Vulnerability and Adaptation of High Mountain People to Climate Change

High mountain region is home to climate sensitive ecosystems and world's poor people. Rain fed agriculture, transhumance system, collection and selling timber and non-timber forest resources are the major livelihood sources in the high mountains of Nepal. Changing climate has caused extremes and uncertainty in climatic events like prolonged drought, uncontrolled forest fires, uncertainty in snowfall and rainfall. Further, little knowledge and adaptive capacity of the local people, climate change has led to more stress on the vulnerable ecosystems and livelihoods. This manuscript therefore provides an overview about mountain people and forest's vulnerability through examining their exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to risks and hazards induced by changing climate. Further, awareness, vulnerability and adaptation of people having different economic classes are analyzed. Likewise, some intervention nodes are recommended to increase resilience of mountain ecosystems and adaptive capacity of people. Hence, the author targets this manuscript to mountain communities, development agencies, donor communities, researchers and professionals and students of climate change adaptation.