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REDD+ has been acknowledged as a cheap, efficient and reliable policy instrument for stabilizing global climatic system by addressing drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, there is a stringent compliance process and developing countries only qualify for results-based payments when emissions are reduced
. The adoption of the Paris Agreement (COP 21, 2015) by 197 country parties testifies the international level political commitment for mitigating GHG through the forestry sector by relying on the results-based payment instrument.This mechanism provides financial rewards to the countries based on their performance in reducing greenhouse gases (tonnes of CO2 equivalents). REDD+ is not only a financing mechanism for reducing emissions, it also provides non-carbon benefits, which in fact is part of the broader mission to incorporate and enhance biodiversity conservation, improve the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities and better forest governance. More importantly, it provides an economic incentive for raising the country’s ambition to voluntarily transition towards a low carbon, deforestation free development pathway.
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The initiative known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Conservation and Enhancement of Forest Carbon and Sustainable Forest Management (REDD+) focuses on avoiding deforestation and forest degradation, conserving and sustainably managing forests, and enhancing forest carbon stocks
. Over the last few years, REDD+ activities in developing countries have resulted in actions that need to be fully measured, reported, and verified. The role of measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) grew remarkably after the Cancun Agreements (2010) and is now an integral part of REDD+ implementation. Establishing robust and transparent national forest monitoring systems (NFMS) and developing national forest reference levels (FRL) are two prerequisites of REDD+ implementation to ensure a reliable, transparent, and credible MRV system. This study examines the status of MRV in REDD+ Himalayan countries (Bhutan, India, Nepal, Myanmar, and Pakistan). In common with other REDD+ readiness activities, MRV is gaining momentum in all countries, but progress and stage of development vary. Countries such as Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Pakistan are planning to establish NFMS, whereas India already has well-established mechanisms to monitor forests. On the other hand, Nepal submitted its FRL in 2017, while other countries are still preparing theirs
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Healthy ecosystems are intrinsically linked to our well-being and our quality of life
. But native ecosystems are being impacted every day by both our actions and inactions in the face of increasing environmental and socioeconomic challenges. It is therefore important to understand the socio-ecological system and promote ecosystemsbased approaches by developing innovative strategies and tools to ensure integrity of the ecosystem and people’s livelihoods. Considering the importance of balancing conservation and development with placed based action research, ICIMOD supported an initiative, in collaboration with BCN and Nawaprabhat Nepal in Rauta VDC of Udayapur district Nepal, whose objective was ‘to identify the practical solutions for improved ecosystem management through conducting collaborative action research on alternative livelihood options to show visible impact at the ground considering socio-economic and ecosystem health as indicators’. After two and half years of research implementation, ICIMOD initiated a study for process documentation to understand the enabling conditions for effective research execution and find out the effect of short-term action research. This process documentation mainly followed a participatory inquiry approach. The documentation team met various officials from ICIMOD, BCN, and Nawaprabhat Nepal to understand the research background, context, objectives and processes adopted by the action research. Some consultations with the local community were also carried out at research sites and government officials of the selected line agencies were also consulted in April/May 2016
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Murthy, M. S. R.; Gilani, H.; Karky, B. S.; Sharma, E.; Sandker, M.; Koju, U. A.; Sandker, M.; Koju, U. A.; Khanal, S.; Poudel, M.
Background The reliable monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of carbon emissions and removals from the forest sector is an important part of the efforts on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+)
. Forest-dependent local communities are engaged to contribute to MRV through community-based monitoring systems. The efficiency of such monitoring systems could be improved through the rational integration of the studies at permanent plots with the geospatial technologies. This article presents a case study of integrating community-based measurements at permanent plots at the foothills of central Nepal and biomass maps that were developed using GeoEye-1 and IKONS satellite images. Results The use of very-high-resolution satellite-based tree cover parameters, including crown projected area (CPA), crown density and crown size classes improves salience, reliability and legitimacy of the community-based survey of 0.04% intensity at the lower cost than increasing intensity of the community-based survey to 0.14% level (2.5 USD/ha vs. 7.5 USD/ha). Conclusion The proposed REDD+ MRV complementary system is the first of its kind and demonstrates the enhancement of information content, accuracy of reporting and reduction in cost. It also allows assessment of the efficacy of community-based forest management and extension to national scale.
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Karki, S.; Pforte, B.; Karky, B. S.; Statz, J.; Dangi, R. B.; Khanal, D. R.; Chand, N. B.; Poudel, M.; Maraseni, T.; Cadman, T.; Lopez, F.; Delma, S.; Wangchuk, S.; Norbu, L.; Oo, T. N.; Rawat, V. R. S.; Singh, T. P.; Sharma, J. V.; Windhorst, K.
REDD+ Initiative has prepared a UNFCCC submission report “The Development of REDD+ Safeguards in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Recent Experiences and Processes” to demonstrate that the participating HKH countries are committed to developing REDD+ safeguards
. This document illustrates the ongoing progress made on integrating safeguard in REDD+ programme in the HKH countries that are in their REDD readiness phase. This report synthesizes the overall progress of National Safeguard System, by analyzing gaps and common challenges to implement REDD+ safeguards in Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal and recommends the way forward. This report, prepared through series of regional level South-South learning workshops in 2015 and 2016, is a testament of how the HKH countries are trying to comply with the UNFCCC guidelines by engaging in the development of National Safeguard System
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The impacts of future climate change could be significantly reduced if people were better able to cope with present climate risks
. The role of human mobility, particularly labor migration and remittances, has received little attention in the adaptation policies in Nepal. Instead, migration is perceived as a challenge to development and adaptation goals. This is partly due to the lack of empirical evidence on the relationship between migration, environmental stressors, and CCA. This chapter examines the role of remittances in building farm assets such as farm size, livestock, irrigation, and farm mechanization, which are an important component of a rural household’s adaptive capacity. Circular migration in search of employment and higher earnings has for long been a defining feature of the livelihoods of many households in the Sagarmatha Transect of Koshi sub-basin of Nepal. Remittances are an important component of recipient household income. A major share of remittances is spent on food, healthcare, loan repayment, education, and consumer goods. There is little investment of remittances in measures pertaining to disaster preparedness (e.g. insurance). Common household responses during floods and the immediate aftermath are reactive and short-term in nature, and those between two flood events include some low-cost structural measures. A significant positive association between remittance recipient status of a household and farm size is observed. However, the longer duration for which a household receives remittances is more likely to reduce the size of its farm holding
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Kargel, J.; Leonard, G.; Paudel, L.; Regmi, D.; Bajracharya, S.; Fort, M.; Joshi, S.; Poudel, K.; Thapa, B.; Watanabe, T.
We have identified the likeliest cause of the Seti River disaster of May 5, 2012, in which a flash flood killed or left missing 72 people
. A cascade of deadly physical Earth processes combined with imprudent habitation on the lowest flood terraces and floodplain. The process cascade started with rockfalls into the Seti River gorge (observed via repeat ASTER imaging). The last rockfall—one to several weeks prior to the disaster-affected a knickpoint in the Seti River gorge and impounded glacial meltwater and spring snowmelt. The trigger was a large rock/ice avalanche originating from cornice ice on Annapurna IV, where part of the mass was channeled into the impoundment reservoir. That violent ground-surge event, plus possibly an air blast caused by a violent gravity flow of airborne debris—then burst the rockfall dam. This was not a glacier lake outburst flood. Glaciers were involved in the disaster by supplying meltwater, which was impounded by the rockfall dam, by triggering the disaster with collapse of cornice ice, and by contributing ice to the landslide and outburst flood. Debuttressing of moraine debris and ancient glacial lake sediment by retreat and thinning of glaciers also may have played a role—this is the only possible indirect link of the disaster to climate change. The rockfall and avalanche mass movements occurred independently of climate change. The narrow and easily blocked Seti River gorge was a key factor in the 2012 disaster, and it remains a unique component of this physiographic setting. A similar flood in this area may happen by a different cascade of Earth surface processes. An enormous mass of ancient unconsolidated glaciolacustrine and moraine sediment—many cubic kilometers—was discovered and is vulnerable to production of debris flows and hyperconcentrated slurry flows. Some aggravating processes occurring in the Sabche Cirque are related to climate change. Glaciers in that area are melting, and small lakes are forming. Although the lakes were not implicated in the 2012 disaster, the possibility exists for a small glacial lake outburst flood to trigger a larger mass movement. Such a debris flow could reach Pokhara directly. More likely, a debris flow in the Sabche Cirque could form another temporary and potentially dangerous impoundment dam in the gorge. Furthermore, the type of rockfall blockage that produced 2012’s natural impoundment reservoir is likely to happen repeatedly. Hence, there is a high capacity of the Earth system in this area to produce comparable or even bigger flash floods or mass flows. The likelihood of a further disaster is magnified by imprudent habitation of the river channel and lower floodplain. Of all the changes to the Pokhara Valley, human encroachment on the flood plain is the factor most related to increasing vulnerability, but it is also the one factor that could be remedied by a complete ban on construction on lower terraces, if that is politically feasible. Warning systems could help, but fairly relocating people in jeopardy would be more effectiv
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The REDD+ policy proposes to deliver multiple outcomes including emissions reduction, livelihood support and sustainable forest management, and thus appears largely compatible with Community Forestry (CF)
. However, the addition of a new value (carbon sequestration) to traditional values of CF (local livelihoods and ecological resilience) may have implications for communities and CF management approaches at local level. Based on primary data collected from three Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) in Nepal, this paper explores local effects of REDD+ in pilot sites, where the program has been implemented since 2009. Data from in-depth interviews, focus groups and household survey indicates that REDD+ has generated both positive and negative outcomes. CF condition, CFUGs activities and network, and sources of CFUGs income appeared to be improved, whereas autonomy of CFUGs as independent decision making institutions and customary access rights to forests are both limited, and external political agendas are seen to be replacing the needs and interests of forest users. La politique REDD+ propose d'obtenir des résultats multiples, qui incluent une réduction des émissions, un soutien aux revenus et une gestion forestière durable, et apparaît ainsi largement compatible avec la foresterie communautaire (FC). Cependant, l'addition d'une nouvelle valeur (la sequestration du carbone) aux valeurs traditionelles de la CF (revenus locaux et résilience écologique) pourrait avoir des implications pour la communauté et les approches de gestion de la CF au niveau local. Basé sur des données primaires recueillies auprès de trois groupes d'utilisateurs des forêts communautaires (CFUGs) au Népal, cet article explore les effets locaux de la REDD+ dans des site pilotes où le programme a été mis en cours depuis 2009. Les données recueillies lors d'interviews approfondies, au sein des groupes focus et des foyers indiquent que la REDD+ a généré des résultats positifs, mais aussi négatifs. La contribution de la CF, les activités et le réseau des CFUGs, ainsi que les sources de revenus de ces derniers semblaient s'être améliorés; alors que l'autonomie des CFUGS en tant qu'institution indépendante de prise de décisions et les droits habituels d'accès se trouvaient tous deux limités, et que les agents de politique externe étaient perçus comme remplaçant les intérêts et les besoins des utilisateurs forestiers. Las políticas que propone REDD+ buscan lograr varios objetivos al mismo tiempo, incluyendo la reducción de emisiones, el apoyo a los medios de vida y una gestión sostenible del bosque, todo ello compatible en principio con la Silvicultura Comunitaria (SC). Sin embargo, la agregación de un nuevo componente (captura de carbono) a los valores tradicionales de la SC (medios de vida locales y resiliencia ecológica) puede tener consecuencias para las comunidades y la gestión de la SC a nivel local. Con base en datos primarios recabados de tres Grupos de Usuarios de Silvicultura Comunitaria (GUSC) en Nepal, este artículo examina los efectos locales de REDD+ en los sitios piloto donde el programa se ha venido implementando desde el año 2009. Los datos de entrevistas en profundidad, grupos focales y encuestas de hogares indican que REDD+ ha generado tanto resultados positivos como negativos. El estado de la SC, las actividades y la red de los GUSC, y las fuentes de ingresos de los GUSC parecieron haber mejorado, mientras que tanto la autonomía de los GUSC como entidades independientes a la hora de tomar decisiones como los derechos consuetudinarios de acceso a los bosques se han visto limitadas, y existe la percepción de que las agendas políticas externas están reemplazando las necesidades e intereses de los usuarios del bosque
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Collaborative Forest Management (CFM) is the youngest forestry program implemented so far in Nepal focusing on sustainable management of the Nepal’s productive Terai forest
. It has been defined as working partnership between the key stakeholders in the management of the given forest. CFM aims to manage the Terai forest through involvement of the local people in decision making, implementation, benefit sharing and monitoring along with local government bodies (DDC, VDC) and national forest authority (DFO). Rangapur is one of the three pilot CFM sites comprising 1472 ha forest with 22 VDCs and a Municipality as command-area in Rautahat district of Nepal. Despite several promising impacts, some weaknesses and threats of CFM have also been realised within its two years of implementation in Rangapur. This paper assesses and evaluates major achievements, strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of CFM hoping useful towards sustainability
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This paper presents a case study evaluation of Nepal Wireless Networking Project
. With the aim of overcoming the digital divide, the project aims to increase communication facilities in the mountainous areas, thereby increasing educational opportunities in the community, helping villagers to buy and sell products and creating jobs.
This project is described as one of few tangible examples of success in fulfilling the promise of ICT in the field of international development. The report calls for Government of Nepal to bring liberal ICT policies and to use wireless technology to make the information technology within the reach of rural population of Nepal.
Key lessons highlighted include:
- networking projects help to reduce poverty;
- networking projects create job opportunities;
- Wi-fi devices are useful for delivering services other than just connecting to the internet;
- little training is required for setting up a Wi-fi network;
- management and technical training should be provided to local people.
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