Public Lecture: How Do Pastoralist Communities Weather the Climate Crisis?

Date: 29 May 2025, Time: 18:00 - 19:30
Format:  online
Lecturer: Dr. Ayat Ullah, OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic
Registration link: here
Language: English

Zoom webinar link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84942455294
ID 849 4245 5294

Description

Pastoralism remains a vital livelihood system across the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), yet increasingly volatile climate patterns are transforming how pastoral communities engage with land, mobility, and survival. In these high-altitude landscapes, snow-driven hazards—avalanches, extreme cold, wildfires, floods, and erratic storms—are no longer anomalies but recurring threats that erode ecological stability and social cohesion. Understanding these changes through the lens of environmental security brings into focus the profound vulnerabilities faced by pastoralists, but it also risks simplifying complex socio-political realities into climate-induced symptoms. This study argues for a shift in discourse—from one that treats pastoralism as passive in the face of disaster to one that views it as an active site of adaptive knowledge, governance struggle, and resilience. As the HKH becomes a frontline of climate disruption, a pastoral security framework—rooted in equity, inclusion, and ecological integrity—offers a more just and grounded response to the unfolding crisis.

BIO

Dr. Ayat Ullah is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He specializes in environmental security, climate change, and natural resource management, with a regional focus on Central and South Asia. His research explores environmental sustainability, food security, migration, and rural development in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. He has published several peer-reviewed articles on nature conservation and community resilience. Currently, he is studying the mental health impacts of climate-related disasters in the HKH and Central Asia. His interdisciplinary work bridges behavioral sciences and environmental governance, contributing to both academic research and policy debates in the region.