Help pilot the navigator of tools for ecosystem-based adaptation

IIED, IUCN, UNEP-WCMC and GIZ are seeking feedback on a new navigator that catalogues tools for ecosystem-based adaptation planners and practitioners.

News, 15 January 2019
Mangroves and seagrasses in Lembongan, Indonesia. Conserving mangrove forests be part of ecosystem-based adaptation, protecting coastlines and biodiversity (Photo: Steven Lutz/Blue Forests, Creative Commons via Flickr)

Mangroves and seagrasses in Lembongan, Indonesia. Conserving mangrove forests be part of ecosystem-based adaptation, protecting coastlines and biodiversity (Photo: Steven Lutz/Blue Forests, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has huge potential to help people manage climate change impacts. There is a growing array of tools and methodologies available to support the integration of EbA into adaptation strategies. 

To help practitioners and policymakers identify appropriate tools for incorporating EbA into their climate adaptation plans, IIED, IUCN, UNEP-WCMC and GIZ have developed an EbA Tools Navigator. The navigator features information on more than 230 EbA tools, methodologies and guidance documents; from planning, assessments, and implementation to monitoring and mainstreaming. 

The navigator includes detailed information about each tool, including its aims and functions, and how it can be applied. It has been designed to help users easily find and understand the appropriate tools and methods to support their work. 

The navigator also allows users to add information on tools not yet included, as well as their own experiences in applying particular tools for EbA. 

The EbA Navigator tool

The new EbA Navigator can be found on the Friend of EbA page, providing practical information about more than 240 tools, methodologies and guidance documents. The tools featured cover an array of topics, including planning and assessments, implementation and valuation, monitoring and mainstreaming.

Valuable feedback on early versions of the navigator was provided by members of the international EbA community of practice, supported by GIZ as well as the Friends of EbA (FEBA) network, supported by IUCN.

The navigator has now been released in pilot form, and the developers are encouraging EbA practitioners and planners to explore and test its usefulness for their own work. Feedback is welcome on the navigator’s design and functions, and on how EbA tools can be made more accessible to those who need them.

The pilot version of the navigator is in the form of an Excel file (with macros) and is accompanied by a tutorial (PDF) providing more information and instructions on its use.

About the project partners

The EbA Tools Navigator has been developed through a collaboration between two International Climate Initiative (IKI) funded projects: Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA): strengthening the evidence and informing policy, implemented by IIED, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC; and Mainstreaming ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA): strengthening EbA in planning and decision-making processes, implemented by GIZ.

Both projects aim to show climate change policymakers and adaptation practitioners when and why EbA is effective – the conditions under which it works, and the benefits, costs and limitations of natural systems approaches. They also they promote the better integration of EbA principles into policy and planning.