The Sudd in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile’s Baḥr al-Jabal section, is one of the largest and most important wetlands in the world. Communities in the region almost exclusively depend on fisheries for food and livelihoods. Although threatened by over-exploitation and habitat changes, fish populations are also affected by climate change. Using semi-structured questionnaires, we assessed fisherfolk’s opinions of how recent variation in climate affected their livelihoods and the environment. Fisherfolk perceived that climate had changed in the past decade and were negatively impacted by this. Interviewees reported average higher temperatures, a greater frequency of floods and droughts, unpredictable timing of seasons, and erratic rainfall. Destruction of fishing villages/camps, loss and damage of fishing equipment, shifts in the fishing calendar, reduction of fish trade, and fish catch declines as well as psycho-social problems were given as the major consequences of climate change. Causes of climate change and variability were perceived to be linked to uncontrolled harvest of forest resources, anger of God and ancestors, and natural variability in climate. Most respondents expressed a desire to adopt more responsible behavior such as planting trees and establishing community nurseries, being educated on climate change risks, and sustainable fisheries management. Our results show that fisherfolk in the Sudd are troubled by climate change impacts on their livelihoods and on fish populations. In South Sudan, climate change has been reported from hydroclimatological data but concrete impacts on people remain largely unknown and of little concern because of recent wars and the poor economy. Our study provides an example of how fisherfolks’ local ecological knowledge (LEK) can be used as an early warning system of the negative impacts on livelihoods and fish populations and support adaptation to the changing climate.

南苏丹的 Sudd 由白尼罗河的 Baḥr al-Jabal 部分形成，是世界上最大和最重要的湿地之一。该地区的社区几乎完全依赖渔业获取食物和生计。尽管受到过度开发和栖息地变化的威胁，鱼类种群也受到气候变化的影响。我们使用半结构化问卷，评估了渔民对近期气候变化如何影响他们的生计和环境的看法。渔民认为过去十年气候发生了变化，并受到了负面影响。受访者报告平均气温较高，洪水和干旱发生频率更高，季节时间不可预测，降雨不稳定。渔村/营地的破坏，捕鱼设备的损失和损坏，捕捞日历的变化、鱼品贸易的减少、渔获量的下降以及社会心理问题被认为是气候变化的主要后果。气候变化和变异的原因被认为与森林资源的不受控制的采伐、上帝和祖先的愤怒以及气候的自然变异有关。大多数受访者表示希望采取更负责任的行为，例如植树和建立社区苗圃、接受气候变化风险教育和可持续渔业管理。我们的研究结果表明，Sudd 的渔民受到气候变化对其生计和鱼类种群的影响的困扰。在南苏丹，水文气候数据报告了气候变化，但由于最近的战争和经济不景气，对人们的具体影响在很大程度上仍是未知的，也很少受到关注。我们的研究提供了一个例子，说明渔民的当地生态知识 (LEK) 如何用作对生计和鱼类种群的负面影响的早期预警系统，并支持适应不断变化的气候。