Session2–Sharingexperiences
WherehaveyouseenthegreatestvalueintegratinglocalandITK
practicesinclimatechangeadaptation?
Yourname:
MinhNhatLe
Where,specifically,intheworlddidyouseethegreatestvaluefromintegratinglocalandITK?
VietNam
Whichregion?
Asia
When?Inwhatyear(s)?
2011‐2012
Whowerethelocalandindigenouscommunities/ITKholders?
SonLongvillage,HuongSoncommune,HaTinhprovince
AnThuyvillage,LeThuydistrict,QuangBinhprovince.
Whatwasthenaturalhazardandimpactoncommunities?
HaTinhisacoastalprovincelocatedintheNorthernpartofCentralVietnam.Mountainousterrain
covers80percentofthearea.Plainterraincoversasmallareaandissplitbymountains,riversand
streams.Amongdisasters,floodingcausesthemosteconomiclosses.Overthelast50years,HaTinhhave
had47storms,amongthose,therehavebeen15stormswhichhavedirectimpactsontheprovince.The
totalamountofeconomiclossesovertheprovincereachedalmost135millionUSDwhichwascausedby
infrastructuredamagefortheperiod2000‐2008.Therearedozensofdeathpeoplefromflooding
annually.Accordingly,therewere20deathpeopleinHaTinhduringthefloodinOctober2010.Quang
Binhprovinceisacoastalprovincethatisdirectlyaffectedbyclimatechangeandsea‐levelrise,
respectively.AccordingtothefloodinOctober2005,upto9thOctober,thereweresevendeathsandlost
people;15758householdsand78schools,16localhealthcenters;23peoplecommitteesbasesthatwere
inundated.Moreover,therewere1000haofplantslost;morethan12000livestockdead;over2million
ofbredfishlost;morethan500mofconcretechannelsand160000m3ofdykedamaged;8kmofarteries
connectingvillagesandcommunesdestroyed;sixfisheryboatsbroken.Asaresult,thetotalamountof
losseswasabout1.5millionUSD.Therewere1000localhousesfloodedinLeThuydistrictinOctober
2007.DuringthefloodinginOctober2010,upto17thOctober,therewere43500housesflooded.InLe
Thuydistrict,therewere35600localhousesfloodedfrom1‐1.7min18communesamong28communes
overthedistrict.Thefloodoftenresultsinsometypicaldiseasesforbothhumanandanimals,suchas,
denguefever,redeyes,diarrhea,eczema,etc.thatallhavebadinfluenceonQuangBinhprovince.
DroughtsresultinthehighdensityofforestfireinQuangBinhwhichhasdamagedabout60haof
cultivatingforest.
Whoweretheadaptationpractitioners?
‐Focalorganisation:DepartmentofMeteorology,HydrologyandClimateChange,MinistryofNatural
ResourceandEnvironmentinVietNam.
‐Deployingorganisation:CenterofDataandInformationforNaturalDisasterPrevention
‐LocalauthoritiesinHaTinhandQuangBinhprovince
WhatprocesseswereusedforidentifyingandintegratinglocalandITKinadaptation?
Organizingseminars,workshopstosearchforideas,experiencesofscientists,andexpertsintermof
climatechangeaswellaslocalpeoplewhohavelivedindisasterareasforalongtime.
Mostoftheirexperiencesarevalidandeffectivebuttheproblemislackofacomprehensiveguideline(or
inanotherword:aprocess)logicallyrespondtodisaster.Theroleofscientistandadaptation
practitioneristogatherallITK,verifyitwithscientificknowledgeanddevelopaprocessthatfitlocal
situation.
InwhatphasesoftheadaptationprocesswaslocalandITKintegrated?
Observation,Assessment,Planning,Implementation,MonitoringandEvaluation
AtwhichlevelwaslocalandITKintegratedinadaptationplanning?
Locallevel
WhywastheintegrationofthelocalandITKsovaluable?
Thebiggestchallengethatadaptationpractitionersfacewithwhenimplementingadaptation
interventionsislocalcustom.Adaptationinterventionsandinitiativescanbeveryeffectiveandbringlot
ofbenefitstolocalpeople,butnotsuitablewithlocalcustomthentheystillcannotbeusedatthelocal.
WhenintegratinglocalandITKintoadaptationinterventions,basicallyproductswillbetheirown
products,nicelyfitintotheircustomandeasilybeacceptedbythem.
Whydidyouchoosethisstory?
‐Wedirectlyimplementedit
‐Proactiveinvolvementoflocalpeopleinallstagesoftheproject.
‐InterventionsarecreativeandcarefullycustomizedtofitwithlocalandITK.