Assessing Barriers and Opportunities for Ecosystem Based Approach to Adaptation in High Altitude City of Thimphu

Urban Farm DB summary

Focused on Thimphu, a high-altitude city in Bhutan, this study assesses baseline social and environmental conditions, challenges and barriers to climate adaptation and identifies opportunities for ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA). It finds that the city's poorly planned infrastructure causes congestion — with associated increases in carbon emissions and driver conflict — and that flooding of sewage systems exposes residents to infection risk. Much of the urban poor living in informal settlements lack adequate access to basic facilities and so turn to surrounding natural resources, depleting the environment and eroding ecosystem services, including protection against natural hazards such as flash floods, landslides and forest fires, with disproportionate effects on vulnerable groups. The study recommends integrating EbA interventions — urban agriculture, agroforestry, greening projects, resettlement of informal settlements, education on coping strategies, and institutional, technical and individual capacity building — into climate adaptation strategies and development plans, and calls for the city authority to secure adequate funding and build capacity to plan and implement EbA.