For the International Day for South-South Cooperation on 12 September, the EbA South was featured in a story on the UNEP website. The story outlines the project pilots in Mauritania, Nepal and the Seychelles and highlights the South-South cooperation dimension of the project.

EbA South is a pioneering project in using nature to adapt to climate change in three ecosystems. In the coasts of Seychelles, EbA South built the resilience of coastal communities by restoring mangroves, which prevent erosion and provide flood barriers. In the deserts of Mauritania, EbA South created multi-use green belts, using indigenous drought-resilient species, that protect crops from wind erosion and desertification by holding together the soil and retaining moisture in the ground. In the mountains of Nepal, the EbA South focused on community-based restoration using indigenous tree species to protect the communities and crops from soil erosion, landslides and drought.

EbA South is seen as a flagship initiative under GEF for South-South Cooperation – a key aspect of international collaboration on climate change that involves an exchange between countries in the Global South in the form of technology transfer, capacity-building, policy support or fundraising. Lessons learned about EbA during the project were regularly exchanged between China, Mauritania, Seychelles, and Nepal in a variety of ways. International exchange visits to Mauritania and China were arranged, bringing together project members from Seychelles and Nepal, to share lessons from the project’s EbA activities.

EbA South is a full-sized GEF project, funded through the Special Climate Change Fund, and implemented by UNEP. UNEP-IEMP provides overall project management services, technical support and fosters South-South linkages for the project.

To read the full UNEP story, please click here.