A ‘cost barrier’ perspective to adaptation on a coral triangle initiative (CTI) and mangrove rehabilitation projects (MRP) in Solomon Islands

Abstract

Mangroves are among the most fragile ecosystems in the world. At the same time, they are under considerable pressure from processes associated with climate change such as increases in temperature, salt intrusion through storm surges and sea level rise. There is a paucity of research which look at the connections between climate change and conditions of mangroves under an anthropogenic perspective. This paper reports a study of “cost as a barrier” to adaptation on a case study of Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) and Mangrove Rehabilitation Projects (MRP) in the Solomon Islands. Questionnaires were used as instruments to obtain information from project participants to identify the cost related barriers the project participants perceived to obtain from these conservation projects. The study has identified the fact that the communities have different attitudes and perceptions toward climate change challenges. The different scales and magnitudes of climate change impacts that are perceived at the study sites, and the different subsistence realities showed that project participants have varied responses and points of view regarding such impacts. Because of this, the project participants are constrained by a set of different barriers as obstacle in their process of adapting to the new environment conservation policies at these sites. A mapping on the socio-economic costs and benefits of these projects to the villagers was performed, and identified the fact that costs of conservation programs acts as barriers to long term adaptation at these sites.