Perceptions of Earthquake Risks and Climate Change: A Case Study of Dho Tarap, Dolpo in the Mountain Region of Nepal

Increasingly, there is an onus on incorporating indigenous perspectives in research, especially in relation to climate change and disasters. This paper aims to add to this discussion through a novel approach by comparing perceptions of climate change risks against seismic hazard risk in the mountain regions of Nepal. A case study was done in Dho Tarap Valley, situated at 4080m where two larger village clusters out of three were surveyed for data collection. In total, 204 out of 220 households were surveyed through total sampling. In addition, interviews of four relevant stakeholders (a monk, a local government representative, a local leader, and an academic) were carried out through snowball sampling.

According to results, Dho Tarap is a homogenous, Buddhist (100%) society where the primary profession is agriculture (86%) and where lack of formal education (77%) is the norm. The locals perceive that, in the last 10-20 years, the temperature has increased (81%) and there is less snow now than before (97%). But changes in rain patterns were less conclusive. Most locals did not understand what climate change meant (72%) and have done ‘nothing’ if not for ‘prayers’ to address observed changes in weather patterns. In contrast, locals were knowledgeable about earthquakes, and 56% of the population considered themselves to be aware of earthquake risks. Additionally, 54% of the population did not believe that Dho Tarap is exposed to future seismic risks. The indigenous population considered earthquakes as a hazard risk whereas changes in weather patterns were not associated with climatic hazards but mostly attributed to local human activities. These results shed light into indigenous views of climate change and natural hazards. This difference in perception on earthquake risks and climate change risks highlights the necessity to cater disaster management strategies that considers local perceptions of risks.