Evaluation on livelihood vulnerability to climate change on people inhabiting in U Minh Ha National Park Buffer Zone

Abstract

This research aims to evaluate climate change effects on livelihoods of residents living in the buffer zones surrounding U Minh Ha National Park, specifically in Vo Doi Hamlet, Tran Hoi Village, Tran Van Thoi Town. The research data is collected from 65 households living and working in the study area by semi-structured interview (SSI). This research applied the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) established by Hahn and his associates in 2009 which illustrated that the inhabitants of the mentioned area are considerably affected by climate change. The results of this study demonstrated that the LVI values decreased following the elements of social networks (M4), food and finance (M5), livelihood strategies (M2), natural disasters and climate change (M7), household characteristics (M1), water sources (M6) and health (M3) at the values of 0.538, 0.422, 0.420, 0.327, 0.309, 0.197 and 0.105 respectively. The total value of the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) of the residential community in Vo Doi hamlet is high: 0.333. However, thanks to the local government's well-implemented climate change education and communication, policy support, and the flexible adaptation to climate change of the people living here, the negative impacts of climate change have been significantly reduced.