ANNOUNCEMENTS
Presently, the pastoral communities in HP (HP) practice transhumance as their means of livelihood. Transhumance is the seasonal, cyclic movement of pastoralists with their herds between summer high-altitude region and winter low-altitude regions. Due to climate change and numerous challenges today, the shepherding pastoralists are endangered. The study assesses the livelihood vulnerability of pastoralists in five districts of HP – Chamba, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu and Shimla, to climate change. Using a combination of meteorological data and primary survey, Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and LVI- IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) are calculated for each district. The contributing factors are analysed to assess the specific challenges and differences in vulnerability across regions.
The findings highlight that Kinnaur, Kullu and Shimla have higher adaptive capacities compared to their exposure and sensitivity. These districts have favourable socio-demographic conditions and average educational level. The impact on climate change is less severe in these districts. In contrast, the adaptive capacity of Chamba and Kangra is lower than their exposure and sensitivity. The pastoralists in these districts have low average incomes and experience significant livestock losses due to human-wildlife (HW) conflict, along with high climatic variability. The study indicates that pastoralists are not much impacted by climate change alone; rather, political, social and economic changes have a significant impact on their lifestyle and livelihood.
Keyword: Pastoralism, Livelihood Vulnerability, HP, Climate Change, LVI-IPCC.
