Too little and too much water – Scaling up EbA to tackle water challenges

In 2024, Central and South America experienced a record-breaking drought along with heat waves and wildfires, threatening food security and leading to water rationing and electricity shortages. The drought period was followed by severe flooding and landslides. Alterations in the water cycle and the increased frequency of extreme events highlight the urgent need to accelerate ecosystem-based approaches to protect and restore healthy ecosystems. EbA is a promising cost-effective adaptation approach to improve water security by increasing natural water storage capacities and availability, water quality and buffers against the impacts of extreme events.

Across the three countries, the project facilitates EbA implementation at the landscape level to better cope with the impacts of droughts and floods, support household livelihoods and incomes, and reduce long-term economic costs. EbA measures for water include protection of water sources, agroforestry, grazing management, reforestation and restoration of areas located in high water recharge zones, forest management on municipal and communal lands, and strengthening of municipal nurseries. To ensure acceleration of adaptation finance, EbA measures are integrated into local planning instruments (Sectoral and Territorial Development Plans) in the three countries.

In Costa Rica, the scaling-up process for EbA focuses on increasing financial flows to improve water security. ASADAS, community-based associations that manage water resources in rural areas, play a key role in providing water services to 30% of the country’s population. Financial constraints and a lack of technical expertise on how to respond to climate risks limit their ability to provide consistent and reliable services. To align technical capacity and finance for climate action, the project facilitated training courses to more than twenty ASADAS in assessing water-related climate risks and vulnerabilities. Participatory approaches enabled ASADAS to map out their shared risks at the watershed level, and to develop adaptation measures, allowing all stakeholders to benefit in a ‘win-win’ situation. 

EbA measures to improve water security include source water protection, restoration, agroforestry and agrosilvopastoral practices, as well as advocacy for a new water culture. ASADAS have developed action plans to improve water security which have enabled them to introduce a new pricing system, a water protection tariff charged to consumers, to increase the flow of financial resources for the implementation of EbA measures. So far, four ASADAS serving 36,000 people are awaiting approval from the regulatory authority to introduce the new tariff to mobilize more than $250,000 per year to implement their actions. 

In Ecuador, the project strengthened multi-level governance for improved water security, fostering interinstitutional cooperation at various levels: Local savings and credit cooperatives in the province of Manabi were supported to develop green credit lines, small loans that support water availability and efficiency for vulnerable rural communities. Smallholder farmers with limited resources now have access to microfinance, which helps them to implement improvements on their farms that will benefit their socioeconomic status, overcome poverty in the long term and protect water resources.

To bring EbA to scale, the project is supporting municipalities to develop water resource protection plans that will protect and restore an area of approximately 100 ha. In order to achieve gender equitable and inclusive governance, the role of women in protecting water and life (“Water Guardians”) is highlighted. It also promotes women's participation in decision-making in water resource management. In addition, the project supports municipalities in developing a bankable water security project pipeline and advises the national development bank in designing water and climate-related instruments to finance the pipeline, thus becoming a catalyst for green investments.

In Guatemala, the window of opportunity to scale up EbA and improve water security is at the policy level. The project supports the development of a National Policy for Compensation of Ecosystem Services associated with Guatemalan Forests. The policy promotes payments to forest owners to ensure the sustainability of ecosystem services such as water provision and flood protection. By integrating ecosystem-based water management into payments for ecosystem services, the compensation ensures the recovery, conservation and protection of forest ecosystems and water resources.

At the regional level, the project facilitates learning networks with key actors to share knowledge and lessons learned on water-related climate risks. The regional event on ‘Advancing insurance for climate risks’ brought together 35 representatives from five countries to share experiences on the implementation of rural insurance schemes and discuss ways to strengthen regional cooperation. Regional exchanges promote environmental sustainability and strengthen the role of international cooperation as a catalyst for effective and replicable climate solutions aligning local and global efforts to build a more resilient and inclusive agricultural system.