Making climate information useable for forest-based climate change interventions in South Africa

Abstract

Understanding knowledge systems, that is the combination of agents, practices, and institutions that organize the production, transfer, and use of knowledge and their role in making climate information useable for forest-based climate responses, is critical for building resilience to climate change. This study used the concept of a knowledge system to examine how organizational collaboration, in the processes of forecast translation, influences the production of useable information in forest-based climate change interventions in South Africa. Twentytwo key informant interviews were conducted with actors in the fields of climate change and forestry. Results reveal that carbon sequestration and landscape management are the dominant forest-based climate interventions. Consequently, the information translated from the forecasts is tailored towards facilitating the implementation of these two interventions. Network analysis reveals that actors in the categories of small-scale forest companies and community-based enterprises are less integrated into the process of information production. A concerted effort towards the meaningful integration of all categories of actors in the process of information production, as well as the production of information that encourages the implementation of other types of forest-based climate change interventions such as forest bioenergy, is thus recommended.

Farmers’ Demand for Climate Information Services: A Systematic Review

“…Access to extension services increases CIS demand [7,55,56]. The distance between extension services and farmers can be leveraged to increase CIS demand.…”

“…As a result, they tend to rely more on the gospels than on scientific forecasts of CIS. According to some authors, climate-smart agriculture technologies (CSA) are also used to mitigate climate change effects such as drought with short cycle seed and way of ploughing [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. This means that some farmers resort to the use of CSA practices in place of CIS.…”

A labour of love: Cross‐cultural research collaboration between Australia and Indonesia

“…Australia and Indonesia are large neighbouring countries that are both highly susceptible to the impacts of climate change (Buchori et al., 2018; Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, 2020; Djalante, 2018) and adaptation measures are essential to reduce vulnerability to impacts (Pörtner et al., 2022). Effective adaptation is often challenged by a lack of information, limited resources, and implementation of effective adaptation strategies (see for example Chiputwa et al., 2022; Lyle, 2015; Ofoegbu & Ifejika Speranza, 2021; Wiréhn, 2021). Advancing adaptive solutions will require appropriate cross‐cultural approaches that are responsive and respectful.…”