We explored the proactive responses of local communities against locally experienced climate change impacts and anticipated threats. This study interviewed 124 rural households from three community forestry user groups representing three ecological regions of Nepal using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study used eight criteria to distinguish the proactive nature of adaptation. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze data, including the use of a chi-square (χ²) test to determine the proactive measures and their association with livelihood options and the ordered logistic regression model to explain determining factors of choosing proactive adaptations. The results indicate that 83.9% of households adapted both proactive and reactive measures, while 10.5% applied solely reactive adaptation and 5.6% were earmarked only for proactive adaptation measures. Over 50 different proactive adaptation measures were implemented by the households. The measures were significantly associated with agricultural diversification, cash crop cultivation, livestock raising, small-scale enterprise development, and disaster control. Socio-economic and spatial factors such as a household’s wellbeing, land holding size, geographical location, livelihood options, and the number of adaptation measures implemented by households were found to be decisive factors in choosing proactive adaptation. The study concludes that local people in Nepal are not only aware of escalating climate risks but also engage their cognition and knowledge proactively to adapt locally. The results suggest that even small proactive initiatives by households can offer multiple benefits against climate risks as an architect of individuals. Therefore, adopting a trans-disciplinary approach and nurturing local proactive actions in strategic connectivity between environmental, political, and societal functions is pivotal, which primarily takes a step to drive expediently successful climate change policy and strategy implementation. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into policy and strategy planning for the unsolicited consequences of climate change and highlight the importance of understanding the perspective of local communities in adaptation planning and implementation.

National climate change policy and strategies set out a framework for planning and undertaking climate change adaptation as well as mitigation activities at the national and local levels. In this article, we examine the coherence and contradictions between national policies and plans, and its impacts on the implementation of adaptation measures at the local level. We undertook a content review of key climate change policy documents (n = 4) of Nepal. In addition, we conducted a field study in the Rajdevi Community Forest User Group (CFUG) located in the mid-hills of Nepal, which has developed and implemented a community level adaptation plan of action (CAPA). The field study involved household interviews, focus group discussions, and an in-depth analysis of CAPA implementation. The paper found that while policies are coherent for targeting highly affected areas and communities, they deviate from discerning an appropriate planning and implanting unit. The local adaptation plan of action (LAPA) considers the local government as an implementing unit, while the national adaptation program of action (NAPA) puts an emphasis on the local community groups. It suggests that the existing LAPA implementation breaches the provision of community-level institutions for the implementation conceived in the central framework. Despite little attention to promoting food security in climate change policy, through the CAPA, local communities have planned and implemented adaptation measures envisioned in the thematic areas identified in the climate change policy of Nepal: agriculture and food security; forests and biodiversity; water resources and energy; climate-induced disasters; public health; and urban settlements and infrastructure. Nevertheless, the CAPA is not institutionalized under government policies and the institutional framework as a local level implementing unit. So, the consensus for a local implementing unit in the policies has remained a key issue. We suggest identifying a suitable and acceptable unit for implementing climate change adaptation at the community level. Only if an appropriate implementing unit is identified can the policies be successful with a broader acceptance and desirable outcomes enshrined in the climate change policy.

This study explored people’s perceptions of climate change by conducting interviews and focus-group discussions with local residents of three ecological regions of Nepal, i.e., mountain, midhills, and lowland. Climatic measurements from meteorological stations of the regions were acquired for the period from 1988 to 2018. We compared the people’s perception with trends and variabilities of observed temperature and rainfall patterns. The results showed that, over the last three decades, temperature and precipitation trends and variability between regions varied, largely corroborating the local experiences. The temperature increased in mountain, midhills, and lowland by 0.061°, 0.063°, and 0.017°C yr⁻¹, respectively. In contrast, rainfall decreased by −9.7, −3.6, and −0.04 mm yr⁻¹ for the regions, respectively. Although the amount of rainfall decrease observed in the mountain was highest, its variability was found to be relatively low, and vice versa in lowland. Approximately 88% of interviewees perceived temperature rise, and 74% noticed rainfall decline. Local residents linked these changes with their livelihood activities, as exemplified by, for example, crop’s quality and quantity and birds’ migration. The results indicate that local understandings complement the scarce observational data and provide a reliable and additional foundation to determine changes in climatic variables. Moreover, the result infers that small changes in climate variables have noticeable implications on human behavior change. Therefore, besides active participation of local communities, integrating local understanding is crucial in developing climate change–related policies and strategies at local and national levels.