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Sea-level rise mapping

An eye-opener for a Solomon Islands community

August 8^th, 2014

When it comes to understanding climate change, a map can speak a thousand words. For one village in the Solomon Islands, a recent training on sea level rise mapping clearly showed community members some of the changes they can expect to see on their small farms.

The Solomon Islands consists of about 900 islands lying directly in the cyclone zone east of Papua New Guinea. Food security is a chronic issue, with farmers growing subsistence crops like taro, sweet potatoes, cassava and bananas on steeply sloped or low lying small plots.

Resilience in Agriculture and Food Security

Climate change has put further stress on the already limited food supply. Eighty percent of people in the Solomon Islands live in rural areas and are prone to climate change impacts such as flooding, higher tides and more intense storms. Staple foods like the giant swamp taro (known as kakake) have declined during the increasingly wet conditions and salt water has inundated many garden plots.

Furthermore, some islands are isolated and depend on irregular transportation, which means that villagers cannot depend on food imports or food relief when times are hard. This makes it all the more important for local communities to take charge of their own food security.

The ADAPtation FUND

In response to these pressures and in an effort to manage the vulnerable ecosystems, a project called Strongem Waka lo Community fo Kaikai (SWoCK) aims to help communities in Solomon Islands manage the climate change-driven pressures on local food production.

Knowledge is power

A critical part of community-based adaptation is educating people about the risks they face. Many have observed weather and sea-level changes, but are not yet aware of the longer-term forecasts. Without a clear sense of the changes in store, it is difficult for them to prepare and adapt.

That’s where sea level rise mapping comes in. By training SWoCK project coordinators and community members to map and interpret sea level rise, it helps put the problem in perspective and points to some necessary changes in farming practices and planning. Radeaekoa village was host to the first training. Located in the Langalanga lagoon region of the Malaita Province, the village is just half a meter above sea level and salt water intrusion into people’s gardens has already affected crop yields.

Using lasers and a detector to measure the height of the village setting above the rising high water mark, some attendees described the training as an “eye-opener.”

“I’ve heard and read stories about sea level rise, but I didn’t believe it until I attended this training and saw with my own eyes how vulnerable we are,” said Joe Tafearana, a village resident. “The training is a wake-up call for us to start thinking of measures to take now to save our village, livelihoods and our children.”

“When our children see the maps they will believe what they see and I hope it will make them realize what the future holds,” said Claudia Base, another training participant.

SWoCK’s Malaita Project Coordinator Mary Fa’alimae said that the training had given her a wider knowledge of sea level rise, and that she will use the knowledge to help communities plan for their future.

In a country with very few trained land-use planners, this kind of community-based training and mapping is essential to help people make informed decisions about where to plant, when, and what techniques to use.

According to Kristina Fidali, SWoCK’s Land Use Planning Officer, the training has transformed some of the skepticism people felt about climate change and its impacts.

“Before the training, I received negative comments [about] new farming techniques. But after four days of mapping, the reaction has been positive and encouraging, especially when people now understand how vulnerable their current location is and understand the plans to safeguard the future.”

In addition to the introduction of climate resilient crop varieties and enhanced farming systems, the project also supports a range of other practical adaptation measures, such as climate-resilient land-use planning, climate early-warning and information systems, agriculture food banks, national assessment of soil types and their vulnerability to degradation, and enhanced food processing and storage techniques.

The SWoCK project is funded through the Adaptation Fund for the period of 2010-2014, implemented through the United Nations Development Programme and executed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology of the Solomon Islands. For more information on the project, please visit UNDP’s SWoCK Project Profile.