Is there any chance for the poor to cope with extreme environmental events? Two case studies in the Solomon Islands

•Adaptation capacity relies on communities’ social and natural assets (net-worth).•Increasing the value of household net-worth as a strategy for resilience building.•The local social cooperation wantok system as key for explaining adaptation.•The wantok system as source of wealth and social security for indigenous communities.•Communities providing more expedite response to disasters than government.