Understanding indigenous people's perception on climate change and climatic hazards : a case study of Chakma indigenous communities in Rangamati Sadar Upazila of Rangamati district, Bangladesh

This study explores the relationship between perception on climate change as well as climatic hazards and socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, occupation, exposure to mass media, amount of land, education, and income. Following simple random sampling technique, a total of 384 households were sampled from Rangamati Sadar Upazila of Bangladesh and were interviewed through a predesigned semistructured questionnaire. The findings of the study reveal that a substantial number of respondents (61 %) perceive that climate is changing moderately over the years. The bivariate results indicate that age, gender, education, occupation, income, amount of land, and access to mass media are significantly associated with perception on climate change as well as climatic hazards. In addition, age, education, and exposure to mass media are also found as significant predictors of climate change perception. Education has been found as the single best predictor.