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This study assesses the causes of forest resource depletion in the Poba reserve forest, Assam, India
. Although many activities, such as hunting and grazing, are banned, the Poba reserve forest is being degraded. The results of a household survey show local communities have experienced a decrease in forest resources in 2012 compared to 2002. Lack of community-based institutions and proper forest management plan has opened access to the forest, resulting in illegal logging and over extraction of forest products. These activities have limited the ability of Poba reserve forest to deliver ecosystem goods and services, and prevented forest restoration. Change is forest cover and availability of forest products has adversely affected the livelihoods of more than two-thirds of local households. The study suggests that participatory involvement of local communities in forest management can reverse trends in deforestation and forest degradation and restore the ecosystem. The forest cannot stand alone; it needs active support of the local community
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This paper examines the role of financial remittances on the adaptive capacity of households in flood-affected rural communities of Upper Assam in India
. Findings reveal that remittances-receiving households are likely to have better access to formal financial institutions, insurance and communication devices than nonrecipient households. This study indicates that the duration for which remittances are received by a household has a significant and positive association with structural changes made by the household to address flood impacts, farm mechanization, the household’s access to borrowing, and participation in collective action on flood relief, recovery and preparedness. The adaptation potential of remittances of remittances can be realized if policy attention is given to attempts to enable gains in financial capital to be translated to gains in other types of capital and how the social element of remittances can be used to boost social capital. For example, by facilitating an increase in financial literacy and skills training, particularly among the poorer households in areas likely to be affected by the impacts of climate change and variability
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Recent advances on power, politics, and pathways in climate change adaptation aim to re-frame decision-making processes from development-as-usual to openings for transformational adaptation
. This paper offers empirical insights regarding decision-making politics in the context of collective learning through participatory scenario building and flexible flood management and planning in the Eastern Brahmaputra Basin of Assam, India. By foregrounding intergroup and intragroup power dynamics in such collective learning spaces and how they intersect with existing micropolitics of adaptation on the ground, we examine opportunities for and limitations to challenging entrenched authority and subjectivities. Our results suggest that emancipatory agency can indeed emerge but is likely to be fluid and multifaceted. Community actors who are best positioned to resist higher-level domination may well be imbricated in oppression at home. While participatory co-learning as embraced here might open some spaces for transformation, others close down or remain shut
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Floods are the most common water-induced hazard in the Hindu Kush Himalayas and have seriously affected the lives and livelihoods of many people, especially those living in the Brahmaputra and Koshi river basins
. Government efforts to protect people from flood waters and mitigate the impacts of flood have largely consisted of structural measures like embankments; however, these have met with mixed success. When properly maintained, flood embankments can protect communities from flooding and enable them to sustain agricultural activities. However, the failure of embankments, often due to poor maintenance can result in devastating floods. This publication explores the governance of flood mitigation infrastructure in parts of India and Nepal. It also covers the traditional coping and adaptation strategies of local communities to deal with floods, which are being increasingly challenged due to the changing nature of floods and other water hazards attributed largely to climate change
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