves to strengthen the role and visibility of women in the region. Cooperation with the Women's Union has been strengthened and concrete goals agreed upon during several planning meetings. With the support of CSRD, 10 eco-DRR plays are being rehearsed. These will explain the role of nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate adaptation. In addition, the new livelihood opportunities created by the NbS measures themselves will be shown, but also how an intact ecosystem can contribute to income opportunities. Performances in front of large audiences are planned for October and November.

The information campaign is multi-pronged. In addition to the theatres mentioned above, film material is also to be produced. In concrete terms, a film accompanying the project has now been started. This will address the general public. In cooperation with the Women's Union, a second film is being produced, which will record the results from the theatres and can be used for further training purposes in women's and youth groups. The aim is to disseminate knowledge about disaster risk reduction and ecosystem-based adaptation among all members.

Project Advisor My Pham presented the project and its experiences at a side event during the UNDRR Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 entitled "Innovative solutions for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation: lessons learned from award winning projects" organised by the Munich Re Foundation. In addition, CSRD Director Nhat Anh presented the RISK Award 2021 project at a Vietnamese UNEP event "Commission on the Status of Women" (14-25 March 2022). The title of the side event was: "A call for Action: gender transformative approaches to address the triple planetary crisis - climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution". At the end of August, My Pham and project leader Philip Bubeck (University of Potsdam) will present the project at the Potsdam Summer School. Hosts of the summer school include Geo.X, the city of Potsdam, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the University of Potsdam. In this way, we also succeed in communicating project results beyond the local community.

CB, 15 June 2022