Local climate change perceptions and adaptation strategies across the Central and Eastern Himalayas - a review

Abstract The Himalayas and the communities that depend on them are highly vulnerable to climate change. Understanding perceptions of climate change among these communities, and the adaptations they undertake to weather climate shocks, can provide vital guidance in designing locally relevant policies. This paper reviews 23 studies that investigated perceptions of climate change in the Central and Eastern Himalayas. From our meta-analysis, we find that respondents across the region report broadly matching perceptions of increasing temperature, decreasing snowfall, and increasingly insufficient and erratic rainfall, along with other environmental changes such as in plant phenology. Studies that compared perceptions to instrument-based data also found a high level of match between the two. Though the perceptions were influenced by several factors such as gender, age and education, they are still valuable as indicators of communities’ most pressing needs. The adaptations people have undertaken are similar across the region and are often short-term and reactive in nature. They include switching to high-yield crop varieties, increased use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, intensification of irrigation and rainwater harvesting, and livelihood diversification. However, adaptive capacity is dependent on socioeconomic factors, leaving the disadvantaged sections of society more vulnerable to climate change. Local perceptions of climate change are necessary to design inclusive mitigation policies and are a valuable supplement to long-term climate data.