Ecological Calendars for Climate Change Adaptation in Sary Mogol, Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Ecological calendars have been used by communities in various contexts for timing agricultural and cultural events as well as for grounding them in place. While these calendars are fluid and adaptable by nature, outside forces have caused many of them to be diminished in their usability. In Sary Mogol, a community located in the Pamir-Alai Mountain Range in Kyrgyzstan, these forces have taken the form of Soviet era restructuring and collectivization, resulting in discontinuity of knowledge transfer. Climate change is an additional pressure on this community which relies heavily on pastoralism and crop production. This thesis takes a holistic approach in addressing the question of if the revitalization of ecological calendars can assist communities facing the pressures of climate change, through the synthesis of an ecological calendar of Sary Mogol and an analysis of the influence of the nearby coal mine and other pressures.