Workshop on ‘Forest-based Communities and Climate Change Adaptation’

Date: 29-30 September 2010

Venue: Fireflies Intercultural Centre, Bangalore

Forests have a great impact on climate change. Land use changes affect the carbon cycle and this in turn causes climate change. Climate change impacts the growth and productivity of forests and affects the ecological services forests provide.

The current preoccupation in international policy discourses is on mitigation. Policy discourse often forgets that communities inhabit these eco-systems. This adds to the already existing pressures of displacement, land alienation, migration, and increasingly reduced community rights to land, water, and forest produce.

There is very little official discourse on how these communities need to adapt to the changing climate. Often treated as part of the problem, these communities are, in fact, part of the solution. But not enough attention is given to this dimension. Our understanding of the regional and micro impacts is inadequate. Whatever information is available on this is not accessible to the affected communities, not even to the civil society organisations involved with them.

It is in this context that we organise this workshop with the following objectives.

• Understand the impact of climate change on the livelihood, culture and identity of forest-based communities.
• Assess risks and indications of vulnerabilities
• Understand the capabilities of these communities to deal with the changing weather patterns and consequent effects on the local flora and fauna.
• Strategize methods to make accessible regional and micro climate change impacts data and information on the traditional and scientific adaptation practices to the affected communities and civil society organisations.
• Develop strategies to initiate policy level debates and negotiations on climate change adaptation at the local level.

The workshop is  organised by Pipal Tree, Bangalore.  The participants of this workshop will be from the affected communities, civil society organisations and the media.

The workshop will begin on 29^th September at 9:00 am and will end on 30^th September at 4:30 pm.

For more information, contact:

Pipal Tree
Fireflies Intercultural Centre
Dinnepalya, Kaggalipura P.O.
Bangalore – 82 India

Email: pipaltree.prog@gmail.com

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