Evaluating Coastal Resilience in Punta Soldado, Colombia
September 24, 2019

Johann Delgado
Civil Engineer / Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Buenaventura Bay, Colombia
The Project “Evaluation of coastal resilience of Punta Soldado, Colombia under scenarios of variability and climate change” has been able to integrate the local community, regional government agencies and academia to work together in the creation of a climate adaption plan. This plan will benefit the community and migratory shorebird populations facing scenarios of variability and climate change. Recently, we have been planning field campaigns in close coordination with national researchers to calibrate numerical models that describe coastal currents and therefore study the changes that these ecosystems will suffer. Afterwards, we will develop the recommendations and adaptation strategies for the protection of habitats and environmental services, which will be analyzed and agreed upon with the community and local governments.
Tests done with the numerical model CMS (Coastal Modeling System), allowing identification of currents generated by waves near the island to better understand the erosion process suffered by beaches and consequently shorebird habitat disappearance—image contributed by Simon Acevedo Sea level elevations due to the El Niño phenomenon, which constitute an abnormal increase of up to 30 cm, can now be interpreted as normal levels in the next decades due to climate change—image contributed by Franklyn Ayala

The Coastal Solutions Fellows Program builds and supports an international community to design and implement solutions that address coastal challenges across the Pacific Americas Flyway. Our main goal is to conserve coastal habitats and shorebird populations by building the knowledge, resources, and skills of Latin American professionals, and by fostering collaborations among multiple disciplines and sectors.