Climate Change, Rural Livelihood, and Sustainability: In Higher Himalayas of Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract Mountains host rich cultural and biological diversity and generate different ecosystem services. It acts as a water tower and source of food, but at the same time suffers from poverty, risks, and vulnerabilities. Climate change is the biggest threat overshadowing living organisms negatively impacting the rural livelihood of people living in the Himalayas. The warming has accelerated surpassing the global average over the past hundred years. Receding glaciers are leading to water scarcity not only for drinking but also for agriculture and allied activities. The erratic rainfall results in frequent flash floods and landslides causing huge damage to public and private infrastructures, life, and property. The basic objective of the study is to identify and analyse the interdependence between climate change and rural livelihood in the higher Himalayas. Both primary and secondary data were used for data analysis while descriptive and ethnographic methods were applied to achieve the desired result. A household survey using purposive sampling was conducted in Gandhari valley of Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2019. It was concluded that climate change has brought multiple changes in their environment and affected their livelihood in many folds. Migration has become a natural phenomenon in the valley where mostly males migrate to cities in winter due to unemployment and unbearable climatic condition. The rural poor were the worst hit because they were the most economically backward and vulnerable to these changes. Adaption to climate change is quite necessary and there is more need to promote traditional practices to retain sustainability in the valley.