A Community Tool Kit
Climate Witness workshop report
by Francis Areki
Climate Witness Toolkit
This toolkit outlines steps to develop a community-based adaptation strategy to deal with adverse impacts of climate change like reduced rainfall, coastal erosion and coral bleaching.
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The Climate Witness Toolkit is available in the following languages:
The WWF South Pacific Programme, through work in Kabara in the Lau Group of Fiji islands, developed a methodology called the ‘Climate Witness Tool Kit’. This toolkit outlines steps to develop a community-based adaptation strategy to deal with adverse impacts of climate change like reduced rainfall, coastal erosion and coral bleaching which are already being experienced. Central to the process is community participation as it takes their experiences into account, ensures community ownership and long term implementation of the action plan.
Successfully tried and tested in four villages in Kabara, WWF South Pacific shared this internationally renowned methodology with other community-based environment and development organizations in an Application and Training Workshop from October 25 - 27, 2006.
Participating organisations included Live and Learn Environment Education, Laje Rotuma, the World Council of Churches in the Pacific, The Department of Fisheries, The Institute of Applied Sciences-University of the South Pacific, Partners in Community Development Fiji, Fiji Council of Social Services, the Macuata Women’s Network and the Provincial Offices of Macuata and Lau.
The objective of the workshop was to train participants to apply the methods contained within the toolkit in the communities they work in. A broader objective was to encourage the mainstreaming of climate change issues into existing organisational activities. This will strengthen community adaptation to climate change on a national level.
© WWFSPPO 2006. Laje Rotuma Representative, Marie Pene leads a tool group discussion.
Feedback from the workshop was encouraging and positive. Ms. Doris Ravai, Live and Learn Environment Education, said at the end of training that, “The toolkit is very helpful, and language used is very simple”. This sentiment was echoed by the other participants who indicated that the toolkit is useful, very clear and easy to use by facilitators and local communities alike.
Participants agreed to apply the toolkit within their respective community projects in Fiji and develop Climate Change adaptation plans. Eight of the participating organisations are developing a joint proposal to facilitate implementation of the action plans arising out of these communities.
This is perhaps one of the most consolidated attempts to date to promote and strengthen community adaptation to climate change in Fiji.
-Ms. Doris Ravai, Live and Learn Environment Education,