Climate Change and Ecosystem Services: A Participatory Approach in a Brazilian Mountainous Region

Climate change is present in all sectors of global societies, causing various damages, including to agriculture. In this process, understanding the perception of the most affected population and including them in decision-making is a matter of social justice and a more assertive path. Aiming to obtain subsidies for better adaptation to climate change in family farming, this study established a methodology for evaluating the risks of climate change impacts on ecosystem services, related to water and food security, under the perception of rural actors in the mountainous region of the Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The methodology consisted of five steps, including the application of the questionnaire to 29 rural actors and ending with validation of the results in a focus group. The main results obtained were that the interviewees perceive the risks of the impacts of climate change in ES, both related to water and food security. Additionally, 24.14% of interviewees mentioned that their family has a monthly income below the Brazilian minimum wage, which exposes their food insecurity. In relation to water security, the risks classified as Very High were mainly in relation to low per capita investments in adaptation policies and infrastructure for environmental protection, between others. The use of many chemical inputs in agriculture also highlighted as a risk to water and food security. Regarding the methodology, it concluded that it was effective in obtaining the perception of the rural actors interviewed regarding the impacts of climate change on ecosystem services at a local scale.