Celebrating World Oceans Day 2026 – Reimagine: Community-led ecosystem-based adaptation for ocean resilience

Philippines: Strengthening Marine Protected Areas and coastal resilience

Coral reef ecosystems in Mindoro and Palawan islands in the Philippines are some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems and are threatened by pressures from overfishing, pollution, and climate impacts such as an increase in sea surface temperatures, stronger storms and sea-level rise. With support from the Global EbA Fund, Blue Alliance developed a scalable Marine Protected Area conservation model focused on strengthening ecosystem health through reduced human pressures. By introducing science-based key performance indicators for monitoring biodiversity, people, and climate impacts, the MPAs apply targeted regulations to reduce reef damage for enhanced biodiversity protection and endangered species recovery. 

Sustained financing is key to ensure long-term results. The model secured impact investment commitments into bankable social enterprises in the blue economy,  alleviating poverty among local communities and generating long-term income for the management of the MPAs. By supporting local enterprises in community-based aquaculture, ecotourism, sustainable fisheries, and blue carbon, the project is creating a positive feedback loop between coastal communities and marine ecosystems, enhancing resilience across the climate-people-nature nexus. Through a Blue Economy Investment Facility, Blue Alliance continues blending catalytic capital with impact loans in MPAs across the Philippines. 

Key impacts:

• 350,000 hectares of Marine Protected Areas improved through co-management practices
• 34,000+ people supported for improved food security and climate resilience

Learn more about this project here.

 

Indonesia: Strengthening youth-led coastal resilience on Lembata Island

Lembata Island’s coastal ecosystems are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, extreme weather, and environmental degradation, further worsened by unsustainable fishing practices. In partnership with Yayasan Plan International Indonesia with local NGO Yayasan Bina Sejahtera Baru, the Global EbA Fund project is strengthening EbA through community stewardship with a focus on driving youth-led action. The project is reviving and improving Muro, a traditional system among coastal communities that regulates the use of marine space through sacred zoning.

Muro is a practice that not only supports environmental conservation but is also a source of livelihood security in difficult times. The practice has declined with generational shifts, and the project is rebuilding awareness of Muro’s importance by actively engaging younger generations to monitor, manage, and conserve marine and coastal ecosystems.

Key impacts: 

• 483 hectares of a coastal conservation zone has been temporarily closed for 6 months to support ecosystem recovery
• 3,000 mangroves have been planted
• 107 Muro Committee Members engaged in a Champions of Change Workshop to design coastal conservation actions building on local traditions and sustainable practices

Learn more about this project here.

Philippines: Strengthening sustainable finance for fisheries-linked MPAs

Small-scale fisheries remain highly vulnerable to climate change, with reduced or changing fish stocks due to rising temperatures coupled with limited financing mechanisms for EbA. With support from Rare’s Managed Access & Reserve (MA+R) approach, a replicable financial model was developed to integrate EbA into fisheries governance at the local government level. Local leaders and government officials were trained on financing and budgeting tools to understand and articulate the costs of sustainable fisheries management that include EbA elements.

As a result, five Local Government Units in Siargao have taken concrete steps to incorporate EbA funding priorities into upcoming budget processes, setting the stage for adoption in the next budget cycle. The Excel-based financial model was tested using real data across five municipalities with striking results: most local government units were allocating only 3–4% of the adaptation need, an underinvestment that has been largely invisible until the tool quantified it.

The financial model is enhancing long-term community resilience. Research, done in partnership with the Center for Financial Inclusion, showed that communities with higher formal financial inclusion and access to funds were more resilient after typhoon Odette battered the island, and did not have to open the fishery following the MA+R approach. Communities with lesser degrees of financial inclusion had to open the fishery after the typhoon, compromising years of conservation efforts. 

Key impacts:

• 5 Local Government Units in Siargao integrated EbA priorities into their upcoming budgeting for sustained financing
• The financial model was adapted and scaled for community fisheries management in Mozambique

Learn more about this project here.

Reimaging our relationship to the ocean  

This World Oceans Day urges us “to move from passive inheritors of the ocean’s generosity to active guardians of its future”. As the June Climate Meetings (SB64) kick-off in Bonn today and country Parties gather at the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue, we can learn from these local initiatives to amplify global ocean-climate action. Maintaining healthy relationships between humans and coastal areas starts with coastal communities. By scaling these locally-led solutions, from financing mechanisms, sustainable fisheries management, mangrove restoration and overall strengthened Marine Protected Areas, these initiatives contribute to the growing global momentum for integrated ocean, climate, and biodiversity action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

About the Global EbA Fund

Implemented by IUCN and UNEP, with funding from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN), the Global EbA Fund is a funding mechanism for catalytic, innovative, and inclusive projects that aim to create an enabling environment for the implementation of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities and ecosystems to the impacts of climate change.