Opinion
Put local people and nature at the heart of climate adaptation
Fauna & Flora Senior Technical Specialist on Climate Change, Annamária Lehoczky explains why it’s time to address the ga...
The volcanic island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua is designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which aims to promote a balanced relationship between people and nature. Fauna & Flora has been working with islanders for well over a decade to promote grassroots participation in biodiversity conservation, and to support more climate-resilient and sustainable use of natural resources.
Yellow-naped parrot monitoring. © Biometepe / Fauna & Flora
Key successes
40,000 trees planted
To date, over 40,000 nursery-grown native saplings have been planted across Ometepe.
250+ farming families supported
We’ve worked alongside our partners in Ometepe to support over 250 farming households in improving farming practices.
Improved climate resilience
95% of farmers interviewed reported that the agroecological practices applied on their farms were contributing to a reduction in their vulnerability to the effects of climate change.
Growing challenges for people and nature
Increased demand for new farmland, unsustainable tourism development and climate change pose growing threats to Ometepe’s globally important wildlife (including the yellow-naped amazon, a critically endangered parrot), and to the forest and freshwater ecosystems that underpin local livelihoods. More than half of the island’s 40,000-plus inhabitants rely on small-scale subsistence farming.
Worsening economic and livelihood conditions and food insecurity have been exacerbated in recent years by unpredictable weather patterns and Ometepe’s vulnerability to increasingly frequent climate-related extreme events. As in so many other parts of the world, the well-being of the island’s communities will ultimately hinge on how well they can adapt to our changing climate.
Collaborating to reinforce climate resilience
In collaboration with government agencies and local community cooperative Biometepe, Fauna & Flora has helped to tackle those threats through targeted species conservation, environmental education, improved land stewardship and environmentally friendly farming. In particular, we have focused on supporting women and youth groups to participate in and influence the conservation and management of the island’s natural environment.
From the very start of our engagement in Ometepe, Fauna & Flora has worked to promote environmentally friendly agricultural practices on the island. Our team was instrumental in the design and implementation of the vibrant campaign “Ometepe te quiero verde”, which led to the establishment of seven wildlife corridors. The aim was to maintain contiguous forest from the lake shore up the flanks of Maderas volcano in areas designated as immediate conservation priorities by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Environment.
Fauna & Flora also pioneered the installation of an agroforestry nursery on Ometepe, in order to supply native tree saplings for reforestation across the island. To date, over 40,000 nursery-grown native saplings have been planted out, not only in forest areas, but also on agricultural land, where they act as living fences and windbreaks. Four in every five of these trees are thriving.
In parallel, we instigated the construction of communal greenhouses (using polytunnel technology new to Ometepe) to nurture seedlings for new crop varieties. This has enabled farmers to diversify their production and strengthen resilience to the ravages of climate change.
Angélica Valdivia, Nicaragua Country Director, on an Ometepe farm. © Osmar Sandino / Fauna & Flora
Angélica Valdivia, Fauna & Flora's Country Director in Nicaragua, who originally spearheaded our pioneeering agroforestry work with farming communities on Ometepe.
FEV nursery, Ometepe, Nicaragua. © Karina Berg / Fauna & Flora
Native plants cultivated at an agroforestry nursery on Ometepe.
Community engagement is key
Engagement with rural communities has been key to our success. Over the past decade, we have worked with farmers to develop land-use plans for their smallholdings and encourage landowners to engage in reforestation and forest plantation schemes. Central to our approach has been to clearly articulate the links between reliable, resilient food production and sound forest management.
Wherever possible, our team in Ometepe has encouraged the active participation of all family members in joint decision-making around farm planning. Though time-consuming and challenging, this is ultimately a more rewarding process, offering a greater likelihood of long-term sustainability. The women in farming households have proved particularly receptive to adopting new farming techniques and have embraced the messaging around the benefits that agroforestry, crop diversification and organic farming can offer.
Fauna & Flora and partners helped put together an island-wide Climate Adaptation Plan, and developed a programme of work to help islanders recognise the importance of the ecosystem services that Ometepe’s forests and wetlands provide. This included developing and trialling climate adaptation measures on a series of demonstration farms.
Improving yields & food security
Biometepe’s agroecological team continues to work directly with over 250 farming households to support them in improving farming practices. Nearly 70% of the 252 beneficiary farming households are now using some form of so-called bio-inputs in their crops, such as compost, vermiculture leachate, banana leaf leachate and cultivated mycorrhizae (the beneficial fungi that grow in association with plant roots).
Today, 84% of these farmers no longer use fire to clear their land (compared to 45% in 2021); 84% refrain from burning and incorporate stubble as part of their soil management practices (compared to 62%); 83% and 74% practise, respectively, crop rotation and diversification (up from 57% and 42%).
More than 250 farming households (amounting to over 10% of all farmers on Ometepe) are now better able to manage their land and natural resources in ways that sustain and improve their livelihoods and resilience to climate change while reducing biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
Banana cultivation on a typical small-scale agricultural plot in Ometepe. © Karina Berg / Fauna & Flora
Banana cultivation on a typical small-scale agricultural plot in Ometepe.
What do the farmers say?
The vast majority of beneficiary farmers (89%) perceive multiple benefits of agroecological techniques in terms of generating year-round income and increasing the fertility and productivity of their plots. As a result, 92% of beneficiary farmers report that their farms are generating increased financial profits.
Significantly, 95% of farmers interviewed reported that the agroecological practices applied on their farms were contributing to a reduction in their vulnerability to the effects of climate change. Crop diversification, forest protection and reforestation, live fences and avoidance of burning were all identified as contributory factors.
Deysi Cruz, Ometepe farmer © Osmar Sandino / Fauna & Flora
Outstanding in her field. Deysi Cruz is one of the many Ometepe farmers reaping the benefits of agroforestry and crop diversification on her smallholding.
Forestry has really protected me against natural disasters. Because the strong winds don't destroy my plants any more. Even when there was a hurricane, the storm didn't have as much impact on my farm compared to my neighbours, who don't have as much forest protection.
Narcisa Morales
Ometepe farmer
Forestry has really protected me against natural disasters. Because the strong winds don't destroy my plants any more. Even when there was a hurricane, the storm didn't have as much impact on my farm compared to my neighbours, who don't have as much forest protection.
Narcisa Morales
Ometepe farmer
A blueprint for community-led climate adaptation
Fauna & Flora has an instinctively collaborative approach to conservation. This has ensured that the entire spectrum of stakeholders – government, agricultural and tourism sectors, and local communities – actively participates in the sustainable management of the island’s natural resources.
Ometepe has developed into a model for sustainable, climate-resilient development and biodiversity conservation.
The impact of this work now extends well beyond Ometepe. In conjunction with government agencies and other partners across Nicaragua, Fauna & Flora is rolling out this successful agroecology blueprint to farmers and communities nationwide and scaling up the reach of this project to include municipalities on the mainland, for the collective benefit of the country’s people, nature and climate.
Our work to address climate changeOmetepe. © Javier / Adobe Stock
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