Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area has increased with full closure to commercial fishing by 2015 [ ] 135 The Live and Learn Project and Climate Adaptation The work of the Kiribati government on ecosystem services is mainly through the assistance of NGOs and other vital organizations such as church groups, and other governmen- tal organizations. The Live and Learn Environmental Education (LLEE) is an NGO established in 2013 with a focus on food security and climate change, especially for the benefit of the most isolated and vulnera- ble communities. The programmes of the LLEE assist in establishing, strengthening and extending com- munity-based knowledge hubs (KHs). They also support and promote the uptake of climate-resilient crops, farm technologies and climate change leadership at community level. The LLEE has identified three community-based knowledge hubs: Temaiku (South Tarawa), Tebungi- nako (Abaiang) and Nonouti. In line with the key objective of the KHs, the LLEE worked collaboratively with these communities to promote the adoption of climate-resilient crops and farm technologies, and provide training as capacity building to local farmers. Expansion of the farm technologies and communities were needed to continue the next phase of the programme. A study supports the fact that, through financial assistance from the Live and Learn Project as well tech- nical assistance, the people learned to use farming for income generation even with poor soil conditions. Some of the notable benefits of the KHs ap- proach identified include: close inter- action and networking between local farmers from different communities, and information sharing through technology demonstrations; and the distribution of climate-resilient crops and promotion of farm technologies amongst farmers and communities. The distribution was facilitated by the KHs with the support of LLEE and other partners. A variety of climate-resilient crops were estab- lished. Additionally, the seedling and planting materials provided by the Agriculture and Livestock Division and Taiwan Technical Mission were distributed to community members through KHs. 171 households from the KHs in South Tarawa were actively engaged in vegetable and root crop production and fruit tree planting. In supporting the communities, the KHs organ- ized a system for marketing excess farm products to market outlets and supermarkets throughout the island. Another derived benefit was the facilitation of a system of information sharing between stakeholders and on planting materials. Climate resilient crops and technologies are now ex- tended across the communities which contribute to sustainability of food resources and income benefits. This is done through capacity development of communities in ecosystem-based adaptation practices through demon- stration modality which resulted in the adoption of these practices by the KHs and community. Kiribati’s coral lagoons Kiribati K iribati lies close to the equator and consists of three main groups of islands — Gilbert, Phoenix and Line — that are far from each other and distinct in time differences. Phoenix and Line Islands are inclusive of Kiritimati Island which is the world largest coral atoll. The shorelines of the islands in Kiribati are surrounded by coral reefs and its atolls are low lying and usually consist of a broken ribbon of land enclosed by a lagoon. Amoghavarsha JS