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Rural coping and adaptation strategies for climate change by Himalayan communities in Nepal

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Abstract

Climate change has major impacts on the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. The unpredictable weather conditions in rural Nepal have been attributed to a changing climate. This study explored the climate change adaptation and coping strategies that rural communities adopt for the conservation of natural resources and livelihoods in the mid-hills of Nepal. This paper explored major climatic hazards, assessed different coping and adaptation measures, and barrier faced to climate change adaptation based on perceptions by forest-dependent communities. We conducted focus group discussions, questionnaire surveys, and semi-structured interviews with local communities and stakeholders. The results showed that rural communities had experienced significant impacts of climate change and variability. In response, they are practicing diverse coping and adaptation strategies, including the construction of bioengineering structures and planting different species that grow quickly and establish promptly.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the local communities, Government/Non-government organizations of Nepal and personnel who provided their valuable time and shared their experiences during the study and Claire McMahon for English editing. We also like to thank two independent reviewers for their constructive suggestions and feedbacks. e also acknowledge the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR within the National Sustainability Program I (NPUI)

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Correspondence to Nabin Dhungana.

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Dhungana, N., Silwal, N., Upadhaya, S. et al. Rural coping and adaptation strategies for climate change by Himalayan communities in Nepal. J. Mt. Sci. 17, 1462–1474 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5616-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5616-3

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