Community perceptions and responses to climate variability and change in the Himalayas

Abstract

Himalayan communities live in marginal environments. They are dependent on ecosystem services and thus highly exposed to climate variability and change. This study aimed to help understand how mountain communities perceive change, how change impacts their livelihoods, and how they respond to change. Forty focus group discussions and 144 in-depth interviews at the household level were conducted in 20 villages in northwest India and across Nepal. Perceptions of change were compared with actual climate records where available. Respondents considered rainfall patterns to be less predictable and had experienced an overall reduction in water availability, severely affecting their harvests. Increased temperatures were also reported, particularly at higher elevations. People responded to the changing conditions with a wide range of coping and adaptation mechanisms. However, many of these mechanisms will not be sustainable in view of the likely magnitude of future climate change, and they are also restricted to social groups with appropriate assets. The poor, lower caste families, women, and other marginalized groups are particularly vulnerable and less able to adapt. Targeted efforts are required to move from coping to adapting and to avoid inequalities between social groups increasing due to the different adaptive capacities.

Perceived synergy between deforestation and/or forest degradation and climate variability and change in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality, Ghana

“…Meanwhile, the majority of the study participants variously depend on the forest for their livelihood activities and income (WORLD BANK, 2000;SCHERL ET AL., 2004;USAID, 2006;ANDERSON ET AL., 2006). Our study findings report that farming is the economic activity mostly affected by changes in climate: CVC made farming activities non-lucrative through decreased amount of rainfall and increasing temperature (WORLD BANK, 2017;MACCHI ET AL., 2014;SÁNCHEZ-CORTÉS & CHAVERO, 2011;OWUSU ET AL., 2008;LOBELL & FIELD, 2007;UNDP, 2007). This problem confirms earlier reports that, as a world-wide problem, CVC represents a significant threat and challenge to peoples' livelihoods (WORLD BANK, 2017;IPCC, 2014;OLSSON ET AL., 2014;FAO, 2009;ATHULA & SCARBOROUGH, 2011;CODJOE & OWUSU, 2011;DAMPTEY & MENSAH, 2008;NELSON & AGBEY, 2005), and also changes, or disrupts, livelihood patterns among community members from agriculture to non-agricultural activities (MACCHI & ICIMOD TEAM, 2010;LAMMEL ET AL., 2008;STIGTER ET AL., 2005;RSAS, 2002).…”

Robust Adaptation Research in High Mountains: Integrating the Scientific, Social, and Ecological Dimensions of Glacio-Hydrological Change

“…This requires fieldwork in climate-affected areas as well as the integration of local voices in problem identification, description, and resolution. Such "human dimensions" studies in the mountain-focused literature include those by Mark et al [53], Macchi et al [59], and McDowell et al [58]. Adaptation studies that do not assess social conditions will be incapable of identifying vulnerability hotspots, determining whether autonomous adaptations are adequate, or providing appropriate information for adaptation planning.…”

“…Mark et al [53] McDowell et al [58] Macchi et al [59] Attention to socio-ecological dynamics Effectiveness Sustainability…”

Climate adaptation: marginal populations in the vulnerable regions

“…The first paper focuses on Cree, Ojibwe and Ojicree people. These are the First Nation communities, living in two ecozones, the Boreal Shield and the Hudson Plain, of the boreal forest north of Ontario, Canada where they are politically organized in Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) (Golden, Audet, & Smith, 2015); the second paper highlights the three ethnic groups of Lao Loum, Youane and Brao populations of southern Laos (Jiao & Moinuddin, 2016); the third paper addresses the mountain communities in rural areas of northwest India and far-western, central and eastern Nepal in the Himalayas (Macchi, Gurung, & Hoermann, 2015); and the fourth paper highlights the three communes of Quang Lam, Thach Lam, Hong Ha living in the remote northern part of Vietnam (Beckman & Nguyen, 2016).…”