Knowledge, Visions, and Responses to Climate Change in a Ch’ ol Indigenous Community in Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

Currently, policies of mitigation and adaptation to climate change are focused on technologies, communication, sustainability, and vulnerability. It is also necessary to incorporate historical and cultural aspects linked to traditional knowledge, worldviews, territoriality, access to land, and the practices of indigenous peoples. In Mexico, few studies are focused on indigenous communities, climate change, and climate change responses. Local and cultural knowledge about climate can be liked to adaptation responses to climate change but above all bottom-up participation frameworks that inform bottom-up decision-making. The objectives of this work are to document ethno-meteorological and ethnoclimatic knowledge, as well as environmental and climate changes perceived by seasonal farmers in a Ch’ ol indigenous community in Chiapas, Mexico. Local knowledge about climate and territoriality give context to the perceived changes as well as the current responses to these. A qualitative research focus was followed through the use of interviews, field trips, and observation. Indigenous elders explain the changes in rain as a result of the anger caused to the “lords” of rain and caves due to bad behaviors. Indigenous communities interact with variations in weather to make decisions about their day-to-day and productive life; accordingly, strategies and projects relating to climate change need to consider the recovery and maintenance of traditional production systems and sustainable production.