Migration drivers in mountain regions in the context of climate change:A case study in Shangnan County of China

Climate change has become widely accepted as a challenge that humans will face in the not-too-distant future. Mountain ecosystems and their inhabitants are among the most vulnerable to climate change. This paper seeks to explain migration drivers in specific mountain regions in the context of climate change based on Foresight’s conceptual framework. A climate change sensitive field named Shangnan County in southern Shaanxi Province is chosen as the case study area to investigate local migration drivers. A series of qualitative research methods is employed in the case study including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions. The evidence of survey suggests that migration decisions are not only shaped by macro factors in aspects of environmental, economics, demographic, social, politics and psychological, but also influenced by placed-related barriers and facilitating mechanisms and personal characteristics.