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Local perceptions of and responses to climate change: experiences from the natural resource-dependent communities in India

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Abstract

India is considerably vulnerable in the events of climate change impacts. Vulnerability and adaptive capacity among the population varies quite a lot in a country like India. This paper investigated local communities’ perceptions of and responses to the impacts of climate change on their livelihoods. The study employed village-level participatory qualitative research methods in three geo-cultural zones of the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha. It revealed that the local communities in those places had already visualized the impacts of climate change on their livelihoods and surrounding natural resources. Their observations corresponded to the broader scientific projections of the impacts of climate change in India. The study found that the local communities had started to adapt with the changing climate by altering their livelihoods and cultural practices. The study recommends urgent need of identifying the vulnerable communities in India and assessing their vulnerability from different perspectives that climate change might expose in the future. It also recommends implementing the present pro-poor policies of the government in an effective way to improve the socio-economic conditions of the poor and vulnerable communities in the country.

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Notes

  1. In India, certain communities are suffering from extreme social and economic backwardness like untouchability, primitive agri-practices, lack of infrastructural facilities, and geographical isolation, and they need special consideration for safeguarding their interests. These communities were notified as Scheduled Tribes as per provision of the Article 342 (1) of the Constitution of India.

  2. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, recognizes the rights of forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers over the forest areas inhabited by them and provides a framework for according the same (MoEF 2006).

  3. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. “REDD+” goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (UN-REDD 2011).

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Acknowledgments

The Authors are thankful to the staff of Ekta Parishad for facilitating the PRA exercises in the selected villages. The authors are also thankful to the villagers for their active cooperation in the data collection exercises. Contributions made by Mr. Surya Bahadur Magar and Mr. Indranil Niyogi in improving the manuscript are also acknowledged. Additionally, the authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions, which helped to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, 80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Pradipta Halder & Ashraful Alam

  2. Ekta Parishad, Gandhi Bhawan, Shyamla Hills, Bhopal, 462002, Madhya Pradesh, India

    Ramesh Sharma

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  1. Pradipta Halder
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Correspondence to Pradipta Halder.

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Halder, P., Sharma, R. & Alam, A. Local perceptions of and responses to climate change: experiences from the natural resource-dependent communities in India. Reg Environ Change 12, 665–673 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0281-x

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