Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
as indigenous people, the Bedu share many of the characteristics noted in the
introduction. They have unique traditional management systems, well adapted
to the harsh conditions of the desert, and which are affected in specific ways by
climate change, as described in the following section.
In these studies, using the modified version of the SLF, it was found that,
while indigenous peoples often have rich strategies for managing change, the
foundations of their cultural practices and institutions are under severe pressure
from a range of other sources, including cultural, social and political pressures;
this is particularly well-illustrated by the data from the Bedu studies, as
described in the following section. Knowledge also emerges as a key asset linking
social, cultural and environmental assets, as described below. The presence of
globalized development agents in every corner of the world exerts a combined
pressure from the multiple stressors of global development. In some cases,
climate change is not the most important stressor, but rather the trigger that
makes apparent the limited space available to indigenous peoples for putting
into practice their adaptation strategies. Strengthening local climate-change
adaptation capacity is not only about improving technical adaptation skills, but
also involves some fundamental changes, such as the application of their rights
to land and resources, and access to consultation and free prior and informed
consent; we return to this point later in the chapter.
how processes of change limit room for manoeuvre
In all areas studied, people were able to identify several interrelated ways in
which environmental changes were affecting their livelihood options. For
example, high-elevation Andean farmers described many processes of change
that they have seen since the turn of this century: water scarcity caused by the
melting of glaciers and alterations in the hydrological regime; increases in the
intensity of rains and temperatures; hailstorms and frosts at unusual times of
the year, and droughts. The changes put food security at risk and affect social
stability, health and psychological wellbeing (see Table 14.2 ). Such findings
in all areas confirm a fairly straightforward cause/effect relationship between
changing climatic conditions and livelihood.
A particularly important finding of this research was that climate change is
also having extreme effects on social structures - on the formal and informal
institutions, networks, relations of trust, kinship and friendship that constitute
the 'glue' of rural communities and have crucial implications for livelihoods.
In indigenous communities, leadership structures, social norms and exchange
networks are all connected in intricate resource-management systems, which in
turn depend greatly upon cultural cohesion. To maintain their livelihood strategies,
they depend heavily on cultural, human and social assets, including traditional
knowledge systems and institutions that are now under increased stress - making
them especially vulnerable to climate variability. 1 These knowledge systems
are based on experiments with nature, juxtaposed with a stock of knowledge
 
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