Open Access
Open access
Natural Hazards Research, volume 4, issue 4, pages 643-652

Cultural Adaptation in the era of Climate Change: An Ethnographic Study on the Resilience of Indigenous People at Chittagong Hill Tracts area in Bangladesh

Publication typeJournal Article
Publication date2024-12-01
SJR
CiteScore4.1
Impact factor
ISSN26665921
Abstract
Climate change has gained global recognition as one of the most urgent challenges in recent decades. Many indigenous people attempt to overcome great challenges in their lives by adhering to their cultural customs and traditional knowledge. This is especially true for those who live in isolated, hilly places and are dependent on natural resources. The aim of the paper is to critically investigate the cultural facets of indigenous people's adaptation to and resilience to climate change in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), namely in the Rangamati Sadar sub-districts of the Rangamati districts,Bangladesh. This paper also examines how cultural components in indigenous community are changing and influencing the adaptation process in adverse situations. This study used a critical ethnography technique in conjunction with participant observation, in-depth interviews (N=55), and focus group discussions (N=5, 45 participants) during a one-year period (October 2019 to October 2020). According to the study's findings, climate change-related risks have significant adverse effects on indigenous people. However, they develop their strategies to adjust to the adverse environment, like building different kinds of houses, changing cultural customs, relying less on natural resources, and adhering to their indigenous knowledge. They also strengthen their prayers and ceremonial practices, which reinforce their communal ties and allow them to become more resilient against challenges in their community. The popular belief that Indigenous people are stupid, poor, and helpless while they wait for outside help is challenged by this study. It also refutes the discourse that indigenous strategies and knowledge are not undervalued and can be an effective instrument for the adaptation process and combating hazards.
Garai J., Ku H.B., Zhan Y.
2022-02-16 citations by CoLab: 7 Abstract  
In recent decades, climate change has become a great concern all over the world and indigenous people especially those who live in remote area and depend on natural resources are most vulnerable to this extremity. This research project is an attempt to find out the key indicators of cultural responses of indigenous people for adaption in climate change extremity. For conducting this study, 25 in-depth interviews were adopted by employing semi-structured and open-ended questionnaire to indigenous people in Rangamati sadar of Rangamati district in Bangladesh. The findings of the study indicate that indigenous people have idea about climate change and they get this idea from different media i.e., television, FM radio, local newspaper, peer groups etc. and blame developed countries for the causes of climate change events. The findings also indicate that for adapting to climate change, local people develop their own strategies, like planting trees surrounding their houses, performing religious activity, rendering mutual help to each other, taking relief or financial support from others for investment, applying indigenous technology, changing occupations etc. in their community. Very few empirical studies were conducted on cultural adaption of indigenous people in climate change, so this project findings can help policy makers as well as government to formulate policy to uplift this community in near future.
Schramm P.J., Al Janabi A.L., Campbell L.W., Donatuto J.L., Gaughen S.C.
Health Affairs scimago Q1 wos Q1
2020-12-01 citations by CoLab: 34 Abstract  
Climate change directly threatens human health, with substantial impacts on Indigenous peoples, who are uniquely vulnerable as climate-related events affect their practices, lifeways, self-determination, and physical and cultural health. At the same time, Indigenous communities are leading the way in innovative health-related climate change adaptation work, using traditional knowledges and novel approaches. In 2016 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Indian Health Board created the Climate-Ready Tribes Initiative to support these efforts. The initiative has funded tribes, shared information nationally, and supported a learning cohort, resulting in pioneering work to protect health from climate hazards. We describe how two tribes-the Pala Band of Mission Indians and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community-implemented their Climate-Ready Tribes Initiative projects, and we provide recommendations for making climate and health policy more effective for tribes. Lessons learned from the Climate-Ready Tribes Initiative can inform climate and health policy and practice nationwide.
Ford J.D., King N., Galappaththi E.K., Pearce T., McDowell G., Harper S.L.
One Earth scimago Q1 wos Q1
2020-06-19 citations by CoLab: 199 Abstract  
Indigenous peoples globally have high exposure to environmental change and are often considered an “at-risk” population, although there is growing evidence of their resilience. In this Perspective, we examine the common factors affecting this resilience by illustrating how the interconnected roles of place, agency, institutions, collective action, Indigenous knowledge, and learning help Indigenous peoples to cope and adapt to environmental change. Relationships with place are particularly important in that they provide a foundation for belief systems, identity, knowledge, and livelihood practices that underlie mechanisms through which environmental change is experienced, understood, resisted, and responded to. Many Indigenous peoples also face significant vulnerabilities, whereby place dislocation due to land dispossession, resettlement, and landscape fragmentation has challenged the persistence of Indigenous knowledge systems and undermined Indigenous institutions, compounded by the speed of environmental change. These vulnerabilities are closely linked to colonization, globalization, and development patterns, underlying the importance of tackling these pervasive structural challenges.
Galappaththi E.K., Ford J.D., Bennett E.M.
Climatic Change scimago Q1 wos Q1
2020-04-27 citations by CoLab: 37 Abstract  
Rural coastal fishery systems in tropical island nations are undergoing rapid change. Using a case study from eastern Sri Lanka, this paper examines the ways in which indigenous Coastal-Vedda fishers experience and respond to such change. We conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 74), focus group discussions (n = 17, 98 participants), and key informant interviews (n = 38) over a 2-year period (2016–2019). The changes that most Coastal-Vedda fishers experience are disturbance from Sri Lankan ethnic war, changes in climate and the frequency and severity of natural disasters, increased frequency of human-elephant conflicts, increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, and transformation of the Coastal-Vedda due to social modernisation. We used a resilience-based conceptual framework focusing on place, human agency, collective action and collaboration, institutions, indigenous and local knowledge systems, and learning to examine fishers’ responses to rapid changes. We identified three community-level adaptive strategies used by the Coastal-Vedda: adaptive institutions with a multi-level institutional structure that facilitates collective action and collaboration, the use of culture-based fisheries (CBF), and diversification of livelihoods. We also recognized four place-specific attributes that shaped community adaptations: cultural identity and worldviews, co-management of CBF, flexibility in choosing adaptive options, and indigenous and local knowledge systems and learning. These adaptive strategies and place-specific attributes provide new insights for scientists, policymakers, and communities in the region, enabling them to more effectively work together to support community adaptation.
Nursey-Bray M., Palmer R.
Heliyon scimago Q1 wos Q1 Open Access
2018-03-14 citations by CoLab: 39 Abstract  
Indigenous peoples are going to be disproportionately affected by climate change. Developing tailored, place based, and culturally appropriate solutions will be necessary. Yet finding cultural and institutional 'fit' within and between competing values-based climate and environmental management governance regimes remains an ongoing challenge. This paper reports on a collaborative research project with the Arabana people of central Australia, that resulted in the production of the first Indigenous community-based climate change adaptation strategy in Australia. We aimed to try and understand what conditions are needed to support Indigenous driven adaptation initiatives, if there are any cultural differences that need accounting for and how, once developed they be integrated into existing governance arrangements. Our analysis found that climate change adaptation is based on the centrality of the connection to 'country' (traditional land), it needs to be aligned with cultural values, and focus on the building of adaptive capacity. We find that the development of climate change adaptation initiatives cannot be divorced from the historical context of how the Arabana experienced and collectively remember colonisation. We argue that in developing culturally responsive climate governance for and with Indigenous peoples, that that the history of colonisation and the ongoing dominance of entrenched Western governance regimes needs acknowledging and redressing into contemporary environmental/climate management.
Kodirekkala K.R.
Climatic Change scimago Q1 wos Q1
2017-11-29 citations by CoLab: 8 Abstract  
The mainstream discourses on global climate change have tended to focus on mitigation and have neglected the adaptive measures, particularly at the local level, even though the local/indigenous people have been considered to be more vulnerable to such change. However, climate change has a distinct local reality—since the way such change is perceived and addressed is linked with the local people and their practices. Although climate change largely affects the lives of the local poor, certain positive effects may also occur for those marginalized people. In other words, many of the indigenous peoples have an adaptive capacity to deal with climate change. Therefore, climate change adaptation has now increasingly gained prominence. In this context, this paper will investigate the impact of climate change at the local level and explain how an indigenous and vulnerable population, the Konda Reddis, respond to such change through cultural adaptation. The paper will focus on the cultural significance of the jeelugu (fishtail palm, Caryota urens) and Konda Reddis’ shift from the jeelugu to the tati (palmyra palm, Borassus flabellifera). I will argue that such a shift is an indication of an adaptation to climate change. I will also maintain that though climate change plays a dominant role in stimulating such adaptation, certain other factors also interact with climatic factors in the adaptation.
Ahmed M.N., Atiqul Haq S.M.
2017-11-10 citations by CoLab: 42 Abstract  
This study addresses the perceptions of indigenous people in Bangladesh in relation to the causes and impacts of climate change and how they use their indigenous knowledge to manage their forest resources and apply a variety of coping strategies in the face of climate change. This study selected two indigenous communities living in Lawachara Punji (Khasia community, 18 households) and in Dolubari/Dulahazra (Tripura community, 60 households). This study used purposive sampling and collected information through a survey questionnaire as well as in-depth interviews. Findings show some differences between the two indigenous communities in terms of their beliefs about the causes and impacts of climate change, as well their perceptions, techniques, and knowledge as indigenous people in terms of managing their forest resources and coping with the effects of climate change. Tripura respondents believe that climate change has had adverse impacts on humans and that human activities are responsible for climate change, while Khasia respondents hold different beliefs in these respects. Khasia respondents emphasize government responsibility, raising public awareness, and the various roles people need to perform to mitigate the effects of climate change. Findings from this kind of study can provide a deeper understanding of people’s views of the causes and impacts of climate change and related dimensions, including forest resource management and coping strategies in terms of indigenous beliefs and practices. These findings can contribute to policy making in countries like Bangladesh that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, contributing to environmental sustainability in developing countries.
Garai J.
Natural Hazards scimago Q1 wos Q2
2016-09-02 citations by CoLab: 28 Abstract  
This paper is an attempt to explore the indigenous coping strategies of cyclone-affected coastal people, especially in southwestern part of Bangladesh. This study has been conducted by using qualitative methods, i.e., case study, key informants interviews and focus group discussion were adopted to get the vivid and comprehensive panorama of coping strategies of cyclone-affected coastal people. The paper examines that coastal people envisaged with frequent and severe natural hazards throughout the years which severely affect their everyday life. The findings indicate that in order to cope with the hazards, coastal people change their housing structure, search new jobs, migrate elsewhere, rear alternative livestock, borrow money, take relief and so on. The findings also indicate that local people can perceive and predict about the imminent hazards by observing different indicators and take initiative for disaster prevention, mitigation and adaptation from their existing traditional knowledge and practices. There has not been conducted much empirical research on indigenous coping strategies of coastal people in natural hazards, so policy maker can get a comprehensive view about this context and implement it to national policy for comprehensive disaster management and adaptation.
Pasgaard M., Dalsgaard B., Maruyama P.K., Sandel B., Strange N.
Global Environmental Change scimago Q1 wos Q1
2015-11-01 citations by CoLab: 58 Abstract  
Studies on scientific production of climate change knowledge show a geographical bias against the developing and more vulnerable regions of the world. If there is limited knowledge exchange between regions, this may deepen global knowledge divides and, thus, potentially hamper adaptive capacities. Consequently, there is a need to further understand this bias, and, particularly, link it with the exchange of knowledge across borders. We use a world-wide geographical distribution of author affiliations in >15,000 scientific climate change publications to show that (1) research production mainly takes place in richer, institutionally well-developed countries with cooler climates and high climate footprints, and (2) the network of author affiliations is structured into distinct modules of countries with strong common research interests, but with little knowledge exchange between modules. These modules are determined mainly by geographical proximity, common climates, and similar political and economic characteristics. This indicates that political-economic, social and educational-scientific initiatives targeted to enhance local research production and collaborations across geographical-climate module borders may help diminish global knowledge divides. We argue that this could strengthen adaptive capacity in the most vulnerable regions of the world.
Whitfield S.
2015-08-20 citations by CoLab: 24
Hiwasaki L., Luna E., Syamsidik, Shaw R.
2014-12-01 citations by CoLab: 233 Abstract  
The important role that local knowledge and practices can play in reducing risk and improving disaster preparedness is now acknowledged by disaster risk reduction specialists, especially since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. However, they have yet to be commonly used by communities, scientists, practitioners and policy-makers. We believe that local and indigenous knowledge needs to be integrated with science before it can be used in policies, education, and actions related to disaster risk reduction and climate change. This paper presents a process for integrating local and indigenous knowledge related to hydro-meteorological hazards and climate change with science, developed through a project implemented among coastal and small island communities in Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. The process involves observation, documentation, validation, and categorization of local and indigenous knowledge, which can then be selected for integration with science. This process is unique in that it allows communities to (1) identify knowledge that can be integrated with science, which could then be further disseminated for use by scientists, practitioners and policy-makers, and (2) safeguard and valorize those that cannot be scientifically explained. By introducing a process that can be used in other communities and countries, we hope to promote the use of local and indigenous knowledge to enable communities to increase their resilience against the impacts of climate change and disasters.
Leonard S., Parsons M., Olawsky K., Kofod F.
Global Environmental Change scimago Q1 wos Q1
2013-06-01 citations by CoLab: 193 Abstract  
Indigenous peoples offer alternative knowledge about climate variability and change based on their own locally developed knowledges and practices of resource use. In this article we discuss the role of traditional ecological knowledge in monitoring and adapting to changing environmental conditions. Our case study documents a project to record the seasonal knowledge of the Miriwoong people in northern Australia. The study demonstrates how indigenous groups’ accumulate detailed baseline information about their environment to guide their resource use and management, and develop worldviews and cultural values associated with this knowledge. We highlight how traditional ecological knowledge plays a critical role in mediating indigenous individuals and communities’ understandings of environmental changes in the East Kimberley region of north-west Australia, and how these beliefs may influence future decision-making about how to go about adapting to climate change at a local level.
Cunsolo Willox A., Harper S.L., Edge V.L., Landman K., Houle K., Ford J.D.
Emotion, Space and Society scimago Q2 wos Q1
2013-03-01 citations by CoLab: 154 Abstract  
For Canada’s Inuit populations, the landscapes surrounding communities, and practices such as hunting, fishing, trapping, foraging, and travelling to cabins, contribute greatly to human health and well-being. Climatic and environmental change, however, are altering local ecosystems, and it is becoming increasingly challenging for many Inuit to continue to travel or hunt on the land. These changes greatly impact health and well-being. While numerous studies examine the physical health impacts of climate change, few consider the affective implications of these changes, and the subsequent impacts on the emotional well-being of Inuit populations. From data gathered through a multi-year, community-driven project in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Labrador, Canada, however, it is evident that the emotional consequences of climate change are extremely important to Northern residents. Participants shared that these changes in land, snow, ice, and weather elicit feelings of anxiety, sadness, depression, fear, and anger, and impact culture, a sense of self-worth, and health. This article analyses the affective dimensions of climatic change, and argues that changes in the land and climate directly impact emotional health and well-being. Narratives of Inuit lived experiences will be shared through data from interviews, the concept of ecological affect will be introduced, and implications for climate-health research and programming will be discussed.
Huda M.N.
Natural Hazards scimago Q1 wos Q2
2012-10-31 citations by CoLab: 35 Abstract  
This study explores the relationship between perception on climate change as well as climatic hazards and socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, occupation, exposure to mass media, amount of land, education, and income. Following simple random sampling technique, a total of 384 households were sampled from Rangamati Sadar Upazila of Bangladesh and were interviewed through a predesigned semistructured questionnaire. The findings of the study reveal that a substantial number of respondents (61 %) perceive that climate is changing moderately over the years. The bivariate results indicate that age, gender, education, occupation, income, amount of land, and access to mass media are significantly associated with perception on climate change as well as climatic hazards. In addition, age, education, and exposure to mass media are also found as significant predictors of climate change perception. Education has been found as the single best predictor.
Madison D.
2012-05-15 citations by CoLab: 270

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