PASAP: Several country activities have been proposed with partner countries under the $12 million Pacific Adaptation Strategy Assistance Program (PASAP) being implemented as part of the International Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (ICCAI). Country activities respond to a specific adaptation assessment need and align with the partner country?s climate change priorities. The activity is usually led by the partner country in partnership with an expert service provider facilitated by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

In the Solomon Islands, a country activity has been proposed to examine the impact of climate change on a subsistence community. This project will be undertaken in partnership with the government by expert service providers and local non-government organisations (NGOs) already working in the study area, facilitated by the Department.

The ultimate objective of the activity is to build the capacity of the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) to lead further community based climate-proofing assessments and to support local subsistence communities to build capacity to assess, monitor and better manage the key community resources they depend on in a changing climate.

A range of partners from local to international levels will collaborate to consider: ?How will climate change affect the lives of a subsistence community dependent on natural marine and terrestrial ecosystems for their economic and social livelihoods, and how could they respond to the changes?? in a pilot area in the Western Province. This will build baseline information, support the local community to understand these findings and their own existing knowledge, and to consider options and develop strategic responses. The partners will be funded under two Agreements, one with the University of Queensland (UQ) and the other with the University of California Santa Barbara (this Agreement).

Professor Aswani, as lead of component 1 and overall on-the-ground Project Leaders is responsible for a research and applied project that integrates indigenous and scientific knowledge to assess the vulnerability of remote traditional communities inhabiting coastal areas, including lagoons, small and large volcanic islands, and raised coral atolls in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, to the impact of climate change on coastal marine and terrestrial natural resources people rely on for food and other key requirements. The project will involve social and natural scientists from various institutions in the Solomons and overseas. The program members will use 20 years of in-country experience and associated local relationships to: (1) document local existing understanding of climate change and possible adaptive measures and match these data to local scientific research, (2) build greater understanding of climate change, assess vulnerability to the changes and consider optional responses locally; and (3) develop capacity of the groups involved including youth, women, and church groups to undertake future assessments of climate change and better manage their coastal resources into the future. This research and applied program will result in socio-ecological research on climate change that not only will generate novel information, but will also lead to improvements in the capacity of coastal communities to respond to climate change related transformations (e.g., already occurring sea level changes).