The Smart Coasts project aims to identify a series of adaptation measures in order to reduce the vulnerability of the communities that inhabit the Dzilam State Reserve and the Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in Yucatán and the Flora and Fauna Protection Area Yum Balam in Quintana Roo.
Mainstreaming of the ecosystem services approach
The project is focused on ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), that is, it seeks to take advantage of the benefits that coastal ecosystems, mainly mangroves, seagrasses and coastal dunes offer to human communities, particularly in the context of climate change. The ecosystem services that are sought to be strengthened, and therefore the sectors involved in the project, are fisheries, tourism and coastal protection. An expected result of the project is that the relevant actors in each sector are able to recognize the importance that ecosystems have for the protection and productivity of their sectors.
Mainstreaming of adaptation to climate change
In order to seek the sustainability of the measures identified in the long term, the project contemplates its mainstreaming in a series of policy instruments, from the community to the federal. Through a collaboration with the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA), the instruments of ordinance, planning and operation will be identified, among others, that must be adapted to promote climate change vulnerability reduction in the natural protected and coastal areas management.
Once the instruments to be updated have been identified, WWF and CEMDA will collaborate with the relevant institutions to identify the mechanisms through which it is possible to manage the modification of the instruments. It should be mentioned that these actors are being involved in the process of identifying adaptation measures.
The Smart Coasts project is implemented by WWF in coordination with the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) and other partners, and is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
