ABSTRACT
The 2011 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa, shed light on the need of advancing adaptation in climate change through the formation and implementation of National Adaptation Plans. The Durban Adaptation Charter launched at the convention urges mainstreaming adaptation into all local development planning (eThekwini Municipality 2012). It noted the need of alignment between adaptation and mitigation strategies and prioritised the role of functioning ecosystems as a core municipal green infrastructure (eThekwini Municipality 2011). To some extent, this encourages the transformation of an open space system, which is often a part of urban planning, into an Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA) approach for meeting the dual missions of adaptation and mitigation of local governments. EBA is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people to adapt to the negative effect of climate change.
