building resilience to
A Climate Change
climate change in theVulnerability Assessment Namakwa District
What is a Vulnerability Assessment?
A climate change vulnerability assessment is aformal evaluation of how vulnerable the systems
in a given area are to the impacts of climatechange. It usually considers the predicted
impacts of climate change in the future andtakes into account existing pressures andstresses, available resources for responding toclimate change, and natural or man-made limits
or thresholds in adaptive capacity.
A vulnerability assessment is an important toolfor developing policies and adaptation plans for
specific vulnerable groups and sites, forming thebasis of any climate change risk reduction
strategy. It is, therefore, the necessary first stepto guide climate change response locally.

Assessing vulnerability in the Namakwa
District Municipality
A climate change vulnerability assessment for
the Namakwa District Municipality (NDM), wascompleted in July 2012. The assessment:• identified climate change risks and impacts
for the NDM• profiled the social, economic, andinstitutional conditions that contribute tovulnerability in the NDM• assessed local capacity to adapt to climatechange• identified priority areas for Ecosystembased Adaptation (EbA), ecosystemservices, and conservation actions• made recommendations for EbA actions,with indicators for measuring changes invulnerability over time.
Key Outcomes
The NDM is particularly sensitive to climatechange impacts to do with changes intemperature and rainfall. A scenario approach
was used and shows that temperatures areexpected to increase on average in all scenarios
to 2050 and rainfall is expected to decrease on
average in most scenarios to 2050.
Already hot, dry, and faced with periodicdroughts and flooding, these climate impacts
will exacerbate existing challenges aroundwater availability, water quality, livestock
carrying capacity, and other livelihoods issues.
Climate change is likely to have an impact on
biome stability in the region, but the speciesrich Succulent Karoo holds relatively stable to2050, providing an important opportunity for
EbA and ecosystem conservation.
Climate change is a risk multiplier and willinteract with existing pressures including
poverty and unemployment. The local
economy is very natural resource based anddependent on the very ecosystem services that
may be affected by climate change. While
powerful environmental legislation andplanning exists, there are implementation,capacity, and resource challenges that will
impact on the regions’ ability to adapt
effectively.

A vulnerability assessment as a planning tool
While climate change response planning occurs
most prominently at the national and international
level, it is just as important that local leaders workon local actions in order to protect theirconstituencies, safeguard their investments andresource
base,and ensuresustainabledevelopment. The Vulnerability Assessment is acritical first step, establishing the local climatechange profile that will guide the development ofa local climate change response.

Vulnerability Index: Ecological, socio-economic,
and institutional vulnerabilities were evaluatedagainst a set of parameters and indicators toderive a summary index of overall vulnerability for
the District. An analysis of the indicators suggests
priorities for action and resource allocations.
Currently, the NDM has a medium-highvulnerability rating. The assessment should be
repeated every 5 years to assess progress madeand to facilitate adaptive management of theclimate change challenge.
Vulnerability Index
Ecological Vulnerability
Exposure
Sensitivity
Adaptive Capacity
Index: medium-highSocio-Economic Vulnerability
Exposure
Sensitivity
Adaptive Capacity
Index: medium-highInstitutional Vulnerability
Awareness
Enabling environment
GovernanceIndex: medium
Overall Vulnerability
Index: medium-high

EbA Priority Areas: An EbA priority areas map
was created to identify sites in the NDM that arethreatened by the impacts of climate change andare likely to respond well to ecosystem-based
approaches, delivering the ecosystems services
and functions that will help the District respondeffectively to climate change.
The map is a spatial tool to guide land-use
planning and promote sustainable local economicdevelopment. The darker areas on the map arepriority areas and should be tackled first.

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The vulnerability assessment process should leadto participatory action planning in the next phase.
Long-term monitoring of the effectiveness andcost-effectivenessof
theplannedand
implemented adaptation actions is also necessary
to evaluate change over time.
References:
Bourne, A, C Donatti, S Holness, and G Midgley. 2012. Climate
Change Vulnerability Assessment for the Namakwa District
Municipality. Final Technical Report, August 2012

For more information or to view the full vulnerability
assessment technical report, please contact:
Amanda Bourne
Climate Adaptation Coordinator
Namakwa Green Economy Demonstration
Conservation South Africa
Email: a.bourne@conservation.org
Tel: +27 27 718 1566
Fax: +27 27 718 1565
2 Tantaliet Street
Industrial Area
Springbok
8240

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