With support from Canada, several communities in El Salvador are finding ways to minimize the adverse effects of climate change.

In a pilot project supported by the Canada Climate Change Development Fund, the Sierra Club of Canada's British Columbia chapter and CESTA–Friends of the Earth are working with four communities in the Jiquilisco Bay coastal zone on a plan to address their economic, social, and environmental needs.

Jiquilisco Bay is a region of islands, wetlands, and turtle-nesting beaches with the largest area of mangrove forest in the country. One of the poorest areas in El Salvador, the region's low elevation and location make it vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including a rising sea level and extreme weather. In recent years, Hurricane Mitch levelled one of the communities, San Juan del Gozo. Since then, two earthquakes have caused further damage.

"There was a lot of humanitarian assistance after Hurricane Mitch, but there was no long-term vision," says Sandra Thomson, one of the Sierra Club's project leaders. "With this project, we're looking at ways to empower communities to help them be more self-sufficient so they can better cope with the possible effects of climate change, like hurricanes and floods."

The project takes a holistic approach to the region's economic, social, and environmental challenges, which are inextricably linked. There are few jobs for the 8,000 people who live in 25 small communities. They gain their livelihood from the natural resource base, fishing from the Bay, cultivating crops, and cutting down mangrove forests for firewood. A proposed commercial shrimp operation would provide jobs, but it would also destroy precious mangrove forests—trees that can offer protection from flooding and severe weather.

The partners are working with four of the communities to develop microbusinesses that create jobs without damaging the environment. In this way, people can earn a living without making their communities more vulnerable to climate change. And with more sustainable income from local jobs that do not depend on dwindling natural resources, communities are also more self-sufficient.

The microbusinesses draw on the communities' obvious strengths: the natural beauty of the Bay area and the wealth of existing traditional knowledge about herbs and plants. Using local ingredients, for example, a women's cooperative has developed a "magic recipe" for herbal shampoo—the first of many potential herbal products such as soap and tea for a planned "herbal pharmacy."

The project has also organized several "solidarity tours" in which tourists traded the comforts of three-course meals and fluffy pillows for a chance to meet and support local people. On one expedition, in addition to touring the mangrove forests, bird-watching, and walking on the pristine beaches, participants made shampoo with local women. "It was a real cultural experience for everyone," says Ms. Thomson. "Even those participants who didn't speak Spanish were still connecting with the women just by being there."

"Solidarity tourism and the herbal pharmacy are complementary," says Bryce Gilroy-Scott, a Community Economic Development consultant volunteering with the project. "Visitors would work in the community and learn about traditional plants, but they might also buy drinks at the local store and perhaps take a boat tour."

The communities of Jiquilisco Bay have a long way to go before these microbusinesses take off. But, clearly, the project has already planted the seeds for greater self-sufficiency. Ultimately, it's giving people the opportunity to develop alternative livelihoods that leave the natural environment intact and leave them better able to cope with climate change.