Climate Resilience through Community-led GI Framework in neglected Mountainous Ecosystems of Swat, Pakistan.

Mountainous regions that were safe zones are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate-induced stressors, like flooding, landslides, and ecosystem degradation. In this debate, Swat; the northern mountainous district in Pakistan is also not an exception, which is hit hard by the climatic shocks, leaving behind devastation. To cope with the problems, Nature-Based Green Infrastructure (NBGI) as a people-centred approach, has emerged as an ecosystem-based adaptation and mitigation strategy to enhance cities' resilience against ever-rising climatic hazards. NBGI planning proves to be a vital element, not only in strengthening social-ecological connections between urban rural and mountainous areas, but also promoting the establishment of a balanced equilibrium between human-centred and eco-centred activities, thereby fostering sustainable livelihoods. Although, NBGI solutions are widely applied generally in the city settings, however, its potential to address the climatic hazards in mountainous regions still remains underdeveloped. It is particularly true for the developing countries, including mountainous regions of Pakistan. This study addresses the dire need for context-specific, proactive, pragmatic and (most importantly) the participatory Urban Landscape and Urban Greening (UL-UG) policies and strategies (tailored to the local built environment) for resilient land-use planning, as well as frameworks, to protect the inhabitants and ecosystems in the Swat district — a high-altitude, climate-sensitive region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This research aims to determine and assemble sustainable green infrastructure (GI) planning indicators and their spatial functional linkages with the multifunctional green spaces (GS), based on the perspectives of local mountainous communities. It is to develop a sustainable GI indicator framework model under a community-led participatory (CLP) approach, best meshed with the mountainous region's built environment — makes it a unique and novel study.

The in-depth community-led survey was executed in Swat district, particularly targeting the climate effected regions across the Swat River. This empirical investigation was conducted through a self-administered questionnaire, themed around GI, resilience, and climate change adaptation, with 325 participants. The data is analysed using the Relative Importance Index (RII) and Interquartile Range (IQR) techniques, demonstrating strong internal reliability (Cronbach's α > or ≥ 0.7). The finding established potential twenty-two (primary and secondary) sustainable UGI indicators, classified into five levels: extremely important, important, moderately important, slightly important, and Low. Subsequently, a set of vital taxonomies of GS elements that achieved (RII value ≥ 0.68) were identified that strengthen the functional linkage and resilience of the respective UGI indicators when confronting environmental hazards in a mountainous region. The study concludes by advocating for a context-sensitive, community-driven UGI framework as a pathway toward an eco-friendly, climate-resilient mountainous community. This study also simulates results demonstrate the need for an inclusive perspective when building the nature-based adaptation and mitigation strategy (and standards) that will be most suitable for ensuring climate-resilient mountainous regions.

Key word: Sustainable green infrastructure (GI) indicators; green space (GS); mountain eco-system; resilience: community-led participatory (CLP) approach; climate change; Swat Pakistan