Herders’ Perspectives on pastoral systems in the face of changing climate in Karakoram Mountains of Northern Pakistan

Abstract Pastoralists in Karakorum Mountains are experiencing rapid climatic change, causing new challenges for the pastoral systems with negative impacts on livestock herding due to shrinking pastures, declining forage productivity, and varying weather patterns. We investigated perceptions of local pastoralists about climate change and its impact on pastoralism, by interviewing 135 households in the study area. We also assessed climatic changes using meteorological data acquired during 1984–2013. The results revealed that pastoralists in the study area perceive climate change and its negative impacts on herding patterns and pastoral livelihoods. The perceived impacts on the local climate were increasing temperature and unpredictable rainfalls with extreme events. The climatic data also showed increasing trends of temperature (mean annual increase of 0.042°C) and precipitation (mean annual increase of 1.42 mm) over 1984–2013. Local people adapt to climate stresses through their traditional and local experiences. The majority of the respondents used some traditional adaptation measures such as raising the different types of livestock, rotational use of pastures, changing traditional grazing patterns, changing herd composition, building new channels to pasture lands, changing feeding strategies to cope with climate change and its consequences. These responses are not enough to cope with such large variability in climate and its adverse impacts. A better adaptation mechanism can be promoted by integrating the traditional practices with science-based improved adaptation measures.