The Need of Integrated Approach: CBA vs EBA

Thank God that communities are adapting to the impacts of climate change by diversifying their livelihood options and rehabilitating the ecosystems and managing the natural resources to the best they can. But scientists in the 5th International Conference on Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Dhaka were debating on Community Based Adaptation (CBA) and Ecosystem Based Adaptation (EBA). This was the reality of the 17th parallel session of the conference "The role of ecosystems in adaptation".

The session started with a three minute eye-closed-thinking chaired by Helen Jeans, WWF and Hannah Reid, IIED.

During the three minute thinking, participants were asked to think as if he or she is stream that continuously flows to its destination, lake that supports a diversity of life, tree that stands still and looks after what is going on around, wild lives running here and there, soil supporting a diversity of life, fishes swimming freely in the lake, birds flying here and there, and people doing agriculture and raising livestock who has been utilizing the natural resources by generation. The moment realized the context of ecosystem and interrelations within it.

Panel presentations went on continuously. Presenters suggested based on their experiences,various ways to scale CBA practices at ecosystem level such as: community empowerment, uniting traditional and scientific knowledge on adaptation, developing synergies among different actors, and balancing policy issues and natural process by identifying the underlying causes of vulnerability such as gender, marginalization, and traditional knowledge base. In this context, there is a need of balancing focus on ecosystem improvement, empowerment and benefit sharing, and livelihood improvement.

However, at the point of discussion, a mix thoughts were raised by the participants about CBA and EBA. Some said these are same some said these are different, .........
Because, traditionally, scientists and development workers have made demarcation in the field of conservation and development though it has been gradually realized as the need of merging people and nature centric approaches for sustainable management of natural resources. This may be the residual impact of orientation to those persons in the respective field, which in the changed situation need to be thought again!!!

Whether we debate on CBA or EBA and made distinction, livelihood promotion and sustainable natural resource management should strategy should go parallel. For this to achieve, CBA can complement to EBA. Because CBA is for community level who are associated with the natural resources for their livelihoods. And if communities are not aware on the issues of climate change and the role of natural resources or ecosystem services, if they are not linked with the opportunities in the marketing of the products of the ecosystem services, and if they are not involved in the equitable benefit sharing mechanisms from the management of natural resources, and if their livelihood options are not diversified, and if the community based adaptations are not complemented at the watershed or ecosystem level, every sector in the community and element of the ecosystem will be threatened and ultimately the human being.

However, the great great moment of the session was that it ended with the following common consensus: 'An integrated approach is needed in the context when we are moving into the new world'!!!!! Where CBA and EBA must complement!!!

Keshab Thapa