Community members in the Tsholotsho District, Zimbabwe (an area subject to frequent devastating floods) predicted flooding based on observations of clouds, new leaf growth on trees, and bird behavior (Dube and Munsaka 2018). In the Gandak River Basin, India, community members interpreted observations of ant activity, fish behavior, river levels, water color, rainfall, wind direction, and the orientation of rain-related star constellations to forecast floods (Acharya and Prakash 2019). Local knowledge can provide rich detail on hydrological processes, flooding, and weather-related hazards. Knowledge integration has the benefit of providing detailed contextual understandings alongside the systematic rigor of quantitative methods (Mendoza and Prabhu 2005). Knowledge integration is thought to aid in reducing risks associated with sustaining livelihoods during periods of rapid environmental change, and in management of complexity and uncertainty (Folke et al. Consideration of different forms of knowledge combines rich local experiences with broader understanding of the global context. ( 2018) reported an integrated approach to vulnerability assessment that drew on community members’ knowledge and scientific modeling to identify climate-related threats and vulnerabilities, in order to co-design an effective climate change adaptation plan. In the lower Mekong Basin, Gustafson et al. 2014), and climate change adaptation (Ceccato et al. 2014), weather forecasting (Kniveton et al. Examples of integrating multiple knowledges are found across river and floodplain management (Hillman 2009), community-based forest management (Mendoza and Prabhu 2005), spatial planning (McCall and Dunn 2012), disaster risk reduction (DRR) (Mercer et al. Research on the integration of local knowledge and scientific perspectives in natural resource management has become more common since the turn of the millennium (Bohensky and Maru 2011). In this article, we draw on both sets of benefits to demonstrate the potential for knowledge integration in adaptation planning through a case study from a flood-prone region in Cambodia that is also experiencing more frequent and severe droughts. The second is that the process of integrating local and scientific knowledge Footnote 1 through progressive discussion, evaluation, and scenario development can be an effective way of co-learning and building consensus to appropriately inform management strategies with a greater likelihood of uptake and community support (Reed et al. The first is that locations outside of major cities are often “data-poor” (from a scientific perspective), with incomplete information on the spatial and temporal dynamics of environmental hazards, but may be “knowledge-rich” in terms of local, place-based observation and lived experience. In developing hazard management and adaptation strategies, there are two primary advantages of integrating local understandings with scientific data. People living in multi-hazard environments are ideally placed to develop detailed local knowledge of the spatial extent and temporal dynamics of the hazards that affect their livelihoods. We discuss potential applications of our findings for adaptation and hazard planning. Seasonal calendars of weather patterns and livelihood activities, together with local indicators of flooding, rainfall, and drought were compared with trends in 35 years of rainfall data, and highlighted “pressure points” at the beginning and end of the rainy season where agriculture may be particularly impacted by climate change. Participatory hazard mapping of community members’ knowledge of the movement of floodwaters through the landscape enabled interpretation of flood extent mapping using Synthetic Aperture Radar images from the Sentinel-1A satellite. We present a multi-method approach to understand how local knowledge of the spatial and temporal patterns of floods, droughts, and rainfall can be integrated with scientific information along a flood-prone section of the lower Mekong River in Kratie Province, Cambodia. Rapid environmental change in the Mekong Basin presents a new set of challenges related to drought, altered seasonal rainfall, more frequent high-flow flood events, and water withdrawals for hydropower and irrigation. Communities along the Mekong River have adapted to variability in temperature, rainfall, and flooding patterns over time. ![]() Integrating local knowledge and scientific information can aid in co-developing locally relevant approaches for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
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