Individual and community perceptions of climate change in Lower Mustang, Nepal

Upendra Bom, John Tiefenbacher and Shashidhar Belbase ()
Additional contact information
Upendra Bom: Texas State University
John Tiefenbacher: Texas State University
Shashidhar Belbase: United Arab Emirates University

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2023, vol. 25, issue 7, No 9, 5997-6031

Abstract: Abstract Human perceptions and concerns about the implications of climate change have a profound importance for adaptation to and mitigation of the impacts of climate change at various scales and in different economic and social sectors in a given geographical landscape. Although studies on public perceptions of climate change are increasing globally, they are still scant pertaining to the Himalayan region of Nepal. In order to fill this gap, this study aimed to understand individual and community perceptions of climate change in the Lower Mustang region of Nepal, where apple farming and agricultural activities have been significantly impacted by climate change over the last 30–40 years. The data collection for the study included a cross-sectional survey of 200 farmers with a structured questionnaire, seven focus group discussions, and 26 key informant interviews, which were administered in four rural municipalities: Kagbeni, Jomsom, Marpha, and Tukuche. Results of the study indicated that a majority of the participants experienced an increase in temperature with warmer summers (99% of the participants surveyed), a decrease in snowfall (100%), and variable rainfall patterns (87%). However, the warming climate-enhanced diversification of vegetables in Lower Mustang, and the changes in climatic patterns over the years have affected almost all the agricultural systems of the region. In particular, apple farming in lower elevations has been negatively impacted due to decreasing snowfall, necessitating an urgent attention to develop sustainable adaptation strategies in order to minimize the deleterious impacts of the changing climatic patterns.

Keywords: Public perception; Climate change; Agriculture; Himalaya; Nepal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-022-02291-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:endesu:v:25:y:2023:i:7:d:10.1007_s10668-022-02291-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10668

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-022-02291-w

Access Statistics for this article

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development is currently edited by Luc Hens

More articles in Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().