Kiribati is a nation comprised of 33 atolls (21 inhabited) spread across a vast Pacific Ocean territory. The people of rural Kiribati are largely reliant upon a limited land base and coastal zone fisheries for both nutrition and livelihood.As the population grows and climate change advances, the security of island resources will be challenged. Already, the ecosystem integrity upon which islanders depend for climate change resilience is being eroded. This is evinced by many factors including deteriorating quality of near-shore fisheries, degraded lagoon health, and reduced freshwater quality. The primary reason for this is that current management regimes for both atoll and lagoon resources are defined by open resource access. There is very little active management, research, and/or regulation to make certain use of lagoon resources is maintained within sustainable limits. The nation has very little experience with the design and implementation of community-based management regimes to incentivize improved and more innovative management techniques. There are few tools in place to support better management of lagoon resource in light of expanding economic use and demand for these resources. This situation challenges resource management both within the lagoon and on the atoll. Climate change will certainly exacerbates an already very high level of vulnerability.The project objective is to build the adaptive capacity of vulnerable Kiribati communities to ensure food security under conditions of climate change.To address these challenges and reach the projectÂs objective, the LDCF investment will support the realization of two components and related activities. Both components will be closely aligned so that national and site-based activities are designed to build synergies, increase awareness, and generate much more informed and strategic use of natural resources so that ecosystem integrity is able to continue to function as the foundation of food security needs.Under Component One, the project will assist Kiribati to address urgent institutional capacity building needs primarily on the national level. This will include helping to set in place an improved regulatory environment, strengthened institutional planning and policy frameworks, and generation of data required to support informed decision-making.Under Component Two, the project will assist Kiribati to address climate change vulnerabilities by implementing and demonstrating community-based adaptation measures. The project will work on a select number of atolls to set in place models for land and lagoon resources management that is predicated upon informed planning and management processes. The general awareness of rural communities regarding fisheries management and climate change impacts will be increased. Community-based monitoring systems will be established. This will be used to inform decision-making, serve as an early warning system for climate change impacts, and be linked to island-wide vulnerability assessments. The monitoring system will be linked to national level programming so that national level decision-making benefits from more broad-based information sources. The project will support the generation, adoption, and implementation of model council by-laws designed to be ecosystem inclusive and enhance ecosystem integrity. This will include model regulations for the management of fisheries, including permit and reporting mechanisms for both subsistence, commercial and tourism use of lagoon resources. The project will work with extension officers responsible for both agriculture and fisheries resources. This will include building the capacities of officers, responsible government agencies, island councils, and rural stakeholders through formal training programs utilizing fisheries field schools. Model programs for more sustainable and climate resilient practices will be tested, assessed, and ready for national replication.All project activity will target the reduction of food security issues by setting in place capacities required for local communities.