ECOSYSTEM-BASED ADAPTATION: REDUCING VULNERABILITY
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better adapted than fragmented habitats to meet conservation and livelihood needs under changing climate conditions. Such ecosystem-based approaches are low-cost, long-proven, and low-technology solutions to many of the anticipated adverse impacts arising from climate change. Wetlands are some of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth, yet they provide many vital ecosystem functions. Montane wetlands and freshwater rivers and lakes serve as vital water recharge areas and important sources of water for irrigation and domestic and industrial use. Freshwater and coastal wetlands downstream are also productive fisheries on which many of the world’s poorest communities depend. Wetlands can also act as filters, removing pollutants and improving water quality. In Bulgaria, the Bank is working with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and other partners to restore natural wetlands along the Danube River as filter beds to remove pollutants and provide habitat for native wildlife (see box 3.2). As climate change exacerbates the impacts of environmental stresses, many of the free goods and services provided by natural habitats will become ever more valuable. Enhanced protection of natural wetlands and, increasingly, restoration of wetland habitats will become an important adaptation strategy (see box 3.3).
Reducing Vulnerability Natural ecosystems can also reduce vulnerability to natural hazards and extreme climatic events. Protecting forests and other natural ecosystems can provide social, economic, and environmental benefits, both directly through more sustainable management of biological resources and indirectly through protection of ecosystem services. Mountain habitats, for instance, bestow multiple ecosystem, soil conservation, and watershed benefits. They are often centers of endemism, Pleistocene refuges, and source populations for restocking of more low-lying habitats. Mountain ecosystems influence rainfall regimes and climate at local and regional levels, helping to contain global warming through carbon sequestration and storage in soils and plant biomass. Wetlands are nature’s kidneys, providing indispensable ecosystem services that regulate nutrient loading and water quality. Over the last decade, more and more Bank projects have been making explicit linkages between sustainable use of natural ecosystems, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and watershed values associated with erosion control, clean water supplies, and flood control. Bank watershed projects in the Middle East incorporate natural forests and endemic riparian woodlands as part of micro-catchment vegetation management working with local communities in the Lakhdar watershed in Morocco, the wadis in the northern Republic of Yemen, and the eastern Anatolia Basin in Turkey. In China, mountain forests are being increasingly recognized for their role in the supply of clean water, regulation of water flows, and control of floods. The China Forest Protection Project is focusing on mountain and upper