Beyond the observation of climatic variations and their impact on livelihoods, farmers' knowledge about climate change? can help understand how rural populations respond to environmental changes and what factors should policies consider when planning rural adaptation. This study documents Sereer farmers' observations of local environmental changes in the Fatick region of Senegal and explores how the farmers use crop diversity to adapt to those changes. Their observations of environmental changes were documented through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Variations in crop diversity as well as farmers' explanations for these variations were assessed through surveys in two villages (n=126 households). Sereer farmers identify four distinct periods of similar climate trends and reported how they managed crop diversity in response to the climate variations between periods. Three management responses stand out: abandonment of long-cycle varieties during drought periods, adoption of short-cycle varieties during periods with shorter rainy seasons, and reinstating of long-cycle varieties with the return of rains. Sereer farmers consider that climate variations are important reasons to modify their crop varieties, although variety selection is also affected by other socio-economic and cultural reasons. This study illustrates the contributions that local knowledge can bring to understanding the local impact of climate change on smallholder farmers. Understanding how they use crop diversity to adapt to climate variations can be the bases of climate change adaptation policies that address local needs and constraints.

The fast and widespread environmental changes that have intensified in the last decades are bringing disproportionate impacts to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Changes that affect water resources are particularly relevant for subsistence-based peoples, many of whom already suffer from constraints regarding reliable access to safe water. Particularly in areas where water is scarce, climate change is expected to amplify existing stresses in water availability, which are also exacerbated by multiple socioeconomic drivers. In this paper, we look into the local perceptions of environmental change expressed by the Daasanach people of northern Kenya, where the impacts of climate change overlap with those brought by large infrastructure projects recently established in the Omo River. We show that the Daasanach have rich and detailed understanding of changes in their environment, especially in relation to water resources. Daasanach understand observations of change in different elements of the social-ecological system as an outcome of complex interactions between climatic and non-climatic drivers of change. Our findings highlight the perceived synergistic effects of climate change and infrastructure projects in water resources, driving multiple and cascading impacts on biophysical elements and local livelihoods. Our results also demonstrate the potential of Local Ecological Knowledge in enhancing the understanding of complex social-ecological issues, such as the impacts of environmental change in local communities. To minimize and mitigate the social-ecological impacts of development projects, it is essential to consider potential synergies between climatic and socioeconomic factors and to ensure inclusive governance rooted in local understandings of environmental change.

In Amazonia, changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme climate events are occurring and expected to intensify, affecting food security with subsequent social and political problems. We conducted semi-structured interviews in communities of the mid-Solimões River basin (Amazonas, Brazil). Our questions were designed to construct seasonal calendars with residents () to understand climatic patterns and changes in livelihood activities, how traditional management is affected by extreme floods and droughts, and to identify their adaptation strategies in new climatic contexts. We studied three floodplain (, n = 59 households) and three paleo-floodplain communities, situated 1-3 m higher than the floodplain (, n = 42 households). We show that these local communities have detailed knowledge of climate patterns and changes, and that they recognize that climatic unpredictability hinders effective planning of subsistence activities, because their local knowledge is no longer fully reliable. Extreme climate events have consequences for their farming systems and associated agrobiodiversity, varying according to the degree of exposure of different environments to extreme events. During extreme events intensify adaptation strategies, such as avoiding stress to fruit-tree root systems, prioritizing plants that survive flooding and working in less affected landscapes. Adaptation practices with long histories tend to occur more often in floodplains, and two adaptation practices were specific to floodplains. The impacts of extreme events on local communities are expected to increase, especially in environments more exposed to floods. Local residents suggest the documentation and sharing of adaptation strategies as a way to increase their resilience.

Childhood is an extensive life period specific to the human species and a key stage for development. Considering the importance of childhood for cultural transmission, we test the existence of a 'children's culture', or child-specific knowledge and practices not necessarily shared with adults, among the Baka in Southeast Cameroon. Using structured questionnaires, we collected data among 69 children and 175 adults to assess the ability to name, identify, and conceptualize animals and wild edibles. We found that some of the ecological knowledge related to little mammals and birds reported by Baka children was not reported by adults. We also found similarities between children's and adult's knowledge, both regarding the content of knowledge and how knowledge is distributed. Thus, middle childhood children hold similar knowledge than adults, especially related to wild edibles. Moreover, as children age, they start shedding child-specific knowledge and holding more adult's knowledge. Additionally and echoing the gendered knowledge distribution present in adulthood, since middle childhood there are differences in the knowledge hold by boys and girls. We discuss our results highlighting the existence of specific ecological knowledge held by Baka children, the overlap between children's and adults' knowledge, and the changes in children's ecological knowledge as they move into adulthood.

Zootherapy is the treatment of human ailments with remedies derived from animals and their products. Despite its prevalence in traditional medical practices worldwide, research on this phenomenon has often been neglected in comparison to medicinal plant research. Interviews regarding zootherapeutic traditions were conducted with informants from Albania, Italy, Nepal and Spain. We identified 80 species used in zootherapeutic remedies, representing 4 phyla in the animal kingdom: Annelida, Arthropoda, Chordata, and Mollusca. Remedies were ranked by consensus indices. Our studies show that the selection of medicinal fauna is mediated by human subsistence patterns. Concepts of health and disease differ among our study sites in the Mediterranean and Asia, and these differences also play a substantive role in the selection and use of animal-based remedies.