Sarah J. Halvorson

Water Management in the Indus Basin of Pakistan: A Half-century Perspective

This paper surveys the past half-century of water management experiments and experience in the Indus River basin in Pakistan as a way to identify principles for long-term water planning. The survey focuses on three variables: (1) spatial scales of water management; (2) geographic regions of water management; and (3) substantive water problems. These variables help assess changes during the post-colonial transition (1947-60); Indus basin development (1960-75); and management and environmental movements (1975-2000). Taken together, these periods point toward a model of Articulated Adaptive Management, which stresses planning for economic, political and environmental crises; dynamic changes in governance; multiple scales of water management; regional diversity and innovation; and broader scientific experimentation and monitoring of water management alternatives .

Vulnerability and the Erosion of Seismic Culture in Mountainous Central Asia

Abstract Vulnerability to earthquake disasters in mountainous regions frequently escapes investigation and analysis. The tragic and costly earthquake disasters that have recently occurred in Central Asia have spurred important spurred important questions among local, regional, and international policymakers, scientists, and social activists regarding the root causes of earthquake vulnerability. Drawing on an analysis of recent earthquake disasters in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, this article explores the concept of “seismic culture” (Degg and Homan 2005) in relation to vulnerability. Specifically, it argues that diminishing levels of indigenous hazard knowledge, demographic shifts, gendered livelihood transformations, and the lack of public access to science-based earthquake information have contributed to overall low levels of seismic cultures of prevention in the region. A major finding of the study points to the particular role of women in helping to redress the erosion of seismic culture, thereby bolstering local resilience, earthquake preparedness, and disaster risk reduction.

Introduction: Global perspectives on gender-water geographies

This introduction summarizes the work featured in the themed section of Gender, Place and Culture titled ‘Global geographies of gender and water’. It brings into dialogue scholars investigating a variety of gender–water relationships at different scales, including: poisoned waterscapes; fishing practices; and the implications of neoliberal water policies. The authors featured purposefully engage with the multi-faceted ways in which experiences, discourses and policies of water are gendered, and how gender is created through processes of access, use and control of water resources. In bringing these articles together, we have consciously aimed to support inclusive, feminist collaborative work and to prioritize diversity.

Water quality and waterborne disease in the Niger River Inland Delta, Mali: a study of local knowledge and response.

This paper presents the findings of a study to assess patterns in local knowledge of and response to water quality and waterborne diseases in relation to seasonal changes in the Niger River Inland Delta. The study draws on field data collected in four villages along the Niger River in the Mopti region of Mali during September 2008. The major findings suggest: (1) water use behaviors and diarrheal disease management are influenced by the tremendous seasonal fluctuations in the riverine environment; (2) local awareness of the relationship between poor water quality, oral-fecal disease transmission, and waterborne disease is low; (3) interventions to mitigate the high incidence of childhood diarrhea and degraded water quality are limited by ongoing socio-economic, cultural, and environmental factors; and (4) womens level of health knowledge is socially and culturally dependent.

The 2005 Kashmir Earthquake: A Perspective on Women's Experiences

Abstract The 2005 Kashmir Earthquake is illustrative of the intensity and scope associated with catastrophic earthquake disasters in mountainous regions. The experience of the immediate aftermath, relief and recovery, and community reconstruction underscores how this event impacted mountain women, particularly in their roles in rescue and relief efforts and in rebuilding households and communities. A situational analysis was undertaken in order to document and make recommendations for the significant challenges and concerns facing women earthquake survivors in 3 of the valleys most proximate to the epicenter. Earthquake planning and mitigation strategies in northern Pakistan and elsewhere need to focus on reducing womens vulnerability and increasing their resilience, while fostering feasible interventions to reduce disaster risk across the population. We propose that the main elements should include pre-disaster vulnerability assessments; the support of womens access to resources and science-based earthquake education; active roles for women in relief, rehabilitation, and rebuilding efforts; and gender training among all disaster relief and emergency services.

Wildfire Research in an Environmental Hazards Course: An Active Learning Approach

Creating opportunities for students to actively apply hazards theory to real-life situations is often a challenge in hazards geography courses. This article presents a project, the Jocko Lakes Fire Project, that implemented learning strategies to encourage students to be active in wildfire hazards research. Wildfire hazards stand out as an increasing threat to communities in forested areas given current and projected rates of urbanization, the growing concentration of wealth in hazard-prone areas, the increasing costs of forest wildfire reduction, and climate change. Components of the project involved students in problem definition and the articulation of a research plan; identifying and collecting relevant data; and analyzing and documenting the wildfire hazard event. The student-based evaluation of the project and its outcomes highlights the ways in which this approach can increase understanding of local hazard scenarios, familiarity with relevant theory, geographical knowledge, and skills in research.

Collecting Ophiocordyceps sinensis: an emerging livelihood strategy in the Garhwal, Indian Himalaya

In the Garhwal of Uttarakhand, India, the Bhotiya, an ethnically and culturally distinct tribal group, were historically engaged in seasonal migration (i.e. transhumance) to take advantage of scarce mountain resources and trade relations with Tibet. This livelihood practice has all but disappeared. Households are adapting to these changing circumstances by engaging in the collection and sale of the valuable alpine medicinal fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis, widely known as Cordyceps. The collection of this fungus has exploded, emerging as a lucrative yet high-risk livelihood strategy for many Bhotiya communities. The Bhotiyas’ historic herding and trade-based interactions and knowledge of these alpine environments where Cordyceps are found uniquely positions them to access this valuable biological resource. Elsewhere in the Himalayan region, some households are earning as much as two-thirds of their income from the collection of Cordyceps; in China Cordyceps is now listed as an endangered species due to intense over-exploitation in the Tibetan Plateau. This paper seeks to fill the void in the scientific literature on the social, ecological and economic aspects of the emerging Cordyceps trade in the Garhwal. Our study investigates the socio-spatial dimensions of Cordyceps collection in the high alpine meadows. We document how a fusion of local knowledge and practice with alpine mountain systems has served to reinvigorate the economic integrity of mountain communities at a time of rapid socio-economic change and to reimagine a new relationship between alpine resources and community well-being. The article offers suggestions to address the sustainability of both Cordyceps collection and livelihood activities which hinge on this fungus population. We find a need for (1) community-based conservation measures that are rooted in (2) secure resource access rights for local communities to continue sustainable collection and sale of Cordyceps and (3) participatory-and science-based processes for determining appropriate local collection numbers.

Earthquake Emergency Education in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

We developed a middle school earthquake science and hazards curriculum to promote earthquake awareness to students in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan. These materials include pre- and post-assessment activities, six science activities describing physical processes related to earthquakes, five activities on earthquake hazards and mitigation strategies, and a codification art/literacy project. This curriculum was implemented with 43 middle school students in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in the winter of 2008. We examine the effectiveness of each curriculum component in communicating the causes, effects, and mitigation strategies associated with earthquakes to young people, and find significant improvements in seismic and earthquake hazards literacy as a result of the program.