Europe

Climate Change and Sami

Submitted by admin on Tue, 09/08/2011 - 01:35.
Sami of Laponia World Heritage Site, Sweden Sami of Laponia World Heritage Site, Sweden
The project involves collaborative research between the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle and Sami reindeer herders who for a decade have lived with severe winters due to climate change. The deer feed primarily on lichens in the winter, which they obtain by digging through the snow. The changes in the weather create a crust of hard ice over the lichen, preventing the reindeer from eating. Sami have tried to adapt to this in a few ways, most commonly to gather the thousands of reindeer into an enclosure and feed them with livestock feed. This solution, however, has its own complications including the cost in time and money as well as the risk that the reindeer will not want to eat artificial food. The research will contribute to an understanding of the different coping strategies available, the contributive, cumulative impacts of climate change and other factors on the nomadic livelihoods of Sami reindeer herders, the impact of climate change on the forests and animal species of the North and potential solutions that different stakeholders, especially farmers, are advocating.

The impact of climate change on the pastoral communities of the Parang and Fagaras Mountains, Romania

Submitted by admin on Tue, 09/08/2011 - 00:28.
The impact of climate change on the pastoral communities of the Parang and Fagaras Mountains, Romania Pastoral communities of Parang and Fagaras Mountains, Romania
Local pastoral communities in the Southern Carpathians rely on alpine and subalpine grasslands for their livelihood. Transhumance pastoralism is still practised in the mountains of Parang and Fagaras, though it is almost extinct elsewhere in Europe. The project will investigate the perceptions of these communities with regards to changes in plant phenology and distribution, with an eye to identifying the major changes that alpine and subalpine grasslands are undergoing and the effects that these changes are having on the local pastoral communities. It will also identify past methods used by these communities to cope with various temporary climatic stresses and present potential methods to adapt to and cope with climate change.

Climate-vulnerable South-European Islands: Experiences for resilience

Submitted by admin on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 23:31.
Rural community in the Greek Islands

Proponent: Rigas Zafeiriou
Project implementation period: 3 months
Project implementation dates: May – July 2010
Project location: Kythera and Antikythera, Greece

South Greek islands are representative of semi-arid drought prone areas and share similar global issues with other vulnerable communities. Climate change is expected to stress water resources, agricultural productivity and tourism development. This project, sited on two Greek islands and part of the Ionian Islands, aims to illustrate how climate changes can also disproportionately impact small rural European communities. Through reports and audiovisual material Rigas Zafeiriou, project proponent, will highlight how vulnerable rural island communities in the Mediterranean perceive and react to climate change and document their experiences with adaptation, focusing on livelihood security.

The Melting Arctic

Submitted by admin on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 01:40.

Inuit of Greenland, Denmark
The Hellheim glacier, a part of the Greenland ice shelf, is calving into the Sermilik fjord. Scientists suggest that this very limited area constitutes more than 10% of the total yearly production of icebergs from Greenland. Remote sensing data indicate that due to climate change, the glacier has accelerated, resulting in an increase in the ice concentration in the Sermilik fjord. For the last 3 years the project “The Melting Arctic” has been gathering information from local hunters, elders and youth, from Gjoahaven, Nunavut, Canada in the West to Tasilaq, Greenland in the East. These interviews aim to discover how Greenlanders perceive climate change, how they adapt and how this adaptation affects the local communities on a broader level. Under Climate Frontlines, Fotspor AS proposes to extend the Melting Arctic project to include remote villages to Semilik, seeking their observations on the alterations in the ice regime, as well as local efforts to cope with and adapt to these changes. The project will help assess how the knowledge and experiences of indigenous communities correlates with the oceanographic measurements, and what adaptation measures are required to carry out a traditional way of life.

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