September 14, 2009
Wildlife protection project starts
A conservation project has started in three districts of Mechi zone to protect rare wildlife, herbs and natural diversity, national news agency reported Monday.Poaching of wildlife, smuggling of herbs and human invasion is said to be on the rise in the three districts - Taplejung, Panchthar and Ilam.
Source: www.nepalnews.com
September 14, 2009
Illegal sandalwood hoard seized
Police have seized a hoard of red sandalwood being smuggled to Tibet in Bhaktapur, on Saturday night. According to the police, more than two tons of the contraband sandalwood (5930 pieces), have been confiscated from a truck heading to Khasa from Kathmandu. The police have also arrested the bus driver, Ram Bahadur Khadka, and conductor, Lokendra Karki, for further examination.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the two were carriers, but the details of the leaders of the ring are yet to be discovered. The investigation also revealed that the contraband sandalwood was loaded from Chabahil near Gopi Krishna Hall. Police impounded the truck and landed the sandalwood over to the Bhaktapur-based District Forest Office.
The smuggling of red sandalwood, a species enlisted in the Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), has continued as the plant remains in high demand due to its fragrance, medical and religious qualities. Cases of the smuggling of sandalwood from India to China via Nepal have been reported in the past.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
September 14, 2009
High price rumors fuel poaching
Rumours about the overrated cost of the body parts of wild animals are fuelling the poaching, experts said. “The actual price rate of the body parts of the wild animals is hard to get as the rate differs from person to person. But the overestimated cost that comes into public has been found the main cause behind the constant poaching,” said Dr Hem Sagar Baral, an ornithologist.
“We must be sensitive while disseminating such information to the public as it can encourage poachers and lure others into the illegal act,” he added. “It’s frequently reported that the market value of many birds, including Huchil (an owl species), is very high but I’m pretty sure that the actual price is far more less,” Baral claimed.
According to him, the overestimated market price is also encouraging the layman to dive into poaching without the knowledge in ground reality and punishment in the aftermath. “Most of the first hand poachers are from the poor community and they just dream about the money. But it will be too late when they know the ground reality and regret,” added Baral.
“It’s not that there are other factors which promote illegal trading of wildlife but the fake price is one of the major factors that has intensified the wildlife trade,” said Tarik Aziz, an expert of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal. He also pointed at the loopholes in the law as those involved in such illegal business are often go scot free.
“We are working under the Wildlife conservation Act 1972 and the decisions taken by the National Park authorities are mostly reversed or punishment is minimised by the court. Hence, there is the need to amend the law as well,” said Phanindra Kharel, Under Secretary, Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC).
“Although the poaching is done by the poor community people, the benefiters are high class national and international smugglers,” said Prasanna Yonzon, chief executive officer of Wildlife Conservation Nepal (WCN). “We have found some foreigners involved in trading but we will disclose the names only after a thorough investigation
Source: The Himalayan Times
September 12, 2009
Flood impact on Nepali households to increase by 40pc: Study
A recent study on the impact of climate change on Nepal´s development and climate change induced uncertainties has concluded that the increase in the number and intensity of natural disasters will prevent many Nepali households from breaking through the poverty line. It has projected that the flood impact on each household will double and the number of households affected directly will increase by 40 per cent.
"As temperatures increase and the climate becomes more erratic, the incidence of forest fires may increase, thereby reducing the amount of mean residual energy available in forests for use by local communities," the report titled "Vulnerability through the Eyes of the Vulnerable: Climate Change Induced Uncertainties and Nepal´s Development Predicaments" prepared by national and international experts with support states.
Stating that Nepal´s population is now leaning toward the service sector (as opposed to the manufacturing sector), which is less resource intensive and polluting than fossil fuel-based industrial production, it said the government´s existing energy policy is inadequate to respond to the future challenges.
The report funded by UK´s Department for International Development added that Nepal is burdened by a slow-growing, supply driven-energy monopoly. In addition, the government´s subsidization of electricity for a few (5% of rural and 20% of urban dwellers), and imported petroleum products indirectly taxes the most vulnerable sections.
Drawing analysis from eight significant events -- 1998 Rohini River flooding and other floods in Tarai, last year´s Koshi embankment breach and floods in the farwestern region, 1993 mid-mountain cloudbursts and floods, recent glacial lake outburst, 2008-09 winter drought, and this year´s forest fires across the Himalayan region and the cholera epidemic in the far and mid-western hills -- and unusual rainfall pattern, the report concludes that the intensity and frequency of these events means that development planning must learn to deal with increased intensities of such disasters. Moreover, it said the country´s institutions and governance structures must "improve substantially" if such events are to be highly minimized.
The report, prepared by Nepal Climate Vulnerability Study Team and published by Institute for Social and Environmental Transition Nepal, specifies three recommendations. First, provisioning reliable supply of electricity can function as "an essential gateway service to help build people´s adaptive capacities through income diversification." It said empowering local institutions to implement decentralized renewable energy systems already found in Nepal, including solar, small and medium-scale hydroelectricity, wind and biogas systems will halt the widespread burning of biomass as well as create many "green jobs." This will also reduce emissions and reverse the ongoing loss in the "sequestering potential of Nepal´s national and community forests." Second, developed nations should pay Nepal energy compensation for exposing it to climate stresses associated with fossil fuel which will provide financial incentives to switch away from fossil fuel to an adaptive and non-polluting development pathways. The cost of this would be about US$44 million per year for next 20 years.Third, the government must introduce well-designed incentives and policies that help channel remittance inflows towards climate-resilient investments.
The report also quotes the latest GCM (General Circulation Model) projections that indicate an increase in temperature over Nepal of 0.5-2.0 degree Celsius with a multi-model mean of 1.4 degree Celsius, by the 2030s, rising to 3.0-6.3 degree Celsius, with a multi-model mean of 4.7 degree Celsius, by the 2090s.
Source: Republica
September 8, 2009
Wild elephants wreak havoc in Bara
Wild elephants from the Parsa Wildlife Reserve have destroyed crops in around 10 bigahas of land in Dumarwana, Bara. Locals had to seek help of the police to drive away the elephants that wreaked havoc in ward number six, seven and eight of the village since Monday night. The police succeeded in driving away around two dozen elephants at 4 am on Tuesday after firing four rounds of bullets.The farmers complained that the reserve had done nothing to control the terror of elephants in the area.
Source: Republica
