Climatelinks Photo Gallery

Members of an agricultural society in Saint Thomas, Jamaica, started as subsistence farmers and blossomed into business-savvy apiculturists. Through the USAID-funded Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystems Adapting to Climate Change project, the group learned about the importance of these key pollinators and how beekeeping and selling honey products can provide climate-smart economic opportunities.

In March 2019, in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, forest owners living in Cat Tien National Park learn how register to receive payments through their mobile phone through Vietnam's Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) mechanism. They also learn how to access money once a payment is made, and how to transfer the money to other accounts. Vietnam’s PFES program addresses climate change by providing financial compensation to people living in the forest to protect and improve the landscape. The USAID/Vietnam’s Vietnam Forests and Deltas project improves the transparency and accountability of PFES by supporting the transition from cash-based payments to electronic payments. This Vietnam Forests and Deltas project is implemented by Winrock International in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.

The U.S. Forest Service International Programs, through USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, is working in Central Africa to train communities on improved fire management. Uncontrolled fires pose a huge threat to Central African forests and can cause large releases of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when burned, further exacerbating the effects of climate change. However, fire within forest-savannah mosaic landscapes in the Congo Basin can be both a management tool as well as a threat. If used in a sustainable manner, fire can help maintain pastureland and protect forests, farms, plantations, and villages. If used haphazardly, intentional and accidental fires can burn out of control, impacting large areas and threatening villages, farms, and forests. Here, during a trailing in May 2017, a local “fire brigade” is trained in how to control and suppress fire so that they can better deal with uncontrolled fires in their communities.

In March 2016 in Nghe An Province, the USAID/Vietnam Vietnam Forests and Deltas Project worked with forest rangers in Pu Hoat Natural Reserve to use tablets to improve forest monitoring. The Vietnam Forests and Deltas project supports Vietnam’s Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) mechanism to better monitor and evaluate the impact PFES has on Vietnam’s forests. The Vietnam Forests and Deltas project is implemented by Winrock International in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.

It was a relatively simple shift, but required a big leap of faith on the part of thousands of smallholder coffee farmers growing Arabica trees in southern Shan State. Specialty coffee experts partnering with USAID's Value Chains for Rural Development project in Myanmar suggested that farmers experiment with a new way to add value to their coffee by "sun-drying" it atop easy-to-build, ventilated tables that could be built cheaply with bamboo and mesh. By doing so, they could tap into the growing global specialty market for sundried natural Arabica, harness the sun's energy and avoid the need to use large volumes of water required to produce "washed" coffees. It worked, and, combined with new market linkages fostered by the project and partners, Shan coffee farmers are now earning 2-4 times more for their sustainably produced, sundried natural Arabica than they previously earned. What's more, producers and processors in the region have formed new businesses, are attracting bank financing and are now selling directly to high-end domestic and global specialty coffee buyers.

In Myanmar, thousands of small, backyard coffee plantations dot the landscape in mountainous Shan State. In places like Hopong Township, they provide extra income and an alternative to poppy production. Most of the small coffee farms are tended and harvested by women, because they are planted close to home. New production practices introduced by USAID's Value Chains for Rural Development project, implemented by Winrock International, over the past four years have been widely adopted by women growers, who have become champions of a new way of coffee cultivation that is generating increased incomes through quality premiums. New, community-managed coffee processing stations in Hopong and other areas around the country are making use of raised drying tables that use the sun's power to dry coffee cherries, reducing the need to use water for washed or "wet" processed coffee. The new methods have resulted in award-winning coffees that are now available in Myanmar's finest specialty cafes and, increasingly coveted by importers willing to pay good prices directly to farmers for a sustainably farmed product.

In Malawi, volunteer members of the community watershed committee are helping maintain a stony wall in the watershed area of Kublang in March 2017. The USAID-funded UBALE (United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations) project trains farmers in watershed management methods to ensure the sustainable use of resources and preserve the watershed. Watershed functions are threatened in this area by poor farming systems, erosion, deforestation, and drought. The goal of UBALE is to sustainably reduce food insecurity and build resilience among 250,000 vulnerable households in the Blantyre Rural, Chikwawa, and Nsanje districts of southern Malawi.

August 2019.

Image taken in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic. This image reflects the work done by a group of 5 young people who were introduced to coral restoration as a method of adaptation to climate change in coastal areas. The works were carried out under the Climate Risk Reduction Program.

The U.S. Forest Service International Programs, through USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, is working in Central Africa to train communities on improved fire management. Uncontrolled fires pose a huge threat to Central African forests and can cause large releases of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when burned, further exacerbating the effects of climate change. However, fire within forest-savannah mosaic landscapes in the Congo Basin can be both a management tool as well as a threat. If used in a sustainable manner, fire can help maintain pastureland and protect forests, farms, plantations, and villages. If used haphazardly, intentional and accidental fires can burn out of control, impacting large areas and threatening villages, farms, and forests. Here, during a trailing in May 2017, a local “fire brigade” is trained in how to control and suppress fire so that they can better deal with uncontrolled fires in their communities.

A Maasai man starts a fire from the friction created by rubbing two sticks together– a traditional method that has kept the pastoralist Maasai people warm and well-fed for several centuries. As climate change threatens the Serengeti ecosystem that nourishes their cattle, so too is their rangeland decreasing from increased agriculture, wildlife preserves, and stricter land rights. The growing number of tourists and a waning nomadic lifestyle for many Maasai people presents an opportunity to share perspectives in a rapidly evolving world. Tourists are likely to learn about the threats to Maasai culture as they interact with them on their way to nearby national parks. While the future of the Maasai is uncertain, the ability for them to tell their story is stronger than ever. Sharing skills like fire making allows tourists to have more than just a window to others' lives; understanding similarities to Maasai families enables them to connect the dots on the collective fabric that defines us as we adapt to a changing climate.

An eco-guard walks along a newly renovated trail and bridge in Kahuzi Biega National Park in May 2018. The U.S. Forest Service International Programs, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society and supported by USAID’s Central Africa Program for the Environment, is working with Kahuzi Biega National Park to improve and expand tourist hiking trails as well as work with nearby communities to maintain newly rehabilitated trails. Building capacity of national park staff and local communities not only improves visitor experience and creates economic opportunities for neighboring communities, but also puts the park on track for long-term financial stability, an essential step in the long-term protection of these landscapes, and the preservation of the forests within them.

Western parts of Rwanda has very steep hill sides prone to soil erosion and severe soil degradation. Climate Change is expected to result in increase in extreme events is likely to affect the heavily populated, denuded, steep hillsides much more than other areas. A Feed the Future project called Hinga Weze is promoting radical terracing and planting Agroforestry trees to were planted to provide wood for fuel and fodder for livestock/social protection while avoiding deforestation and improving food security. This has multiple additional benefits, namely reduced soil erosion and increased resilience to heavy rains through improved slope stability; water management and nutrient recycling which improve agricultural production and carbon sequestration.

Youth aged 14 to 25 learned about the effects of climate change, ways to mitigate the risk, and how they can raise awareness in their communities through the USAID-funded Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystems Adapting to Climate Change project in 2018. The project provided climate change training to 2,146 youth and more than 147,000 trees were planted in a forest reserve.

Sea level rise and accompanying coastal flooding is proving to be a major risk to the lives and livelihoods of the people of coastal Sierra Leone, including this Momaya community. Now, community members are using discarded oyster shells, sand, and stakes to build embankments that will protect their property from coastal erosion.

Palabek Refugee Settlement, Northern Uganda. July 22, 2019.

Incorporating the Resilience Design and Permagarden methodologies of the USAID TOPS/SCALE program.

Mapping natural resources in Palabek refugee settlement, Northern Uganda. African Women Rising’s female agricultural staff and community mobilizers understand that long-term solutions to climate change begin in the field, working directly with refugees and farmers on the frontlines. African Women Rising works with women to create self-sustaining solutions, educating and employing a majority of women community mobilizers to lead this charge.

For more information: https://www.africanwomenrising.org/about-us/agriculture/

In May 2018, the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society and supported by USAID’S Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, held a birdwatching training to train guides from Kahuzi Biega and Virunga National Parks in bird watching with the aim to diversify tourism activities to attract new types of visitors. Building capacity of national park staff to promote ecotourism not only improves visitor experience and creates economic opportunities for neighboring communities, but also puts the park on track for long-term financial stability, an essential step in the long-term protection of these landscapes, and the preservation of the forests within them.