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Least Developed Countries are likely to be hit the hardest by climate change and need focused efforts towards adaptation
. Nepal recognizes that it needs to integrate climate change adaptation into various policies, but limited understanding of how to make these policies coherent is among the factors that hinder effective adaptation action. This can lead to wasted resources and lost opportunities. This paper applies concepts from policy coherence for development frameworks and policy content analysis to examine coherence in Nepal’s climate and forest policies—and discusses the factors hindering effective implementation. The policies are analyzed at the horizontal/external level at three layers—motivation, measures, and planned implementation process. The paper finds that policies are more consistent on motivation level and adaptation measures, but are less coherent on implementation. The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) is more explicit in identifying institutions, organizations, roles and responsibilities, resource allocation (financial), and a monitoring and evaluation plan for climate change adaptation while other policies such as Climate Change Policy 2011, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2014–2020, Forest Policy 2015, and Forest Sector Strategy 2016 have critical gaps in this area. This paper conclude that formulation of a policy, articulating targets, and mobilizing financial resources are in themselves not sufficient to effectively address climate change adaptation. Policy-based legislation is required, together with development of a supportive collaborative multi-stakeholder approach at different levels of governance, backed up by effective, collaborative monitoring and enforcement
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Mainstreaming climate concerns in cross-sectoral planning and teamwork among neighbouring states in the Indian Himalayan Region are persistent hurdles in addressing climate adaptation at the state and regional levels
. The authors propose interstate cooperation facilitation through a specific knowledge network, decentralised and coordinated approach for capacity building, joint adaptation project formulation and implementation, high-level coordination mechanism, and the creation of an adaptation portal as a novel way forward
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Wetlands cover 5–10% of the earth’s terrestrial surface
. They are important ecosystems that supply goods and services for human wellbeing. Despite their rich biodiversity, social and economic values, wetlands are in immense pressure, and are undergoing constant degradation due to several anthropogenic forces, such as urban development, expansion of agricultural land and industrial pollution. The global extent of wetlands in the 20th century is estimated to have declined by 64–71%, and losses and degradation of wetlands continue worldwide, which will eventually have significant impacts on the supply of ecosystem services and affect the livelihoods of people [Ramsar Secretariat 2015: State of the World’s Wetlands and their Services (Task No. 18)]. In Asia alone, about 5,000 km2 of wetlands vanish each year, with substantial impacts on ecosystem services, biodiversity and the livelihoods of people. In the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, there is only limited information available on the overall status of wetlands and resource exploitation because of the difficult geographic terrain and harsh climatic conditions. Thus, to generate a better understanding of wetlands in the region, a common platform was sought to exchange information, learnings and research findings. ICIMOD, in collaboration with the Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB) and the Chengdu Institute of Biology (CIB) under Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Yunnan Institute of Environmental Science (YIES), organized a Regional Expert Consultative Symposium on ‘Managing Wetland Ecosystem in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Securing Services for Livelihoods’ in Dali, Yunnan Province of China
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This short report illustrates a selection of the key findings, successes and lessons learnt of the Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme (HICAP) over the period 2012–2017
. It focusses on a few, selected approaches that HICAP has taken in the fields of science, action research, pilot activities, and communications and outreach. It also highlights some of the important lessons learnt over the duration of the programme, particularly in terms of policy outreach, and the strengths and also challenges of partnerships. HICAP is an ongoing programme continuing until the end of 2018
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Suxia, L.; Wenhao, D.; Xingguo, M.; Sheng, W.; Changming, L.; Xian, L.; Daming, H.; Bajracharya, S. R.; Shrestha, A.; Agrawal, N. K.
The VIP eco-hydrological model and HIMS model were used to simulate hydrological processes from 1957 to 2012
. Based on the ensemble projections of CMIP5 RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, the runoff in the two basins were predicted. The results show that in the past 50 years air temperatures in the two basins were continually increasing and the rates over the upstream plateau were higher than the lower downstream. The tendency of annual precipitation was not significant, while the precipitation in spring season was increasing. The total water resources were around 65 billion to 85 billion m3 and no noticeable tendency was detected. Spatially, the water resources kept the pattern of “higher in south and lower in north”. The variability of water resources in Lancang River was more significant than that of Nujiang River. In the future climate scenarios, it will become warmer and wetter, the runoff will increase with lower spatial variability. Being with high seasonal variability, there will still be challenges in the water resources security over the whole basins
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High outmigration of men from Kavre district, Nepal, results in women having to take over the responsibility for farming
. They face challenges of decreasing water availability and frequent dry spells, with hardly any support from the outside. The Resilient Mountain Villages approach combines local knowledge and practices with scientific risk and vulnerability assessments, to contribute to disaster risk reduction with simple, affordable and people-driven solutions
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Economic burden to households due to out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) is large in many Asian countries
. Though studies suggest increasing household poverty due to high OOPE in developing countries, studies on association of multidimensional poverty and household health spending is limited. This paper tests the hypothesis that the multidimensionally poor are more likely to incur catastrophic health spending cutting across countries
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Around 90 per cent of almost a billion mountain people in the world today live in developing and transitioning countries, such as those in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region
. Many live in poverty, and a third of mountain dwellers are vulnerable to food insecurity and acute hunger, often due to climatic stressors coupled with economic, political, demographic, and social changes. These vulnerabilities to changes, which are largely outside of mountain communities’ control, require a multifaceted approach to adaptation that addresses the needs and changing realities of mountain communities and the underlying causes of their vulnerability. To effectively support communities in adapting to change, solutions that look beyond political, sectoral, and national boundaries must be developed. This requires in-depth knowledge of both local conditions and broader global climate change trends. This working paper details the key recommendations that emerged from the international conference on ‘Mountain People Adapting to Change: Solutions beyond boundaries bridging science, policy, and practice’, held in Kathmandu from 9 to 12 November 2014. The conference brought together over 300 experts and stakeholders from around the globe to draw together the latest knowledge, policies, and practices on adaptation and to strengthen the interface between science, policy, and practice.
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Forests offer an important basis for creating and safeguarding more climate-resilient communities over Hindu Kush Himalayan region
. The forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment to climate change and developing knowledge base to identify and support relevant adaptation strategies is realized as an urgent need. The multi scale adaptation strategies portray increasing complexity with the increasing levels in terms of data requirements, vulnerability understanding and decision making to choose a particular adaptation strategy. We present here how such complexities could be addressed and adaptation decisions could be either directly supported by open source remote sensing based forestry products or geospatial analysis and modelled products. The forest vulnerability assessment under climate change scenario coupled with increasing forest social dependence was studied using IPCC Landscape scale Vulnerability framework in Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) situated in Nepal. Around twenty layers of geospatial information on climate, forest biophysical and forest social dependence data was used to assess forest vulnerability and associated adaptation needs using self-learning decision tree based approaches. The increase in forest fires, evapotranspiration and reduction in productivity over changing climate scenario was observed. The adaptation measures on enhancing productivity, improving resilience, reducing or avoiding pressure with spatial specificity are identified to support suitable decision making. The study provides spatial analytical framework to evaluate multitude of parameters to understand vulnerabilities and assess scope for alternative adaptation strategies with spatial explicitness
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