Differential Experiences of Climate Change: Local Knowledge and Perspectives of Severe Flooding in the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

In the context of rapid climate change, the frequency and magnitude of environmental hazards in Amazonia are continually increasing. This study seeks to understand the lived realities of environmental hazards in the Peruvian Amazon, and in particular flooding, and how experiences are shaped by differential positionalities. The study draws upon data from the Peruvian Amazon Rural Livelihoods and Poverty Project community survey (n=919) and household survey (n=3,941), as well as interview (n=24) and survey (n=25) data collected during fieldwork in Éxito, a riverine village in the Department of Ucayali, Peru. The research findings indicate that flooding experience is highly determined by intersecting lines of difference at the individual, household and village levels; that fishing occupies several related yet contested roles within the village; and that given the positive and negative implications identified of four key flood types, we need to reconsider how we define environmental hazard in the Amazonian context.