Climate change has been identified globally to be the most challenging key issue threatening humanity's survival in the twenty-first century. The Western Ghats, UNESCO's World Heritage Site and one of India's largest natural carbon sinks and a hotspot for biodiversity, are now under the new threat from changing climate in addition to ongoing pressure from development activity. In light of this problem, the current study was created to comprehend the ability of the indigenous communities in Western Ghats to make multi-criteria decisions regarding the adoption of various adaptation measures. A total of 1656 indigenous communities were surveyed from two different biosphere reserves of Western Ghats and 20 different adaptation strategies were documented. Furthermore, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi criterion decision making model approach was employed to determine the best adaption approach. The most significant adaptation strategy was determined to be "Crop Diversification" based on the relative importance of each adaptation strategy. This strategy not only ensured improved economic gain, but also brought social upliftment, along with environmental sustainability.