This paper is the result of extensive discussions led by adaptation professionals coming from different backgrounds and facilitated by the Ecosystem and Livelihoods Adaptation Network (ELAN). ELAN is an innovative alliance between two conservation organisations (International Union for the Conservation of Nature [IUCN] and WWF) and two development organisations (CARE International and the International Institute for Environment and Development [IIED]).<>The objective of ELAN is to establish a global network to develop, evaluate, synthesize and share successful strategies for adapting to climate change, build capacity for such strategies to be assessed and implemented at national and sub-national levels, and advance policies and knowledge sharing platforms that will facilitate the scaling up of effective strategies. Two emerging approaches to adaptation have gained currency over the past few years, namely Community-based Adaptation (CBA) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA). Each has its specific emphasis, the first on empowering local communities to reduce their vulnerabilities, and the latter on harnessing the management of ecosystems as a means to provide goods and services in the face of climate change.<> In this paper, ELAN argues for a more truly “integrated approach” to adaptation that addresses and seeks to reconcile differences between CBA and EBA. ELAN has developed a conceptual framework for an approach to adaptation, which empowers local communities to manage ecosystems under resilient governance arrangements that can provide the ecosystem services on which they depend.
