Figure 3 . Visual contextualization of the villages of Savnob
and Roshorv, located within the Bartang Valley of Tajikistan (Kassam et
al., 2021).
Historically, these villages utilized ecological calendars to anticipate
variation of their local environment. Key livelihood activities
commenced in response to biophysical cues critical to their survival.
This included listening for the call of an arriving migratory bird to
initiate plowing in the spring or watching for the blossoming of a
flower instructing herders to drive their livestock to summer pastures.
In following these ecological signs, rather than the rigid structure of
the Gregorian calendar, the likelihood of a successful harvest
increased. This method of tracking the passing of time was paired with
another traditional ecological calendar: the Calendar of the Human Body.
Key to the foundation of Indigenous knowledge, is the element of
performative action. This is revealed in the Calendar of the Human Body
as it tracks the passing of time through the body in accordance with the
changes occurring in the habitat, not only linking the human to the
ecology but also to agricultural activities. It is an embodied
expression of the passing of time, a way of being (Kassam et al., 2018).
However, the prevalence and use of their ecological calendars has
diminished largely as a result of colonization and war.
Efforts to revitalize Indigenous
and rural communities’ ecological calendars are currently underway to
test their efficacy and role in building anticipatory capacity to
anthropogenic climate change. In particular, as the villagers in the
Bartang Valley are among the most vulnerable to extreme weather events,
their historical ecological calendars have been updated to reflect how
animal and plant behavior continues to inform their perception of
seasons (Kassam, 2021). Thus far, the revitalization of ecological
calendars has been framed as an adaptation approach where one would be
responding to the environment’s undergoing transformations to diminish
the impact. However, this also includes a component of mitigation
through the importance of foresight. One cannot completely predict the
impacts of the climate crisis, but it can be anticipated. The strategy
to develop anticipatory capacity is therefore concurrently reacting to
the altered climatic state and preparing to minimize the damaging
effects of anticipated biophysical events.
The reconceptualization of a fluid third space recognizes that a
response holds characteristics of adaptation and mitigation, yet it is
non-binary. For instance, despite hardships and challenging conditions
the villagers of the Bartang Valley exhibit agency through their
experimentation and modifications to farming practices in accordance
with cycles of their local environment. To survive and respond to the
climate crisis, the local food system is undergoing adaptation that
includes an element of foresight. Warming temperatures are increasing
the length of the growing season at high elevations. In other words, not
only is the period of crop productivity extended, but the altitudinal
range over which crops can be planted has also increased. Farmers
responded to the warming temperatures by attempting to grow wheat at
higher elevations. Given frost damage is no longer a significant concern
relative to the recent past, their attempts were successful. Villagers
recalled that within three generations, a transition occurred from
barley to wheat. This coincided with records comparing the upper
elevational limit for wheat to have risen by 150 meters from 1893 to
1916 in the Pamirs (Kassam, 2009b). This behavior counters the narrative
that Indigenous communities lack the intellectual infrastructure to
apply their knowledge systems to implement adaptation-related actions.
Unfortunately, there are physical limits to arable land at high
elevations, but their actions demonstrate a capacity to observe and act.
Not only is this an alternative, context specific form of strategic
action to the climate crisis, but it is already built into the fabric of
their culture.
Farmers are responding to ecological signs and adjusting their sowing
and harvesting behavior accordingly. This does not take place over one
season, rather it is a long-term experimental process that is also
contingent on preparations for upcoming seasons. This foresight is
within an effort to proactively work towards mitigating food insecurity
caused by the climate crisis. The majority of actions taken by the
community members are aimed at mitigating food insecurity. This includes
food for their families as well as having enough fodder to support their
livestock. It also extends to observing cues in the environment
regarding the most opportune hunting and gathering times. In all the
above-mentioned scenarios, the risk is high, but failure to act has
perilous consequences. Responding to the new conditions and anticipating
the next season is a matter of survival.
The community members’ effort to revitalize their ecological calendars
is a form of mitigation in itself. Not only in addressing their food
insecurity, but they are also proactively working to prevent the causes
of the climate crisis. In an effort to stay in tune with their
environment and limited resources, they are relying on appropriate
agropastoral approaches such as preparing the land with an ox and plow
which proportionally emit less greenhouse gasses. By keeping their
small-scale subsistence farming techniques in sync with the rhythms of
the land, community members are not expanding nor implementing practices
that could otherwise be emitting increased levels of greenhouse gasses.
Furthermore, these ecological calendars are alive. They organically
evolved through an intense web of human-environmental relationships.
Historically, they were updated over multiple generations of Indigenous
peoples – each current cohort building on and adjusting the vast
knowledge of the previous. Therefore, the calendars continue to hold
promise and relevance for maintaining anticipatory capacity to changing
environmental conditions. This process of improving accuracy and
adjusting the calendars overtime is a form of mitigation as efforts are
preventing the calendars from becoming outdated or calcified. To put it
succinctly, by updating the ecological calendars overtime, it is
possible to envision sustainable futures.
4 The Bigger Picture: Universality and Next Steps
Viewing the adaptation-mitigation binary as a continuum opens-up
possibilities for considering optimal solutions based on local
ontological practice. Such an approach is applicable to various
ecological and sociocultural contexts. While our example pertains
directly to the smallholder farmers in the Bartang Valley, it has
significant implications for food security worldwide. This has direct
global relevance as 70-80% of the world’s food system is dependent on
production by small landholders and herders (FAO, 2014; Lowder et al.,
2016). The continuum’s qualities are simultaneously particular to a
specific context and universal to human behavior demonstrating the
relevance and necessity of Indigenous knowledge. Actions taken in the
continuum apply across time horizons, addressing the short- and
long-term impacts of climate change. This methodology, grounded within
the local context, provides tangible hope for future possibilities and
survival.
The villagers’ way of life occurs within the adaptation-mitigation
continuum, revealing the dichotomy between adaptation and mitigation may
no longer be useful. The ontological process of engaging the fluid third
space necessitates being mindful of the particular environment in which
one resides. Savnob’s and Roshorv’s ecological calendars are context
specific. As a result, each calendar reflects the unique diversity of
life and knowledge generated in the villages respectively. This includes
the interconnectedness between their habitat and livelihood activities,
illustrating that cumulative Indigenous knowledge remains relevant
through day-to-day action. The continuum features anticipatory capacity,
the ability to envision sustainable futures under conditions of
anthropogenic climate change, a central element of living ecological
calendars. These calendars reveal how Indigenous communities are
simultaneously responding to the impacts of climate change while working
to mitigate the crisis. This third fluid space, the expanse within the
adaptation-mitigation continuum, not only emphasizes the connection
between the social and the ecological, but it also speaks to human
agency and action.
Acknowledgments
There are no real or perceived financial conflicts of interests for any
author.
International funding for research in the Pamir Mountains of Central
Asia was provided by the “Mountains as Sentinels of Change -
Collaborative Research Belmont Forum: Ecological Calendars and Climate
Adaptation in the Pamirs (ECCAP)” Project, supported by the National
Science Foundation (NSF, Award Number 1630490), the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, Award Number SA 775/12-1) and the Italian
National Research Council (CNR, Award Number B51J11000840001).
The insights revealed through this reflective essay are possible because
of the contributions and generosity of the leadership and community
members from the villagers of Roshorv and Savnob, in the Bartang Valley
of GornoBadakhshan Autonomous Oblast, Tajikistan. We are grateful for
the suggestions and comments of the reviewers and managing editor.