An Ethnobotanical Approach to Study the Relation between Community Vulnerability and Climate Change in the Himalayas

Abstract

The social system of human beings and ecosystems are complex adaptive systems. Ecosystems and indigenous human social systems have many parts and many interconnections between these parts, which make it complex. While, they have feedback structures that promote survival in a constantly changing environment make it adaptive. Climate change is the major driver of this changing environment. Climate models can paint the bigger picture of climate change, which provide estimates for the likely consequences of different future scenarios of human development. But they are not very good at providing information about changes at the local level. In recent years, there has been an increasing realisation that indigenous peoples are a valuable source of this information. Because indigenous peoples observe, adapt and interpret the climate change and interacting factors affect their perception, interpretation and adaptations to the changes. Agriculture is the main source of income for the majority of people residing in the Himalayas, where temperatures are rising at a greater rate than the global average. This temperature rise is projected to continue in future. Changing climate and associated hazards (e.g. water-induced hazards) are predicted to impact on the livelihoods of local people, particularly farmers who depend on natural resources and subsistence agriculture. Agriculture is one of most important sectors that are affected by climate change. Within the region, the levels of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity differ among communities and are responsible for determining community vulnerability. It is crucial for climate-risk management to understand better how climate change dynamics affects agriculture and communities. Our understanding can be improved by accessing community perception, indigenous knowledge and integrating it with scientific knowledge. The resulting hybrid knowledge could be very useful while planning adaptation strategies for climate change risk management. ii An assessment of local vulnerabilities provides a bridge to the gap between rural household needs for risk management and policy measures taken at the governance level. Therefore, the assessment of climate change vulnerability of farmer livelihoods focuses on the local and community levels. The study was conducted at two sites: a) the Melamchi River Valley in Sindhupalchok district of central Nepal; and b) the Garam Chashma Valley, in Chitral district of Pakistan in the western parts of the Himalayas. The study used primary data collected through household surveys, Community-based Risk Screening Tool—Adaptation and Livelihoods (CRiSTAL) and secondary data on climate. Also, crop vulnerability was determined for the study sites based on the 'climate analogue analysis'.