Monthly Archives: December 2012

Job for locals

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The local communities have developed different approaches and response mechanisms to deal with different water-induced disaster including flooding in Kailali district, one of the most vulnerable districts in the country to flooding, landslide and earthquake. From life vests made up of plastic bottles to farmer-managed irrigation systems and biological embankments using bamboos and other locally available stuffs, the communities have used their traditional knowledge and expertise to deal with disasters. Unfortunately, these local efforts have neither been documented nor strengthened to help vulnerable ones with disasters.

The story can be read at http://epaper.ekantipur.com/ktpost/showtext.aspx?boxid=1364796&parentid=20831&issuedate=16122012

Green Ilam gets greener

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Eastern Nepal’s model township is on its way to becoming the country’s first Green City

BHRIKUTI RAI in ILAM

Nepal’s easternmost district of Ilam is known for its diligent citizens and scenic tea gardens, but it is also showing the way about how towns can be cleaner and greener with community participation and competent leadership.

The main strength of this district bordering Darjeeling in India is its educated population, and the visionary leadership of its elders. The district capital is now a model municipality promoting health, education, and an environment-friendly outlook by being the first district in Nepal to ban plastic bags.

“The town council has a clear workplan to develop infrastructure while conserving the environment,” says Kamal Mainali, environment officer at Ilam municipality, “and it is all geared to improve the quality of life of our people.”

Ilam has shown that the absence of district and municipality elections for the past 14 years does not necessarily mean a lack of accountability. The municipality has for the past 30 years worked closely with visionary local non-profits like the Namsaling Community Development Centre (NCDC).

NCDC’s climate change officer Aava Shrestha told us during a recent visit: “Natural resource management and energy efficiency are central to the concept of developing Ilam as a Green City and that is what we are working to do.” (see box)

Ilam’s network of micro hydro power currently benefits 20,000 people in and around Ilam, and has only three hours of power cuts a day. Two wards are using bio gas for cooking and to generate fertiliser for vegetable farms, and work has started to install solar-powered street lamps.

Ilam banned the use of plastic bags in 2010, earning it the Green City credential. The scheme is working well: shopkeepers are fined Rs 500 and shoppers fined Rs 200 on the spot for using plastic bags. The fine was a deterrence in the beginning, but most people now voluntarily shun plastic bags.

“We had to take this drastic step not just because plastic was littering the streets, but also because it was polluting water sources, clogging water pipelines, and producing toxic fumes when burnt at garbage dumps,” says Dharma Gautam, a civil society activist. The municipality has set aside land to process bio-degradable waste and turn it into compost.

One of the major focus of Green City is on solid waste management and the municipality is raising awareness to create zero waste at source. Each shop has a large green bin for disposing waste, and many have started sorting waste. There are dustbins attached to every electricity pole on the road, and litter-free zones have been declared to protect water sources.

Namsaling is working with the municipality to develop community managed water supply systems. The town’s population has doubled to 32,000 in the last 10 years, yet there is reliable water supply.

The 25-bed district hospital will soon start recycling all its water by filtering it through a reed bed. Green belts have been set up by reforesting denuded slopes around the town.

The key to Ilam’s success has been that unlike national politics, the local political parties have worked together on good governance. “The co-operation of all the political parties and the decision of locals on priority projects have helped Ilam even during tough times,” explains Gautam.

It also helps that Ilam’s budget has increased by almost 25 per cent in the last few years because it was rewarded for its performance in overall development indicators. It was declared the best municipality in the eastern region last year and stood sixth nationwide. Now, Ilam’s success is being replicated in other municipalities in eastern Nepal and the rest of the country.

“We have been to many districts in the west including Humla to train communities there based on our experience in Ilam,” says Aava Shrestha.

With its close proximity to Darjeeling, education has always been a priority in Ilam. The Mahendra Multiple Campus here now has a masters program, and it is expected to not just retain locals but also attract students from other districts.

Hotels in Ilam are gearing up to boost income from tourism. “There is a lot to be explored in tea tourism with Ilam’s rich history and scenic beauty,” says Kedar Sharma, a journalist turned entrepreneur in Ilam who has moved back to his native town from Kathmandu (see box).

Partnering for Ilam

Inspired by a Peace Corps volunteer, Homnath Adhikari started Namsaling Community Development Centre (NCDC) to uplift rural development in Namsaling VDC, Ilam 30 years ago. Today Namsaling is a strong partner of the Ilam municipality in implementing successful development projects that have put Ilam on the national and international map.

With the strong foundation laid by the Environment Protection Act of 1997, NCDC now runs a large number of programs in cross-cutting environmental themes that has helped the locals of Ilam and surrounding districts improve their quality of life. Ilam’s success has been replicated in other parts of Nepal as well.

NCDC in collaboration with Alternative Energy Promotion Centre has been advocating sustainable energy not just in Ilam, but in the entire eastern region and also installed 84,000 improved stoves (pictured above) to reduce the use of firewood and improve health. The group is also involved in biodiversity conservation and the revival of community forestry along the Indian border.

“The incidents of illegal logging and poaching have decreased after the community and officials began working together,” says Hira Bahadur Ghale of NCDC.

Ilam calling

For journalist Kedar Sharma returning to his village in Karfok, Ilam after living in Kathmandu for almost three decades was anything but planned. It’s been a few months since he and his wife Kiran headed east to give life to their long cherished dream of starting a restaurant and the couple admit they are loving every minute. Says Kedar : “We are still getting used to the laid back way of life in Ilam while also working on setting up our restaurant Barpeepal Bisauni in Aitabaare.”

They have turned their abandoned ancestral farm in Karfok into their new home and started organic farming there. Sharma says Ilam’s potential as a toursit hub is yet to be explored. He hopes that with Barpeepal they will be able to introduce local delicacies of Ilam like niuro (fern) and makai chyakhla (cooked corn grits) to travellers and also promote tourism. “We don’t want to be like any other eatery that you find in Ilam bajar serving momo, chow mein and burger,” says Sharma, “we want it to be a place where people can come, lounge, enjoy good food and learn what Ilam has to offer.”

Back from the climate cliff

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Farmers in eastern Nepal keep a climate diary to help them cope with erratic weather caused by global warming

BHRIKUTI RAI in ILAM

The climate conference in Doha last week was another missed opportunity to stop the catastrophic warming of the planet. Known by its wordy official name, the 18th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was also confined to just that: words.

The Doha Climate Summit failed to set significant emission goals and concrete financial commitments to arrest emissions. The future of those countries most vulnerable to climate variability is now hanging by the climate cliff.

Far away from the energy-intensive desert capital of Qatar, the world’s largest producer of natural gas, here we are in the lush mountains of the eastern Nepal district of Ilam. Farmers are already feeling the effects of climate change, with erratic monsoons, unseasonal rains and freak storms. But farmers cooperatives are working to build resilience so that they can cope with the extremes of weather.

The Namsaling Community Development Center (NCDC) has formed farmers’ groups in the villages of Ilam to build locally managed weather stations that helps them keep daily records. The farmers were given short training on the use of the instruments and are now keeping a ‘Climate Diary’.

“The farmers are now able to understand the weather patterns and the consequences to some extent without being introduced to the term and concept of climate change,” explains Yogendra Lal Shrestha of NCDC who have installed mini weather stations to record temperature, humidity and rainfall.

Schools in Ilam also have climate diary projects in which they record weather conditions and link it to the health of the students. “We are trying to analyse weather conditions of the months when the students record highest absence from school due to illness,” says Chitrakala Baraili of Saraswoti Niwas Lower Secondary School in Kanyam village. They hope that interpretation of data will help students take precautions during certain months to avoid missing school.

The rain gauge, thermometer and the hygrometer are monitored twice a day by representative of each farmers’ group. At the end of each month they also plot the number of cloudy days, thunderstorms, and rain to discuss at fortnightly meetings.

For Saraswati Khulal, 21, of Bhanjyang taking weather records has become a daily ritual. With technical assistance from NCDC she has learnt how to read the instruments. “Not just me but everyone in my family have now learnt to make measurements,” says Saraswati who says 17 households of Bhanjyang Farmers’ group have shown more interest, to analyse and draw a correlation to their harvests.

Saraswati Khulal at the mini weather station in Bhanjyang, Ilam

Officials hope that in 2-3 years farmers will be able to correlate weather conditions with plant diseases as well as to human health. They hope to be able to predict and adapt to erratic weather and climate variability.

Saraswati’s father-in-law, Narayan Khulal, 70, who takes up her responsibilities when she is away from home, says the climate diary has made him all the more sure about changing weather conditions. Says Khulal: “The fog period has extended significantly compared to the past and so has the humidity and cases of fungal infection on plants and we now have it on record.”

He also says that the growing use of artificial fertilisers have affected harvests. “Earlier the diseases that could be cured using ash and animal dung are now resistant to even strong pesticides,” he says.

Khulal like many other families in Ilam has gone back to the traditional organic farming methods, and he hopes that with the climate diary they will be able to spot at least some trends in weather patterns and be prepared so they don’t lose the market values of their produce.

While the implementation of local adaptation plans for climate vulnerable communities in the impoverished far-and mid-western region under the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) is finally taking off, farmers in Ilam are well on their way to building capacity to adapt to the wrath of the nature through their own efforts.

Saraswati shows weather records documented in the climate diary

ILLEGAL HUNTING AND GLOBAL WARMING THREAT FOR WILD LIFE IN KHEER THAR NATIONAL PARK PUBLISHED IN DALIY JANG ON 08-12 -2012

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Although the Kheer Thar National Park declared as Protected Park, but the practice  of poaching, hunting widespread, and also oine of the reason global warming decline the rare and endangered species of animals like Ibex, Urial and chinkara,or were found in Park. In addition, there were 17 types of animals which  enlisted into the Red List of IUCN included Ibex, Urial, Chinkara, Penguin, Fox, Hyaena, Wild Cat, Black Mouse, Black Rabbit, Leopard & Black Cobra. When Kheer Thar declared as gazelle, (Gazella bennettii). Spread more then 30087 Square Kilometer there are only few unarmed persons appointed as guard in Kheer Thar National Park by Sindh Wild Life Department, the Sindh Wild Life Department  issued the hunting licences only for Rs.25,000 thousand to influential persons, the guards of Sindh Wild Lift Department helpless in the face of armed guards of high-ranking persons.

 

According to the sources of Sindh Wild Life Department, the Ibex, Urial & Chinkara are at seriously threatened due to poaching & hunting. In 1980 the numbers of Ibex was 1200 which has now been reduced. The Sindh Wild Life Protection Ordinance issued on July 31st 1974, Kheer Thar National Park declared as a “ Protected Park.” According to this Ordinance the hunting & poaching is prohibited 5 Kilometers outside the Park Boundary.

 

When the survey was conducted in 2000,  there were 277 species of mammals and 203 species of avian a National Park the numbers of Ibex remained only 400, while the aerial survey c

 onducted in 2000, there was only 13000 Ibex and remain only 10000 Chinkara.

However, due to the poaching & hunting the numbers of these Red Listed animals decreased up to 60%. The Experts at Sindh Wild Life Department have seriously expressed the concern over the decreasing numbers of Chinkara deer. They also expressed the fatality of Ibex due to shortage of grass and water over the hills. The integrated strategy could not be prepared last for many years for the survival of these suffering endangered species of animals.

 

(By Syed Jamshed Bukhari, Environmental Correspondence)

http://e.jang.com.pk/12-08-2012/karachi/pic.asp?picname=1714.gif

Global warming and hunting is thread for wild life

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Although the Kheer Thar National Park declared as Protected Park, but the practice  of poaching & hunting widespread, which decline the rare and endangered species of animals like Ibex, Urial and chinkara,or gazelle, (Gazella bennettii). Spread more then 30087 Square Kilometer there are only few unarmed persons appointed as guard in Kheer Thar National Park by Sindh Wild Life Department, the Sindh Wild Life Department  issued the hunting licences only for Rs.25,000 thousand to influential persons, the guards of Sindh Wild Lift Department helpless in the face of armed guards of high-ranking persons.

 

According to the sources of Sindh Wild Life Department, the Ibex, Urial & Chinkara are at seriously threatened due to poaching & hunting. In 1980 the numbers of Ibex was 1200 which has now been reduced. The Sindh Wild Life Protection Ordinance issued on July 31st 1974, Kheer Thar National Park declared as a “ Protected Park.” According to this Ordinance the hunting & poaching is prohibited 5 Kilometers outside the Park Boundary.

 

When the survey was conducted in 2000,  there were 277 species of mammals and 203 species of avian were found in Park. In addition, there were 17 types of animals which  enlisted into the Red List of IUCN included Ibex, Urial, Chinkara, Penguin, Fox, Hyaena, Wild Cat, Black Mouse, Black Rabbit, Leopard & Black Cobra. When Kheer Thar declared as a National Park the numbers of Ibex remained only 400, while the aerial survey conducted in 2000, there was only 13000 Ibex and remain only 10000 Chinkara.

 

However, due to the poaching & hunting the numbers of these Red Listed animals decreased up to 60%. The Experts at Sindh Wild Life Department have seriously expressed the concern over the decreasing numbers of Chinkara deer. They also expressed the fatality of Ibex due to shortage of grass and water over the hills. The integrated strategy could not be prepared last for many years for the survival of these suffering endangered species of animals.

 

(By Syed Jamshed Bukhari, Environmental Correspondence)

http://e.jang.com.pk/12-08-2012/karachi/pic.asp?picname=1714.gif

An edgy equation between bhutan’s snow leopards and the building mercury

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Snow leopard habitat in Bhutan and the neighboring Himalayan countries could be substantially wiped out if green house emissions continue to increase

In what could be a described as a disaster for the elusive mountain cat, a recent study carried out by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has found out that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, snow leopards’ habitat in the Himalayas could be lost substantially.

According to the study that grouped potential changes in the alpine and forest zones under three climate scenarios of low emissions, medium emissions and high emissions, Bhutan could lose upto 30% of its snow leopard habitats to tree line shift and shrinking of the alpine zone if greenhouse gas emissions continues to increase.

The findings reveal that in the Himalayan mountain range under high emissions scenario, Bhutan can lose about 55% of its current snow leopard habitat, while the habitat in Nepal can decrease by as much as 40% and India and China can lose about 25% of their existing habitat.

The study also states that if emissions remain relatively low and begin to decrease below the current levels, by 2050 up to 10% of snow leopard habitat could be lost as snow leopards will be left with limited capacity to adapt physiologically and ecologically to warming conditions.

“In terms of absolute extent of habitat loss China and India which have the most snow leopard habitat would lose considerably more habitat than Nepal and Bhutan,” states the study. Most of the habitat loss would be along southern, peripheral areas of the snow leopard range, and in the deep river valleys that incise the mountains.

The study estimated Bhutan’s original area for snow leopard habitat to be 4,900 square kilometers.

Under the low emission scenario, Bhutan would be left with 4,600 square kilometers, 3,200 square kilometers under medium emissions scenario and 2,200 square kilometers under high emissions scenario.

Further, due to the general warming conditions the elusive mountain cat would have to contend with resource competition from other species, like common leopards, wild dogs, and tigers, which are better adapted to forest habitats.

The upper altitude of snow leopards and their prey will be determined by their physiological tolerance for oxygen deprivation.

While passes above 5,500 meters could act as dispersal corridors, it is unlikely that snow leopards will be able to live and hunt at these altitudes without the benefits of long term physiological adaptations.

Last year, a study carried out by Bhutan’s newest national park, Wangchuck Centennial Park; “Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of the WCP”, found out that a warming trend in the Himalayas could cause the elevation of the tree line to increase and thereby reduce the size of the alpine zone available to snow leopards between tree line and the upper limits of their altitude range imposed by oxygen limits.

“The tree lines are moving up and covering the alpine areas. This will create problems for snow leopards which live in an alpine zone,” said the Program Officer, Fresh Water and Climate Change, WWF, Phurba Lhendup.

He said this will lead to the loss and shift in habitat. “Many species might change their habitat and there might have to be re-designation of core habitat areas,” he said.

The report says that the climate model predicts a shrinking of core areas, habitat fragmentation, and loss of connectivity under climate change due to change from alpine to forest habitat.

Currently, the population of the endangered species is roughly estimated between 4,000 to 6,500 and is sparsely distributed in the mountains of northern and central Asia including part of the Himalayan Mountains.

While no formal study has been done to study the exact number of the cats in Bhutan, few records show that there are 100 to 200 cats in Bhutan while its global population is expected to be around 3,500 to 7,000.

http://www.businessbhutan.bt/?p=10291 published in Business Bhutan

Bhutanese glaciers to shrink despite steady temperature

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The research findings indicate that even if climate remained the same Bhutan would lose almost 10% of its glaciers within a few years

In what could be a shocking revelation, a research conducted in the mountains of Bhutan showed that almost 10% of Bhutan’s glaciers would disappear within the next few decades even though the climate remained steady.

According to the research conducted by a geology professor of the Brigham Young University (BYU), Summer Rupper, not only glaciers would vanish within a few decades but the amount of melt water coming off these glaciers could also drop by 30%.

In fact, if temperatures were to increase by just 1 degree Celsius, Bhutanese glaciers would shrink by 25% and the annual melt water would drop by as much as 65%.

With climate continuing to warm, such a prediction is not altogether unlikely, especially given the years it can take for glaciers to react to change.

According to Summer Rupper, while increasing temperature is just one culprit behind glacier retreat a number of climate factors such as wind, humidity, precipitation and evaporation can affect how glaciers behave.

“These particular glaciers have seen so much warming in the past few decades that they are currently playing lots of catch up,” said Summer Rupper.

Professor Summer Rupper says the only way for these glaciers in Bhutan to avoid melting is for snowfall levels nearly double. This is an unlikely scenario because warmer temperatures lead to rainfall instead of snow.

Last year, a report released by the ICIMOD (International Center for Integrated Mountain Development) during COP 17 in Durban, South Africa, revealed that snow cover in Bhutan dropped to almost 14% in the last decade.

The report “Snow Cover Mapping and Monitoring in the Hindu Kush Himalayas” revealed that snow coverage area of Bhutan decreased from 9,058 square kilometers to 7,851 square kilometers in 2010. This has been attributed to warming temperatures.

“Much of the world’s population is just downstream of the Himalayas,” says Summer Rupper. “A lot of culture and history could be lost, not just for Bhutan but for neighboring nations facing the same risks.”

The research was conducted by Summer Rupper and BYU graduate students Landon Burgener and Josh Maurer, researchers from Columbia University, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, NASA and Bhutan’s Department of Hydro-Meteorological Services.

It took the team seven days just to get to the target glacier trekking through rainforests and barren cliffs to reach some of the world’s most remote blocks of ice.

“For our pack animals, horsemen and guides that terrain and elevation are a way of life, but I’ll admit the westerners in the group were a bit slower-moving.”

The team also placed a weather station and glacier monitoring equipment that can be used to gather real-time data in the months and years to follow.

The research which is one of the first of its kind would used to make long-term decisions about Bhutan’s water resources and flooding hazards.

“They could potentially have a better idea of where best to fortify homes or build new power plants,” said Summer Rupper.

She said good science can lead to good engineering solutions for the changes we’re likely to witness in the coming decades.”

Another report released by ICIMOD titled “The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region” showed Bhutan’s glaciers have shrunk by an alarming 22% over the last 30 years.

http://www.businessbhutan.bt/?p=10912 published in Business Bhutan