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Download The VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN CANADA AND GUATEMALA: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL by Lorenzo Magzul B.A., University of Victoria, 1991 B.Sc., Royal Roads University, 1998 M.Sc., University of Victoria, 2004 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2013 © Lorenzo Magzul, 2013 ii Abstract The burning of fossil fuels and other human activities generating GHG are causing global warming. Global warming impacts such as droughts and floods are not uniform, and societies that are most vulnerable will be affected most. Indigenous communities are more vulnerable because they face more challenging socio-economic and environmental conditions compared to the dominant societies that surround them. However, some indigenous communities have developed strategies that enable them to adapt to climate change. Some of these adaptation strategies include the sustainable management of resources, diverse sources of income and the maintenance and reliance on social support systems–social capital. Some indigenous communities utilize networks of social support that allow them to influence their social, economic, political and environmental conditions. These networks of social support can also be utilized for the flow of information and to disseminate strategies that lead to collective action required to address the various stresses that they face. This study investigated the importance of social capital in adaptation to impacts of climate change. Two indigenous communities with different forms of livelihood: the Blood Tribe, in Canada, and the town of Patzún, in Guatemala were compared and contrasted. Understanding the role of social capital in adaptations to climate change impacts can provide adaptation insights to other indigenous communities and other vulnerable sectors. The change from a subsistence livelihood tends to reduce the social capital of these communities. In Canada, indigenous communities’ dependence on commercial activities and/or government support reflects the dramatic change from an earlier subsistence livelihood. In the highlands of Guatemala, most communities still maintain their subsistence livelihood, though it is increasingly being integrated into a market economy. The results of the investigation project show that the community of Patzún has more diverse livelihood strategies and stronger social capital compared to the Blood Tribe. The community of Patzún has a larger capacity, and therefore more options to adapt to climate change. This conclusion has implications for the current discussions on change and direction required to enhance the adaptive capacity of indigenous people and the factors that hinder their adaptation. iii Preface This dissertation evolved from my work as a research fellow for a Major Collaborative Research Initiative called Institutional Adaptations to Climate Change (IACC), funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The goal of the IACC project was to develop a comprehensive understanding of the capacities of institutions to formulate and implement strategies of adaptation to the expected climate change risks in two historically dry regions, the South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB), in Western Canada, and the Elqui River Basin (ERB) in Northern Chile. To achieve this goal, research teams conducted a series of research activities, including an assessment of the vulnerability of a group of rural communities to climate change. In the SSRB, six rural communities were selected for a vulnerability assessment –three in Alberta and three in Saskatchewan. The Blood Tribe community, in Southern Alberta, was one of the six communities chosen. As one of the research fellows for the IACC project, I conducted ethnographic work and the vulnerability assessment for the Blood Tribe. Following the initial ethnographic work and the analysis of the data, together with two other researchers working for the IACC project, Wittrock V. and Kulshreshtha S. K., conducted a more in-depth investigation and analysis of the impacts of the droughts and floods that had affected the Blood Tribe community. For this additional investigation, I organized a 5-day fieldwork in the Blood Tribe where together with Wittrock V. and Kulshreshtha S. K. were able to obtain further data that we then used for a report on the impacts of droughts and floods on the Blood Tribe. Some of the text and figures in Chapter Four and Chapter Five regarding the Blood Tribe community are versions published in Wittrock et al. (2008) Adapting to Impacts of Climatic Extremes: Case Study of the Kainai Blood Indian Reserve, Alberta, SRC Publication No. 11899- 6E08, of which I am an author. Also, portions of Chapter 5 regarding the Blood Tribe have been modified from, Magzul, L. (2009). The Blood Tribe: vulnerabilities and adaptation challenges to climate change impacts, in Prairie Forum 34. While conducting the research in the Blood Tribe and learning about their experience of climate change, I decided that for my dissertation I would conduct a similar research project in my own community, Patzun, in the highlands of Guatemala. Therefore, this dissertation is about the vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change of the Blood Tribe and Patzun and the role of social capital in adaptation. I was solely responsible for the ethnographic work and analysis of data collected in the community of Patzun. The University of British Columbia’s Behavioral Research Ethics Board [certificate #H05- 80428] approved the IACC project and associated methods, and, it also approved the project and associated methods for the investigations conducted in Patzun [certificate #H07-02524]. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ ii Preface ............................................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vii List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... x Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Scope, goals and objectives ................................................................................................. 10 1.2 Background .......................................................................................................................... 13 1.3 Thesis structure .................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter Two: Indigenous communities, vulnerability and climate change: social capital as a key determinant to mitigate vulnerability and enhance adaptation to climate change ......................... 18 2.1 Climate change .................................................................................................................... 19 2.2 Indigenous people ................................................................................................................ 22 2.3 Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change .................................................................. 28 2.4 Adaptive capacity and adaptation ........................................................................................ 36 2.5. Sustainable livelihoods ....................................................................................................... 39 2.6 Social capital and climate change ........................................................................................ 40 Chapter Three: Methodology......................................................................................................... 47 3.1 The vulnerability approach .................................................................................................. 47 3.2 Community selection and rationale ..................................................................................... 49 3.3 Research design and data collection methods ..................................................................... 53 3.4 Sampling strategy ................................................................................................................ 54 3.5 Data collection methods ...................................................................................................... 55 3.6 Interviews and focus groups ................................................................................................ 56 3.7 Data analysis .......................................................................................................................
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