Baton Rouge, La. — The Water Institute’s Director of Coastal Ecology Tim Carruthers’ work on climate change adaptation in Lami Town, Fiji, has been published in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs recent publication on sustainable development.
Carruthers, who at the time was working for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, along with Gabriel Grimsditch of the United Nations Environment Programme and Sarah Mecartney of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, presented the case study examining the most cost-effective measures for safeguarding urban areas in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like Lami Town, Fiji, from flooding and coastal erosion in order to protect its infrastructure and population.
The study identified Ecosystem-based Adaptation options, maintaining or restoring coastal habitats to provide protection, while supporting additional ecosystem services, like juvenile fisheries, and compared these to more traditional engineering options for coastal protection.
“The value of intact ecosystems is often not recognized. Studies such as this one can assist in the development of adaptation plans that balance engineered and ecosystem based approaches,” said Carruthers. “This work is relevant to coastal Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, providing a resource for work at The Water Institute, and with partners, to develop similar approaches locally.”