Rural households’ perception on forest resource utilization during climatic adversities in garhwal Himalaya

The present study was carried out to assess the utilization of forest resources by rural households during climatic adversities by evaluating perception of villagers of Garhwal Himalaya. Primary data was collected from 123 randomly selected households using semi-structured questionnaire on basic household's attributes and prevailing climatic adversities. The climatic adversities reported by households in the study region were erratic rainfall, crop loss by climatic factor, landslide, flood, drought and cloudburst. The result of the study revealed that use of forest resources was the most common activity carried out by the households to overcome the adversities due to climate. Thus the study suggests necessity for more empirical assessment to acquire better understanding regarding climatic adversities and their possible mitigation. The study findings will be helpful in development of mechanisms to overcome adversities and thereby will assist in minimizing rural households as well as community vulnerability against climatic adversities.