Vulnerability assessment: Biophysical and socioeconomic systems’ vulnerability need focus of following issues
• Assess the impacts of projected climate change on the selected biophysical or
socioeconomic systems.
• Identify indicators for assessing the vulnerability.
• Develop vulnerability indices: agricultural vulnerability, water vulnerability,
livelihood vulnerability, biodiversity vulnerability, drought and flood
vulnerability.
• Conduct field studies to generate data on parameters and indicators for vulnerability indices.
• Develop a composite vulnerability after normalization.
• Rank the areas/villages according to vulnerability: biophysical and socioeconomic factors.
Adaptation strategies: Adaptation requires approach as described below
• Assess the impacts of projected climate change on the selected biophysical or
socioeconomic and socio-cultural systems of all three study regions.
• Identify the vulnerable natural ecosystems and socioeconomic systems: rainfed
and irrigated agriculture, evergreen and deciduous forests, coastal fisheries, river
valley systems, and water resources availability (ground and surface water).
• Identify practices that reduce the vulnerability and enhance resilience: soil and
water conservation, irrigation, multiple cropping, drought resistant varieties,
biodiversity enhancement, anticipatory planting of tree species, flood protection
barriers etc.
• Identify strategies to promote adaptation: halting forest fragmentation, expansion of irrigation, forest conservation, diversification of farm incomes etc.
• Develop pilot adaptation projects for implementation in other agroecological
regions of the country.
• Model-based testing and evaluation of adaptation strategies.
6 Transdisciplinary Research Approach
Varied agroecological regions being selected for the study on climate change, should
have diverse pattern in rain fall, soil quality, natural resource availability, agricultural
practices, and consequent agricultural outputs (for example Fig. 1). The climate
change has a major impact on these factors which finally go on to affect the livelihood
and vulnerabilities of farmers as well as the local population. For impact and vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategies to climate change the possibility is to
concretely develop science policy-interface for sustainable socio-ecological systems
for different agroecological regions. However, this requires sound methodological
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S. Nautiyal and R. Schaldach
• Assess the impacts of projected climate change on the selected biophysical or
socioeconomic systems.
• Identify indicators for assessing the vulnerability.
• Develop vulnerability indices: agricultural vulnerability, water vulnerability,
livelihood vulnerability, biodiversity vulnerability, drought and flood
vulnerability.
• Conduct field studies to generate data on parameters and indicators for vulnerability indices.
• Develop a composite vulnerability after normalization.
• Rank the areas/villages according to vulnerability: biophysical and socioeconomic factors.
Adaptation strategies: Adaptation requires approach as described below
• Assess the impacts of projected climate change on the selected biophysical or
socioeconomic and socio-cultural systems of all three study regions.
• Identify the vulnerable natural ecosystems and socioeconomic systems: rainfed
and irrigated agriculture, evergreen and deciduous forests, coastal fisheries, river
valley systems, and water resources availability (ground and surface water).
• Identify practices that reduce the vulnerability and enhance resilience: soil and
water conservation, irrigation, multiple cropping, drought resistant varieties,
biodiversity enhancement, anticipatory planting of tree species, flood protection
barriers etc.
• Identify strategies to promote adaptation: halting forest fragmentation, expansion of irrigation, forest conservation, diversification of farm incomes etc.
• Develop pilot adaptation projects for implementation in other agroecological
regions of the country.
• Model-based testing and evaluation of adaptation strategies.
6 Transdisciplinary Research Approach
Varied agroecological regions being selected for the study on climate change, should
have diverse pattern in rain fall, soil quality, natural resource availability, agricultural
practices, and consequent agricultural outputs (for example Fig. 1). The climate
change has a major impact on these factors which finally go on to affect the livelihood
and vulnerabilities of farmers as well as the local population. For impact and vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategies to climate change the possibility is to
concretely develop science policy-interface for sustainable socio-ecological systems
for different agroecological regions. However, this requires sound methodological
566
S. Nautiyal and R. Schaldach
