WRR 2010-2011: Case Studies

Case study research from the developing world is a key component of the WRR 2010. We commissioned in-depth analyses of national level decision making processes that have sought to integrate climate risks into policies and planning within critical sectors such as water resources, agriculture and electricity production. Each case study is co-authored by a practitioner or expert who was involved in the project. Collectively, they inform the WRR Synthesis Report, which will provide guidance to national government officials on how to make effective decisions for climate adaptation.

The complete list of case studies is below. Click on the name of the country to learn more about each case and download the full case study.

Country	Description of case study
China	A ‘soft path’ approach to combating flooding risk involving restoring floodplains and resettling farmers has increased flood retention capacity, generation of ecosystem services, and improved the livelihoods of local people.
Vietnam	Mangroves have been planted along coastal areas as a disaster risk reduction mechanism under a collective management arrangement.
South Africa	Biodiversity information is incorporated into spatial and development planning in South Africa, and a national strategy for expanding protected areas has been developed.
Rwanda	Rwanda acted swiftly and implemented decisive actions in order to restore the ecological services provided by the Rugezi wetlands and prevent disruption to its electricity supply.
Bangladesh	The Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme was set up to increase the nation's capacity to respond proactively to disasters.
Mongolia	The Index-Based Livestock Insurance Project aims to help herders cope with significant herd losses and transfer some of the risks involved in livestock herding.
Nepal	Nepal acted proactively to prevent glacial lake outburst floods by installing an early warning system and lowering the lake level by 3 meters.
Indonesia	A 2008 regulation in Central Kalimantan province integrated the use of ENSO information to assess future fire risk, for the purpose of decision-making on whether or not to allow fire use by farmers.
Mali	Mali's national meteorological service initiated a project designed to provide farmers with seasonal climate information.
Namibia	Namibia has created community-based institutions and local level monitoring tools to better support farmers living in communal areas prone to land degradation amidst changing climatic patterns.
China	The Comprehensive Agricultural Development program has helped farmers in China’s 3H Basin incorporate adaptation measures such as water-saving irrigation techniques and climate-resilient wheat varieties.
Brazil	A situation room was set up in the Brazilian state of Acre to process satellite data and coordinate response to devastating forest fires in 2005.

The cases studies focus mainly on national-level decision-making processes that have either succeeded in integrating both short- and long-term climate risks into policy making and planning for key sectors or faced hurdles in attempting to do so. We have gone to great lengths to find case studies that have moved beyond the planning stage and have implemented decisions, in order to distill lessons learned from outcomes on the ground.

However, since many countries are only now beginning to grapple with the looming reality of climate change adaptation and have yet to build the necessary processes and capacities, such cases are few and far between, especially over the long term. We therefore will also feature relevant and informative examples of decision making that do not involve climate change impacts but share similar characteristics, including their long-term nature and uncertainty of outcome.

While most of our case studies are national and focus on a single sector, not all issues and impacts facing decision makers fall neatly within national boundaries or one part of the economy. Water management and agricultural issues, for example, often overlap. We therefore also include cross-sectoral and regional cases.

<table width="500" border="1" align="center" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
 <tr bgcolor="#FE8A01">
 <td width="85" valign="top">Country</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top">Description of case study</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">Rwanda</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">Rwanda acted swiftly and implemented decisive actions in order to restore the ecological services provided by the Rugezi wetlands and prevent disruption to its electricity supply.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top">Mali</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top">Mali‘s national meteorological service initiated a project designed to provide farmers with seasonal climate information.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">Mongolia</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">The Index-Based Livestock Insurance Project aims to help herders cope with significant herd losses and transfer some of the risks involved in livestock herding.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top">Vietnam</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top">Mangroves have been planted along coastal areas as a disaster risk reduction mechanism under a collective management arrangement.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">Nepal</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">Nepal acted proactively to prevent glacial lake outburst floods by installing an early warning system and lowering the lake level by 3 meters.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top">Namibia</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top">Namibia has created community-based institutions and local level monitoring tools to better support farmers living in communal areas prone to land degradation amidst changing climatic patterns.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">China</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">A ‘soft path’ approach to combating flooding risk involving restoring floodplains and resettling farmers has increased flood retention capacity, generation of ecosystem services, and improved the livelihoods of local people.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top">South Africa</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top">Biodiversity information is incorporated into spatial and development planning in South Africa, and a national strategy for expanding protected areas was developed.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">Indonesia</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">A 2008 regulation in Central Kalimantan province integrated the use of ENSO information to assess future fire risk, for the purpose of decision-making on whether or not to allow fire use by farmers.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top">China</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top">The Comprehensive Agricultural Development program has helped farmers in China’s 3H Basin incorporate adaptation measures such as water-saving irrigation techniques and climate-resilient wheat varieties.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top" >Brazil</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">A situation room was set up in the Brazilian state of Acre to process satellite data and coordinate response to devastating forest fires in 2005.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top">Kiribati</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top">A government project has led to the construction of sea walls to protect the country's most well-traveled road and its only international airport from the threat of sea level rise.</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td width="85" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">Bangladesh</td>
 <td width="393" valign="top" bgcolor="#9ce0f8">The Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme was set up to increase the nation’s capacity to respond proactively to disasters.</td>
 </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

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WRR 2010-2011: Case Studies