Pilot regions in Pakistan: Stakeholder workshop on climate change vulnerability assessments

Pakistan is one of the main biodiversity hotspots worldwide. But natural resources are threatened e.g. by population growth and climate change. To counteract these developments, adelphi and stakeholders of two pilot regions analysed their vulnerability against the effects of climate change.

Pakistan’s wealth in natural resources and biodiversity is not only ecologically important but also plays a crucial role for economic and social development. Ecosystems provide essential services for the livelihoods of more than 3.5 million people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. However, natural resources are seriously threatened and degraded by anthropogenic factors such as overuse, unsustainable resource management practices and population growth.

Moreover, natural hazards and the effects of climate change such as floods, droughts and a shift in monsoon patterns considerably affect livelihoods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. To reduce communities’ vulnerability to climate change is one of the central objectives of the GIZ project ‘Conservation and Sustainable Management of Biodiversity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’.

To support this process, adelphi together with the European Academy in Bozen (EURAC) conducted a 3.5-day-stakeholder and training workshop on climate change vulnerability assessments in Islamabad. During the workshop, vulnerability assessments were prepared that will be carried out for the two pilot districts Swat and Chitral to support the identification of adaptation measures and development planning. Moreover, repeated vulnerability assessments shall be used to monitor and evaluate the success of the selected adaptation measures over time.

The workshop brought together a wide range of national, regional and local level stakeholders and resulted, amongst other things, in the preparation of an implementation plan for the vulnerability assessments in Swat and Chitral.

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