Journal of Forest and Environmental Science

Institute of Forest Science, kangwon National University (강원대학교 산림과학연구소)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Perception on Impact of Climate Change on Forest Ecosystem in Protected Area of West Bengal, India

  • Dey, Tanusri (Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya) ;
  • Pala, Nazir A. (Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya) ;
  • Shukla, Gopal (Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya) ;
  • Pal, Prabhat K. (Department of Agricultural Extension, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya) ;
  • Chakravarty, Sumit (Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya)
  • Received : 2015.12.17
  • Accepted : 2016.09.05
  • Published : 2017.02.28
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

In the present exploration we identified perception of forest dependent communities in relation to impact of climate change on forest ecosystem in and around Chilapatta reserve forest in northern part of West Bengal, India. Purposive sampling method was used for selection of area and random sampling method was used for selection of respondent. The data collection in this study was through questionnaire based personal in-depth interviews. Almost all the respondents (94%) were farmers and rest had occupation other than farming. Almost all the respondents perceived negative impact of climate change on forest though the level of perception varies from very low to medium (0.23-0.52) based on average perception score after assigning score to individual statements. The level of perception on impact of climate change on forest ecology and forest flora of the community is low and very low as the average perception score is 0.39 and 0.23, respectively while, it is medium (0.52) for forest fauna. Alternately their perception on decreased stream/river flow and quick drying of seasonal streams or water bodies is based on their livelihood experience as they depend on these for their domestic and irrigation water use and fish catch for family diet.

Keywords

References

  1. Aggarwal VRK, Mahajan PK, Negi YS, Bhardwaj SK. 2015. Trend analysis of weather parameters and people perception in Kullu district of Western Himalayan region. Environment and Ecology Research 3: 24-33.
  2. Anonymous. 2001. 4th Working Plan for the Forests of Cooch Behar district and Jalpaiguri district (Part) Comprising Cooch Behar Forest Division and Cooch Behar S. F. Division Volume - I, 2000-01 to 2009-10. Divisional Forest Officer, Working Plans (North) Division, Darjeeling.
  3. Arbuckle Jr JG, Morton LW, Hobbs J. 2013. Farmer beliefs and concerns about climate change and attitudes toward adaptation and mitigation: evidence from Iowa. Climatic Change 118: 551-563. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0700-0
  4. Baul TK, Atique Ullah KM, Tiwari KR, McDonald MA. 2013. People’s local Knowledge of climate change in the middle-hills of Nepal. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 12: 585-595.
  5. Berkes F. 2009. Evolution of co-management: role of knowledge generation, bridging organizations and social learning. J Environ Manage 90: 1692-1702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.12.001
  6. Bord RJ, O'Connor RE, Fisher A. 2000. In what sense does the public need to understand global climate change? Public Understanding of Science 9: 205-218. https://doi.org/10.1088/0963-6625/9/3/301
  7. Breshears DD, Cobb NS, Rich PM, Price KP, Allen CD, Balice RG, Romme WH, Kastens JH, Floyd ML, Belnap J, Anderson JJ, Myers OB, Meyer CW. 2005. Regional vegetation die-off in response to global-change-type drought. PNAS 102: 15144-15148. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0505734102
  8. Byg A, Salick J. 2009. Local perspectives on a global phenomenonclimate change in eastern Tibetan villages. Global Environmental Change 19: 156-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.01.010
  9. Chaudhary P, Aryal KP. 2009. Global warming in Nepal: challenges and policy imperatives. Journal of Forest and Livelihood 8: 4-13.
  10. Chaudhary P, Bawa KS. 2011. Local perceptions of climate change validated by scientific evidence in the Himalayas. Biol Lett 7: 767-770. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.0269
  11. Davidson DJ, Williamson T, Parkins JR. 2003. Understanding climate change risk and vulnerability in northern forest-based communities. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33: 2252-2261. https://doi.org/10.1139/x03-138
  12. Etwire PM, Al-Hassan RM, Kuwornu JKM, Osei-Owusu Y. 2013. Application of livelihood vulnerability index in assessing vulnerability to climate change and variability in Northern Ghana. Journal of Environment and Earth Science 3: 157-170.
  13. Frechtling J, Sharp L, Westat. 1997. User-friendly handbook for mixed method evaluations. National Science Foundation.
  14. FSI. 1995-2013. State of forest report 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013. Forest survey of India, ministry of environment and forests, government of India, New Delhi.
  15. Government of West Bengal. 2016. Official Website of Jalpaiguri. http://www.jalpaiguri.gov.in/html/culture.html. Assessed 19 Jul 2016.
  16. IPCC. 2007a. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL, eds). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA: 996 pp.
  17. IPCC. 2007b. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Parry M, Canziani O, Palutikof J, van der Linden P, Hanson C, eds). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK: 976 pp.
  18. IPCC. 2013. Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Stocker TF, Qin D, Plattner GK, Tignor M, Allen SK, Boschung J, Nauels A, Xia Y, Bex V, Midgley PM, eds). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
  19. IPCC. 2014. Summary for policymakers. In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Field CB, Barros VR, Dokken DJ, Mach KJ, Mastrandrea MD, Bilir TE, Chatterjee M, Ebi KL, Estrada YO, Genova RC, Girma B, Kissel ES, Levy AN, MacCracken S, Mastrandrea PR, White LL, eds). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA: 32 pp.
  20. Joshi AK, Joshi PK. 2011. A rapid inventory of indicators of climate change in the middle Himalaya. Current Science 100: 831-832.
  21. Kamruzzaman M. 2015. Farmer’s perceptions on climate change: a step toward climate change adaptation in Sylhet hilly region. Universal Journal of Agricultural Research 3: 53-58.
  22. Kerlinger FN. 1973. Foundations of behavioral research. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc., New York.
  23. King DNT, Skipper A, Tawhai WB. 2008. Maori environmental knowledge of local weather and climate change in Aotearoa -New Zealand. Climate Change 90: 385-409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-007-9372-y
  24. Logan JA, Régnière J, Powell JA. 2003. Assessing the impacts of global warming on forest pest dynamics. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1: 130-137. https://doi.org/10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0130:ATIOGW]2.0.CO;2
  25. McDaniels TL, Axelrod LJ, Slovic P. 1996. Perceived ecological risks of global change: a psychometric comparison of causes and consequences. Global Environmental Change 6: 159-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/0959-3780(96)00006-4
  26. Onyekuru AN, Marchant R. 2014. Climate change impact and adaptation pathways for forest dependent livelihood systems in Nigeria. African Journal of Agricultural Research 9: 1819-1832.
  27. Pal PK, Sarkar A, Gupta DS. 2014. Assessment of Panchayati Raj institution’s performance towards rural development in some selected backward villages of Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. Journal of Agriculture and Technology 1: 95-100.
  28. Panse VG, Sukhatme PV. 1967. Statistical methods for agricultural workers. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
  29. Rawat, V. S. 2013. People perception on climate change and their influence on various aspects around tones valley of Garhwal Himalaya. Environment and Ecology Research 1: 150-154.
  30. Salau ES, Onuk EG, Ibrahim A. 2012. Knowledge, perception and adaptation strategies to climate change among farmers in Southern agricultural zone of Nasarawa state, Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural Extension 16: 199-211.
  31. Shukla G, Kumar A, Pala NA, Chakravarty S. 2015. Farmer's perception and awareness of climate change: a case study from Kanchandzonga biosphere reserve, India. Environ Dev Sustain doi:10.1007/s10668-015-9694-2.
  32. Supit I, van Diepen CA, de Wit AJW, Kabat P, Baruth B, Ludwig F. 2010. Recent changes in the climatic yield potential of various crops in Europe. Agriculture System 103: 683-694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2010.08.009
  33. UNDP. 2010. Climate change and poverty reduction. UNDP. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/environmentandenergy/strategic_themes/climate_change/focus_areas/climate_change_andpovertyreduction.html.
  34. Vignola R, Klinsky S, Tam J, McDaniels T. 2012. Public perception, knowledge and policy support for mitigation and adaption to climate change in Costa Rica: comparisons with North American and European studies. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 18: 303-323.
  35. Withana NRP, Auch E. 2014. Perceptions of climate change risk to forest ecosystems: a case study of Patale community forestry user group, Nepal. International Journal of Environmental, Ecological, Geological and Geophysical Engineering 8: 599-606.
  36. Yu H, Luedeling E, Xu J. 2010. Winter and spring warming result in delayed spring phenology on the Tibetan Plateau. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107: 22151-22156. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1012490107

Cited by

  1. Contribution of NTFPs on livelihood of forest-fringe communities in Jaldapara National Park, India pp.1540-756X, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2018.1528158
  2. Floristic composition and utilization of ethnomedicinal plant species in home gardens of the Eastern Himalaya vol.15, pp.1, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-019-0293-4