Canadian Forest Service Publications
Assessing community vulnerability: a study of the mountain pine beetle outbreak in British Columbia, Canada. 2007. Parkins, J.R.; MacKendrick, N.A. Global Environmental Change 17(3-4): 460-471.
Year: 2007
Issued by: Northern Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 27438
Language: English
Availability: Order paper copy (free), PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2007.01.003
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Abstract
Arguing that community-based assessments of vulnerability to climate change are congruent with the scale at which policy action takes place, this paper presents an assessment of vulnerability conducted in forest-based communities surrounded by a catastrophic outbreak of forest disease. Our assessment includes measures of several dimensions of vulnerability, developed using an interdisciplinary and participatory research process. We find that for some communities vulnerability represents a high level of economic risk, while for others risk is exacerbated by institutional limitations. We also find that community perceptions of risk and bio-physical assessments differ widely for communities anticipating future outbreaks of disease.