Agricultural terraces of Dagestan: ancient legacy for climate change adaptation and building resilience of mountain communities

In agricultural mountain regions, changes in weather patterns force people to look for new agricultural activities, shift from agriculture to tourism services, or even leave the mountains. This study discusses the role of Dagestan’s agricultural terraces as a potential resource for mountain people to adapt agricultural activities to climate change, thereby demonstrating the community resilience grounded on local traditional practices. We selected eight mountainous administrative districts of Dagestan as a case study area and tracked the changes of average annual, summer, and winter temperatures and precipitation for different altitudes in 2011–2020 compared to 2000–2010. We also conducted 30 informal exploratory interviews with local farmers and officials (purposive sampling) aiming at revealing common local narratives regarding climate change and its impact on agricultural activities, including the use of terraces. According to our results, respondents perceive the warming and drying of the Dagestan mountains as a growing water scarcity due to decreased precipitation and reduced snow cover, and as an opportunity to expand agricultural activities to higher altitudes. Agricultural terraces are seen as a prime land resource, preventing erosion and conserving soil moisture. Including terraces as a tourist attraction could increase interest in the local landscape and its history and may also indirectly serve to strengthen the resilience of local communities. While climate change may make it difficult to farm in the mountains, tourism becomes an additional source of income for farmers and supports agriculture.