Colin

"BNRCC Adaptation to Climate Pilot project with COLIN - In partnership with CERCOPAN and DIN"

Background

Global climate change is having and will continue to have a strong impact on Nigeria, particularly in the areas of agriculture, land use, water resources, health, energy, coastal zones and other key sectors and affect the livelihoods of the majority of people in all of Nigeria’s eco-regional zones. Nigeria’s long- term development priority of poverty reduction will be severely constrained if insufficient attention is paid to the impacts of climate change and to building adaptive strategies, resilience and coping mechanisms.

Building Nigeria’s Response to Climate Change (BNRCC) Project is to assist the Nigerian people to organize and have a systematic approach, on a national scale, to address adaptation requirements recognized as necessary to deal with climate change impacts and reduce vulnerability at various levels, especially the local level, closest to peoples lives. The project will help build informed responses by enhancing capacity at the community, state and national levels to implement effective climate change adaptation strategies, policies and actions.

BNRCC will also help Nigeria meet its obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The project is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and is being managed and implemented by a consortium of CUSO and Marbek Resource Consultants in partnership with the Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST).

A component of the BNRCC project is to support community-based adaptation projects that address practical experience with community-based adaptation responses to climate change by vulnerable populations in key sectors and eco-regional zones

The goal of community-based projects is to increase resilience of communities by enhancing their capacity to cope with climate change impacts. Pilot projects at the community level can provide lessons that reflect unique local or more general or regional circumstances. Knowledge and experience from community-based projects can guide policies and other projects so as to enhance the capacities of males and females to respond to the effects of climate change and reduce possible impacts upon their livelihoods. They can also provide lessons from which development organizations and local communities can learn.

COLIN ON-GOING ACTIVITIES AND FUTURE PLANS

- To launch mangrove restoration (planting) project in the Niger Delta

- To transfer the Asian experience on the use of nypa palm (as alternative income source) to the local communities.

- To campaign against marginalization of women, child abuse, and STDs/HIV-AIDS

- To educate the local communities on the maintenance of healthy environment.

- To carry out poverty alleviation programmes.

- Documentation of mangrove and biodiversity of the region

- To introduce the concept of co-management for sustainability of the resources in the Niger Delta Region.

Esuk Idebe Fishing fisherman

INCEPTION REPORT

COASTAL LIFE INITIATIVE (COLIN)

INCEPTION REPORT

1.0 BASIC DATA

1.1 Name of Organization: COLIN

1.2 Report Submitted by: Mr. Edet Akpan, Deputy Project Coordinator

1.3 E-mail and phone number: coastallife02@yahoo.com; 0803-3950-108

1.4 Date and number of this Report: Inception Report, September 28, 2009

2.0 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY AREA

COLIN’s component of the BNRCC pilot project is being implemented in two coastal communities, namely, Esuk Idebe and Akwa Esuk Iyamba. These communities are remote rural settlements in Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Southern Senatorial District of Cross River State, situated in the mangrove forests where resources exploitation is on the increase, especially with rising population.

Esuk Idebe community is located about 10km from the local government headquarters (Ikot Nakanda) and about 30km from the state capital (Calabar). Similarly, Akwa Esuk Iyamba is located about 16km from the local government headquarters and 27km from the state capital. The two communities are accessible either by road or water. Accessibility by water is not well developed as the available boats within these communities are meant for fishing but occasionally used for commercial transportation of persons and goods to markets and other riverine communities. Indeed, the road is about the most developed means of transportation, although apart from the major road linking Calabar to Ikot Nakanda and up to Ikang in Bakassi LGA, all the other access roads to the two communities are rugged. For this reason, vehicles plying these roads must be well maintained and 4 X 4 wheels vehicles are preferred, while the commercial motorcyclists are the ones helping out. (Note: Esuk Idebe was the site for the field trip where the SAS2 tools were tested during the training workshop in Calabar).

These are fairly large communities but with an admixture of population from both indigenes and ‘non-indigenes or stranger elements’ who have migrated from other states to settle in these places. The main occupation of the people from these two coastal communities is fishing while crop production is also done either as an alternative, or in addition to fishing. Trading in fishing is also carried out especially by women in these communities.

Mangroves are important coastal plants found in these communities. It is worthy to note that wherever mangroves are found, they play significant ecological roles and are of economic importance, especially in terms of coastline protection, livelihood sustenance, atmospheric purification, leisure, etc. It had however been reported, and, indeed, confirmed by the communities’ leaders during our consultative / sensitization meetings, that the mangroves of the CRS coastal region are declining and our study communities are not exception. The main challenge therefore, for mangrove conservation in these communities is management which include sustainable exploitation and regeneration.

Fishing, which is the main occupation of the people and a lucrative livelihood practice, is declining in the coastal communities including the study areas. This is due to over-exploitation of the coastal waters and the creeks by the fishermen from these areas and others who come from afar. Some of these fishermen have diverted from fishing to other livelihoods option.

3.0 RESEARCH APPROACH

We have decided to adopt a bottom-up approach in the implementation of our project so that the entire process will be community-driven. We are using, and will continue to use, participatory approaches to enable the communities be in the driving seat and take ownership at the end of the day. PRA/PLA tools, in addition to the second generation Social Analysis System (SAS2) tools recently developed would be applied to facilitate the process. For instance, the following tools are in used in the on-going Community Situation Analysis:

· Household survey

· Brainstorming

· Focus Group Discussions

· Key informant interview

· Semi-structured interview

· Time line / Force field

· Stakeholder analysis / Rainbow diagram

· Community / hazard Mapping

During our consultative / sensitization meetings with the chiefs, women and youth leaders of the two communities, they were highly enthusiastic to have the project implemented in their areas and have promised to cooperate as well as make their own contributions towards the success of the project.