Journal of Ethnobiology

Incorporating value-focused thinking and local knowledge in climate change adaptation planning: A Case Study with the Gitga’at Nation.

Michael George Reid — 2014-06-24

Local values and knowledge can be important components in creating robust climate change adaptation strategies for marginalized communities. Incorporating local values in the planning process in a structured way and effectively using local knowledge not only improves the identification of priority actions for climate change adaptation, but also supports successful implementation. Much of climate change adaptation planning in recent years identifies actions derived from expert-driven vulnerability assessments. Yet climate change planning, like good planning of any kind, should incorporate both evidence-based facts (through expert and local knowledge) as well as local values (i.e., the things that matter to local people, such as culture, traditional foods, and economic self-reliance). This paper addresses these issues by presenting a participatory, values-based approach to climate change adaptation planning. The approach is contextualized through a case study of the Gitga’at Nation, located in northern coastal British Columbia, Canada. Further, this context provides the opportunity to explore additional climate change adaptation issues specific to remote coastal communities and Indigenous peoples. Fundamental lessons are highlighted, including communication of complex scientific research to community members, structuring climate adaptation issues to promote thoughtful evaluation, and establishing a pathway wherein the relationship between climate change and local values can drive the development and selection of highly context-specific adaptation actions. Ultimately, the paper concludes that adaptation planning approaches driven by local values will lead to enhanced community support, engagement and participation, which improves the chances of implementing appropriate and effective adaptation strategies.

A community-based approach to mapping Gwich’in observations of environmental changes in the lower Peel River watershed, NT

Harneet Kaur Gill — 2014-10-14

In Canada’s western Arctic climate change is driving rapid ecological changes. Ongoing and locally-driven environmental monitoring, in which systematic measurements or observations of environmental qualities are recorded and synthesized, is necessary in order to understand and respond to climate change and other human impacts. Indigenous peoples’ traditional ecological knowledge is increasingly used as the basis for regional monitoring, as there is a need for detailed, place-specific information that is consistent with local ways of understanding and interacting with the environment. In this project, we used participatory multimedia mapping with Teetl’it Gwich’in land users and youth from Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, Canada to record information about local environmental conditions and changes. Gwich’in monitors made trips on the land to photo and video document environmental conditions and changes tagged with GPS locations. Subsequently, land users provided detailed information about each observation in follow-up interviews adding to a web-based map. In this paper, we present the outcomes from the first year of research, explore the diverse types of knowledge this approach can contribute to environmental monitoring, and identify areas of convergence between traditional ecological knowledge and scientific research in the Arctic. Our work shows that this approach can make an important contribution to monitoring environmental changes associated with climate change in a way that is locally relevant and culturally appropriate.

MAKING SENSE OF LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE IN RURAL TANZANIA THROUGH KNOWLEDGE CO-PRODUCTION

L. Jen Shaffer — 2014-06-10

Shifting climate parameters, and their rippling effects through socio-ecological systems, have altered the abilities of rural households and communities around the world to make livelihood decisions based on traditional environmental knowledge (TEK). National and regional climate services are responding, but the information they provide may not meet local needs or concerns in an accessible format. Previous experiences in other disciplinary fields suggest that integrating different knowledge systems to improve climate services, assist in local decision-making, and strengthen climate models remains problematic. To avoid some of these problems, a participatory, community-based environmental monitoring project was co-developed with residents of four, rural Tanzanian communities. A field team brought in equipment and facilitated the training of local monitors, while communities chose the environmental sectors to monitor, collected and analyzed data, and evaluated the results in light of their local TEK. This interaction between scientists and participating community members highlights the value of knowledge co-production in making sense of environmental changes associated with climate observed and experienced at the local level. Activities also empowered communities to explore local climate adaptation and policy creation.

Climate Change and Apple Diversity: Local Perceptions from Appalachia

James R. Veteto — 2014-06-10

Research to-date on the relationship between climate change and agriculture has focused primarily on annual crops. Long-term perennial crops such as apple trees give researchers the opportunity to study a more longitudinal record of human-climate interactions. In Appalachia, one of the earliest orchard areas in the United States, many orchards have been run by single families for multiple generations, and oral histories contain climate information stretching back several decades or longer. We investigated folk crop varietal diversity on southern Appalachian orchards, grower observations and perceptions of environmental change, and the effects of climate change on apple diversity. Twenty-two orchardists were consulted in Appalachian North Carolina, using a combination of participant observation, free-listing exercises, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and benchmark socio-economic surveys. We documented 450 apple ethnotaxa on 22 orchards. Our results show that a majority of growers recognize increased climate variation and variability in annual and seasonal weather patterns, whereas a minority attribute those changes to human activity, such as climate change due to anthropogenic global warming. The major environmental change of concern to orchardists in the study region is warmer winters and early springs, which can cause devastating losses to apple production. Other concerns include increased incidence of disease and extreme weather events. Current consumer and market trends are selecting away from diverse and potentially-resistant heirloom apple varieties toward modern commercial varieties that are highly susceptible to environmental change. Apple diversity is threatened in southern Appalachia as a result of multiple variables, but current extant high diversity levels may be a valuable asset in constructing adaptive strategies in the face of global climate change.

The Long-term Investment Strategy: Orchardists Observing and Reacting to Change

Will McClatchey — 2015-02-18

Agricultural management systems are found at the intersection between human societies and environmental dynamics. Traditional orchards are fruit production systems that were developed in Eurasia and carried as part of colonization to many regions around the world, including a wide range of temperate to subtropical climates. We interviewed 255 long-term (20+ years) apple orchard managers in nine European countries and seven countries that were former colonies. Patterns and types of management observations were compiled to illustrate descriptive aspects of orchard manager’s thinking. Observations and adaptive responses by orchard managers seem to share similarities that go beyond cultural and large-scale environmental differences. Orchard management systems appear to be adaptive responses by traditional orchardists not only for local environments but for success in unknown, newly encountered environments and therefore might be expected to cope with climate change and functionally adapt to ecosystem variation due to that change.

Perception, resilience and transformation of Andean populations facing climate change

Julio C. Postigo — 2014-06-24

The Andean Tropics are among the mountain systems most affected by climate change. The most conspicuous effect is glacier recession. Yet little is known about how rural populations’ perceive climatic change impacts or about social-ecological system's responses to effects of change. Here I examine perceptions of climatic change and their effects on social-ecological systems in the Peruvian Southern Andes. Data from interviews and focus groups are used to explain institutional responses to climatic variability based upon perceived effects of climate change. Results show that people perceive glaciers shrinking, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, more extreme temperatures, and shortened rainy seasons. Their responses to these perceived changes range from wetland creation to agriculture calendar modification to irrigation adjustments. Such perceptions of change rely on personal observations and local knowledge, which inform responses. Knowledge-based action characterizes resilient systems. This case study supports the conclusion that resilience of social-ecological systems in the Peruvian Southern Andes is based upon local knowledge and institutions. Thus, strengthening institutions and fostering synergies between local and Western knowledge systems are crucial for systems’ sustainability or transformation.