Coping with Climate Change by Using Indigenous Knowledge of Ethnic Communities from in and around Lawachara National Park of Bangladesh

Abstract Climate change is considered to be one of the most serious threats and its impact is felt by the most vulnerable world’spoorest countries including Bangladesh. In particular, ethnic communities, whose livelihoods depend on the use of natural resources, are likely to bear the brunt of adverse impacts. A case study was conducted in a fragile ecosystem of Lawachara national park of Bangladesh, to know the indigenous knowledge of the ethnic communities, how they adapt with the climate change impact by using indigenous knowledge. They use various IK to protect their crops from climate change impact. Thus, government should design policies which will be helpful to make them more resilience to face climate change impact.Key Words: adaptation, indigenous knowledge, climate change, ethnic communities, Bangladesh Received: February 22, 2013. Revised: July 12, 2013. Accepted: July 22, 2013.Corresponding author: Sayma AkhterSchool of Environment, Natural resources and Geography, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, United KingdomTel: 447448830982, Fax: 447448830982, E-mail: sayma_sust@yahoo.com