Adaptation to Climate Change in Panchase Mountain Ecological Regions of Nepal

Shankar Adhikari,Himlal Baral,Craig Nitschke

doi:10.3390/environments5030042

Abstract

Rural mountain communities in developing countries are considered particularly vulnerable to environmental change, including climate change. Forests and agriculture provide numerous ecosystem goods and services (EGS) to local communities and can help people adapt to the impacts of climate change. There is however poor documentation on the role of EGS in people’s livelihood and adaptation practices. This study in the rural Panchase Mountain Ecological Region of Nepal identifies practices being used to adapt to a changing environment through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. At the household level, livelihood diversification, changes in cropping patterns and farming practices, use of multipurpose plant species and income-generation activities were identified as adaptation strategies. Among major strategies at the community level were community forestry-based climate adaptation plans of action for forest and water resource management. Landscape-level adaptation strategies were large-scale collaborative projects and programs, such as Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Chitwan Annapurna Landscape conservation; which had implications at both the local and landscape-level. A proper blending and integration of adaptation strategies from individual households through to the community and to the landscape level is needed for implementing effective adaptation in the region.

Highlights

Rural people, especially in developing parts of the world, are more vulnerable to risks posed by ongoing environmental challenges, including climate change [1,2,3,4]
Household-level adaptation measures related to the use of available ecosystem goods and services (EGS) derived from forest and agro-ecosystems were some of the most widely applied in the study landscape
Despite rural communities residing in an EGS-rich landscape in Nepal, they are still considered vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in part due to their perceived lack of adaptive capacity

Summary

Introduction

Especially in developing parts of the world, are more vulnerable to risks posed by ongoing environmental challenges, including climate change [1,2,3,4]. The vulnerability of rural areas within South Asian countries is generally considered through the loss of crops, shelter, community infrastructure, and socio-economic activities [5,6]. This is primarily because people depend on water, food systems, forest products, and other natural resources for their livelihoods. In the case of adaptation to climate change, we follow the definition by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) It defines adaptive capacity as “the ability of systems, institutions, humans and other organisms to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to respond to consequences” [8].

Objectives

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Results

Conclusion