Ecosystem-based adaptation in Ecuador: Good practices for adaptive co-management

Abstract

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) requires social learning and linkages between actors and levels under Adaptive Co-Management (ACM), especially in landscapes with high biodiversity and vulnerability, such as the Tropical Andes. Methodology: A multicriteria methodology was designed and applied to identify, characterize, select and evaluate the ACM and the constraining and enabling conditions for its effectiveness in EbA actions implemented between 2011 and 2015. Results: 1. The integration of conservation, restoration and sustainable production, and linkage among institutions and sectors through local leadership, enable knowledge coproduction, social learning and innovation. 2. Governance and planning based on a landscape approach, and acknowledgment of the diversity of contexts, promote dialogue, cooperation and institutional innovation. 3. Economic alternatives in production, marketing and local markets, as well as complete and adequate technology transfers, stable and planned funding and monitoring, promote sustainability.