Dr Rodel Lasco and colleagues, who measured the vulnerabilities of three, upland, forest-edge villages near the Sibalom Natural Park in the Philippines, found that greater access to education, government support, income sources, crop production and basic infrastructure would improve the asset base of households and consequently lessen the impact of climate-associated risks on their livelihoods.

Dr Lasco, who is the coordinator of the World Agroforestry Centre Philippine program, said that they found that communities had some strategies already in place for adapting to stresses to their livelihoods. However, it was essential to further strengthen their capacity to cope with variable and extreme weather events, which could be done through using the concept of the ‘five capitals’: natural, social, physical, financial and human.

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