Abstract
Extreme climate-related events are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change, affecting large populations in cities. The impacts are seen from loss of lives, injuries, destroyed key infrastructure such as railways, roads, water and sanitation, energy and a halt in economic activities. Therefore, this study seeks to understand communities’ perspectives on Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in an urban context: The City of Tshwane (CoT) in Gauteng, South Africa, as a model city for the investigation. The study aims to determine how local communities relate to ecosystem-based adaptation as a potentially effective climate change adaptation measure. To achieve this aim, a survey was used to collect data from the public residing in the CoT, using descriptive statistics to quantify the nature (social, economic, and environmental) and extent of the impacts of climate change on residents’ daily lives, and to summarise the distribution of their responses. Our study found that participants are aware of the changes in climate, such as changes in rainfall patterns (it no longer rains as often as before, or it rains more often in recent years) and/or changes in average temperatures (days are hotter or colder compared to previous years). This indicates a high level of awareness of climate change impacts among participants. Our study also found that climate change adaptation at the household and community levels remains limited, with only a low number of participants having household coping mechanisms and more indicating no adaptation interventions at the community level. Furthermore, the study found varied levels of awareness and attitudes towards EbA as a solution to climate change impacts. A significant proportion of participants were unaware of EbA, highlighting a gap in knowledge dissemination. However, the majority of respondents expressed a positive outlook towards EbA's potential to mitigate climate change impacts. Therefore, our study recommends promoting long-term EbA measures through preserving and restoring natural ecosystems, allocating efforts to provide access to educational resources and financial support for implementing EbA measures, and developing EbA public education and awareness programmes to inform communities about climate change, with a focus on vulnerable populations such as the elderly and children.