Can Perceptions of Environmental and Climate Change in Island Communities Assist in Adaptation Planning Locally?

Abstract

Local perceptions of environmental and climate change, as well as associated adaptations made by local populations, are fundamental for designing comprehensive and inclusive mitigation and adaptation plans both locally and nationally. In this paper, we analyze people's perceptions of environmental and climate-related transformations in communities across the Western Solomon Islands through ethnographic and geospatial methods. Specifically, we documented people's observed changes over the past decades across various environmental domains, and for each change, we asked respondents to identify the causes, timing, and people's adaptive responses. We also incorporated this information into a geographical information system database to produce broad-scale base maps of local perceptions of environmental change. Results suggest that people detected changes that tended to be acute (e.g., water clarity, logging intensity, and agricultural diseases). We inferred from these results that most local observations of and adaptations to change were related to parts of environment/ecosystem that are most directly or indirectly related to harvesting strategies. On the other hand, people were less aware of slower insidious/chronic changes identified by scientific studies. For the Solomon Islands and similar contexts in the insular tropics, a broader anticipatory adaptation planning strategy to climate change should include a mix of local scientific studies and local observations of ongoing ecological changes.

Comparing perceived effects of climate-related environmental change and adaptation strategies for the Pacific small island states of Tuvalu, Samoa, and Tonga

“…We could also confirm that people in Pacific small island states perceive environmental change as a result of unsustainable lifestyles, and they are aware of unsustainable practices, such as sand mining, blast fishing, logging, burning rubbish, and use of fossil fuels (Aswani et al, 2015;Lata & Nunn, 2013;Ford, 2012). This also relates to Campbell's (2009) view that the vulnerability connected to 'islandness' arises from the interplay of many factors that are associated with modernity.…”

“…McCubbin, 2015;Aswani et al, 2015;Magee, 2016). However, perceptions of low selfefficacy and lack of personal skills to cope effectively with the multitude of challenges prevail.…”

“…These factors impede water management, preparing and repairing houses and property, planting, and retreat. Another prominent strategy, namely improving one's own financial situation, is also difficult to realize due to limited income-generating opportunities that often also place additional stress on local ecosystems (Aswani et al, 2015). Moreover, waste management and reducing the burning of rubbish depend on communal infrastructures and are not completely in the hands of local people.…”

“…" Betzold's observation can be broken down even further. A small number of authors has actually studied what kinds of climate-related environmental change people in Pacific small island states perceive and how much they are aware of climate change in general (Kuruppu & Liverman, 2011;Kuruppu & Willie, 2015;Lata & Nunn;Lebel, 2013;Aswani et al 2015;Scott-Parker et al, 2016). Yet, it is striking not only that comparisons of potential differences in perceptions between island states are rare, but also that it has so far hardly been studied how islanders actually perceive their options to adapt: Though the perception of climate change itself is a prerequisite to adaptive behaviour, the perception and assessment of adaptation strategies, personal abilities, and self-efficacy, as well as people's expectations of other actors and institutions play an equally, if not even more important role in motivating protective action (Beyerl et al, 2016;Grothmann & Patt, 2005;Grothmann & Reusswig, 2006).…”

An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales

“…A link to the full survey can be found at http://gullsweb.noc.ac.uk/communitysurvey.php. Note that this conceptual framework not only emerges from the experience of GULLS members during this research but also from their prior work with issues surrounding coastal communities and vulnerability (e.g., Aswani, Vaccaro, Abernethy, Albert, & de Pablo, 2015;Gasalla & Diegues, 2011;Shyam et al, 2014Shyam et al, , 2015van Putten et al, 2016).…”