Zeitschrift für Geographie und Naturkatastrophen
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Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: A Study with Special Reference to North-Western India

Vinod Kumar

Climate change has become most critical issue at the global level, regional and local level to such an extent that climate change is considered as a gravest challenge for the mankind in the present century. No person, no country or no region of the world is immune to climatic changes. Past global efforts at dealing with the problem of global warming (which is most evident form of climate change) concentrated on mitigation, with the aim of reducing and possibly stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere. As stabilisation of GHG’s primarily depend upon changes in technology, discovery of new and less polluting fuels and with awareness in human behaviour towards mother earth. And all these changes are slow in nature, that’s why adaptation is seen as viable option in reducing the vulnerability to anticipated negative impacts of global warming. Now, at the global level it is increasingly realised that mitigation and adaptation should be perused complement to each other. However, increasing integrating mitigation and adaptation strategies in terms of climate changes are not completely new idea in India and especially in north-western India. This region is characterised by severe and frequent droughts from centuries. And given the rich cultural values of north-western region, local population through their indigenous knowledge systems, have developed a unique from of skills to reduce their vulnerability to variability in local climate. However, this knowledge is rarely taken into consideration in the design and adaptation of modern mitigation and adaptation strategies. This paper is an attempt to highlight some indigenous mitigation and adaptation skills that have been praticesed in North-western India. Paper also attempts to put forward arguments for integrating indigenous knowledge into formal climate change and mitigation strategies.