Natural resource-dependent communities in the Himalayan region are highly vulnerable to changes in environmental conditions due to regional climate variability. Therefore, a detailed analysis is required on geomorphology, land use, climate, and cryosphere changes to associate natural resources with the livelihood of local people. Therefore for the study purpose highly natural resource-dependent communities of two watersheds (Urgos and Biling) have been selected in the Lahaul region of North-Western Himalaya. One is near to district headquarter (Biling), and the other away from the district headquarter (Urgos) in Lahaul and Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh, India. In this study, various datasets were used from different sources i.e. remotely sensed data, socio-economic data, and field data to analyse the climatic and cryospheric fluctuation, geomorphology, people perception, and adaptation in the Urgos and Biling Watersheds. The high and medium resolution satellite images were used to assess glacier frontal area change from 1965 to 2016 for the Menthosa glacier, and 1975 to 2017 for the Gangstang glacier. The glacier depth and thickness measurements of the Menthosa and Gangstang glaciers were calculated using remote sensing methods. The calculated thickness of the Menthosa glacier was verified with Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) profiles.
As a final point, the present study aims to investigate the scientific and indigenous knowledge of climate and cryosphere changes and its impact on rural livelihood. Thus this study attempts to understand, its impact on agriculture, people perception, livelihood pattern, and the adaptive strategies taken by the inhabitants. Therefore quantitative techniques were used to compute livelihood vulnerability index to climate and cryosphere change at the study area. The study result indicates that people living in the Urgos watershed (with an average score of 0.43) are more vulnerable relative to Biling watershed (average score of 0.29).
Mots clés : Temporal changes|GPR|community perception|Livelihood vulnerability index|Lahaul Himalaya
A104896PS