Resilience to climate stresses in South India: Conservation responses and exploitative reactions

Abstract

The chapter presents three case studies on resilience initiatives adopted by communities in response to water scarcity and severe floods exacerbated by climate change in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The post-flood management strategies undertaken by farmer collectives supported by a strong presence of the state resulted in sustainable outcomes. On the contrary, the resilience mechanisms to adapt to water scarcity have proved to be environmentally unsustainable and socially undesirable resulting in resource depletion and loss of social welfare. The participation of state and collective action was absent in the latter case. The study reiterates the importance of cohesive action from the government and local communities to generate sustainable community resilience programmes.