Context
Like other countries in Central America, Costa Rica is severely affected by the expected impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels, ocean acidification, increased sea surface temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns and extreme weather events. These developments exacerbate the negative impacts of classic stress factors such as overfishing, habitat fragmentation, and sedimentation and pollution in bodies of water and coral reefs. This leads to ecosystem instability and threatens the provision of ecosystem services.
For Costa Rica, the ecosystems of its coastal regions are particularly important. They safeguard the livelihoods of local communities and serve as a physical protective mechanism against storms, flooding and the salinisation of soil and groundwater. Intact marine and coastal ecosystems are more resilient to these stress factors and better adapted to meet the impacts of climate change.
Objective
The adaptive capacity of Costa Rica’s marine and coastal ecosystems towards climate change has increased. The capacity of the conservation area authority and other relevant actors to manage the protected areas has been strengthened, and three mechanisms for financing the management of these areas have been piloted. The management and financing mechanisms, strategies and instruments developed within the context of this programme are available through a clearing house mechanism and are adapted and transferred to other countries in Central America.
Approach
The BIOMARCC (Biodiversidad Marino Costera y Adaptación al Cambio Climático) programme supports the conservation area authority SINAC in developing a system of marine protected areas. New marine and coastal protected areas are identified and established. The effectiveness of management within existing protected areas is being improved. The inclusion of new areas within the national conservation system as well as the development of strategies for the management of marine and coastal ecosystems taking into account the needs of local communities are important measures for improving the resilience and adaptive capacity of protected areas to the impacts of climate change.
The resilience (ecological adaptability) of marine ecosystems and protected areas to the impacts of climate change depends on:
the representativeness of the different ecosystems in the system of protected areas,
their current condition (ecological integrity),
the degree of climatological and non-climatological threats (vulnerability),
the degree of networking of individual ecosystems or conservation areas (interconnecting system),
the effectiveness of the protected area management (administrative, institutional and financial adaptive capacity).
The programme is therefore pursuing the following strategies:
Improving the ecological representativeness of the system of marine protected areas
Strengthening the capacity of the conservation area authority and other relevant actors to manage these areas
Developing and applying appropriate concepts to secure the protected areas financially in the face of the impacts of climate change, with active participation by the relevant stakeholders
Establishing a national clearing house mechanism for cross-sector exchange between stakeholders dealing with adaptation and management of coastal protected areas
Adapting the management and financing plans, strategies and instruments developed within the context of the programme and disseminating them in other countries in Central America.
Results
Updated management plans taking climate issues into account are available for 15 marine protected areas. The capacity of conservation area staff has been enhanced. New instruments for increasing management effectiveness (scorecards) have been introduced and are aiding in achieving the protection objectives. Additional external funds for conservation areas are being used in a transparent manner and are safeguarding the implementation of management plans into the future.