High mountain community in a changing climate: a study of agropastoral adaptation in mustang district, Nepal

This paper explores the changing climate, its impact, and the diversified practices of agropastoral adaption by a mountain community of Nepal. The findings reveal that there is an unswerving link between the changes in climate and their impact on the community and its adaptation options. The vulnerability and risk induced by the climate change has threatened the agropastoral subsistence, the sociocultural and economic structure, and the food sovereignty of the Loba community of Mustang district of Nepal and made them experience unanticipated complications in livelihood. In a changing climate, the community has attuned and restructured its adaptive strategy with diversified practices of collective labour in a traditional agropastoral system of landholding, mystical connectivity and seasonal relocation as an adaptive response ensuring the shared sustenance of the com munity. The challenge of climate change began long ago; it will persevere and be long- lasting. Hence, this paper argues for the need for a prudent adoption of measures to maintain an environmentally suitable agropastoral system of liveli hood well-being. Beyond enhancing community capacity and climate resilience, it is necessary to streamline and readjust indigenous sociocultural institutions by expanding their adaptive capacity, while recognizing the cultural dimensions grounded in systems of meanings and relationships and the way people and their culture experience and respond to exceptional climatic changes.

Level of Life Quality in Two Selected Mountain Municipalities in Poland

The circumstances for conducted this study was a life level assessment in the aspect of mountain community economic development, as well as the safety level at work in the agriculture and in the local industry. The key issue in such places is tourism, which results mainly from natural resources. The studies were performed on a sample of 200 randomly selected inhabitants of the municipalities and 100 tourists. The survey consisted of 15 questions (6 open and 9 closed ones). The findings of the survey show that among the most developmental directions of economy, according to the inhabitants of the two compared municipalities, were tourism and agritourism. Also, most tourists have decided that the natural advantages of the municipalities encourage them to visit both regions. The multi-criteria analysis showed that municipality B is characterized by a higher quality of environment and higher landscape values than the other. Similarly, the natural environment was assessed by the inhabitants of both communes. The greatest problem in both municipalities was unsatisfactory air quality, while the greatest problem of safety at work was pain in the lumbar spine, around the neck and shoulder line. Besides, only 13% (region A) and 6,1% (region B) of the expenditures constituted financial support for the municipal economy, the environmental protection and healthcare. Results from the data analysis show that the described municipalities have significant chances for systematic development in spite of numerous current problems, among which the most important one is unemployment.