The article is based on qualitative research in the provinces of Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue in central Vietnam during the years 1996–2009, by the author and colleagues at Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry. The focus of the article is on policies that, while increasing resilience at one scale, may cause increased vulnerability at other scales. Policies on forest protection and construction of hydroelectric dams contribute to regulating flooding of the lowland areas. However, the policies also result in severe constraints in access to land and forest products for the mountain population, which has impacts on their capacity to manage risk and adapt to environmental change. Forest resources have previously functioned as an important buffer for mountain households when coping with crises like serious floods. This reduced adaptive capacity may be a critical issue for equity and social sustainability in adaptation.

The paper argues that policies towards upland communities in Vietnam tend to reinforce land use strategies that increase vulnerability to climate-related risk and undermine adaptive capacity of upland communities. It is argued that the division of land use between intensive agriculture/tree plantation and protected forest is increasing both livelihood- and environmental risk. Qualitative interviews and group discussion with upland villagers and local government staff in two districts of north and central Vietnam suggest that farmers are facing frequent loss and damage due to floods, storms and drought. Changing production patterns, together with the increase in climate-related hazards and stresses, is changing the character of vulnerability of upland communities. The study primarily explores village-level perspectives regarding impacts of hazards and stresses, ideas of how to reduce risk, along with how related policies and institutions influence local possibilities of risk reduction and adaptation. Our fieldwork results suggest that many villagers and local leaders see adaptation and risk reduction in terms of improved irrigation and in terms of access to land and forests for their livelihoods. The findings support arguments for more integration of agriculture and forestry land use, allowing for more flexibility in the development of upland livelihoods, with the aim of facilitating adaptation to climate change.

In the context of increasing interest in ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), there remains a paucity of discussion regarding the transition from perception to practice in aiding farmer households to adapt to climate change (CC) while maintaining the provision of essential ecosystem services. Thus, this study aims to explore policymakers’ and local people’s perceptions, from thinking about the implementation of EbA strategies to responding to CC in current and future agricultural production and forestry in upland Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam. This study has adopted the Model of Private Proactive Adaptation to CC to investigate the perceptions of EbA among various administrative and household levels through in-depth interviews and focus group discussion methods. Our findings indicate a significant relationship between the perceptions and understanding of EbA among policymakers and farmer households, and the adoption of EbA practices. Many EbA practices are already well-established and have demonstrated their ability to enhance ecosystem services provision, adaptation benefits, and livelihood and food security. These benefits are crucial for helping farmer households to adapt to CC. However, current financial, technical, and market constraints hinder the broader adoption of these practices. Therefore, to increase adaptive capacity to CC and upscale EbA practices, EbA interventions must consider technical, financial, and market aspects. Furthermore, it is essential to provide evidence from both scientific and practical perspectives and disseminate information on EbA practices to encourage broader adoption by local farmers. In addition, supportive policies from various departmental and agency levels are necessary for managers in the agricultural and forest sectors as well as households to recognize EbA as a vital strategy for developing agriculture and forestry in a manner that is sustainable and resilient to CC.

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has been widely recognized as the key strategy for supporting farmers in adapting to climate change. The success of EbA requires a cohesive alignment from the national level to community implementation. However, harmonized efforts from central governments to local farmers remain underexplored in the literature on climate change and adaptation, especially in the context of mountainous areas of Vietnam. This study applied multiple qualitative research methods, including 12 key informant interviews, six focus group discussions, and 18 in-depth interviews to explore the varying perspectives of EbA between government officials and farmers, and how these perspectives influence their involvement in governmental initiatives. Using matrix coding visualization in NVIVO, this study revealed notable differences in perceptions of EbA between government officials and farmers, which in turn impact EbA practices at the commune level. This study also found factors affecting EbA practices, including knowledge, economic priorities, institutional support, labor shortages, limited market access, and funding inadequacies. The policy implications drawn from this study are necessary for bridging top-down policy with local realities, to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of EbA. Furthermore, this paper contributes to the EbA literature by highlighting the need for context-specific adaptation strategies to enhance the effectiveness and inclusivity of EbA practices in vulnerable communities.

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) has been recognized as the key practice to support farmers in adapting to climate change. The success of EbA requires a cohesive alignment from the national level to community implementation. However, harmonized efforts from central governments to local farmers remain underexplored in literature of climate change and adaptation, especially in the context of mountainous areas of Vietnam. This study applied multiple qualitative research tools including 12 key informant interviews, 6 focus group discussions, and 18 in-depth interviews to explore the varying perspectives of EbA between government officials and farmers, which then affect their involvements in governmental initiatives. Using matrix coding visualization in NVIVO, the study showed the differences between government officials and farmers in EbA perceptions affecting the EbA practice at communes. The study also found the factors affecting the EbA practices including knowledge, economic priorities, and institutional support, labor shortages, limited market access, and funding inadequacies. The policy implication drawn from this study is necessary for bridging top-down policy with local realities to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of EbA. The paper then contributes to EbA literature by encouraging for context-specific adaptation strategies to enhance the effectiveness and inclusivity of EbA practice in vulnerable communities.

This paper is based on qualitative fieldwork in 4 villages in northern Thailand in 2012-2013. The study focuses on the interaction between socio-economic development and climate related risk. We study local perceptions of the impacts of climate related risks and responses to these risks. The study is guided by the Forensic Investigation of Disasters (FORIN) framework with i) a critical cause analysis to identify dynamic drivers of disaster risk and ii) scenario analysis to identify disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) options. Changes in livelihood strategies have been coinciding with an increase in climate related risk during the past decade, including the increased occurrence of flash floods, landslides and drought, as perceived by interviewees. In common for all villages are that policies of state-managed forest protection leave upland communities with too little land for production and fallows, leading to disaster prone cultivation on marginal lands. We argue that national policies toward upland communities tend to reinforce land use and livelihood strategies that increase disaster risk. There is need for more integrated forms of land use, like agro-forestry, to enable a combined focus on environment- and livelihood objectives in support of climate change adaptation.