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forests are also used for infrastructure development,such as roads, schools, buildings, and houses.Deforestation has resulted in increased landslides,soil erosion, floods, and loss of biodiversity.Nepal’s 8 bioclimatic zones and 35 vegetationtypes support a rich biodiversity in terms of fauna andflora. Nepal has more than 100 species of mammals,800 species of birds, 600 species of butterflies,numerous invertebrates, over 5,000 species offlowering plants, and about 200 ferns. Several ofthese have become endangered as a result of variousfactors, including deforestation.About 18% of the land area has beendemarcated as protected and conserved areas.Proper management of the protected areas forbiodiversity conservation, poverty reduction, andlivelihood improvement is a necessity.Soil degradation and loss of productive land areserious environmental problems. With the increasingpopulation and growing need for food, agriculture isbeing expanded to sloping lands and forests. Theheavy monsoon rains make fragile mountain slopesvulnerable to loss and degradation of land and soilthrough landslides, erosion, and river cutting. Asmuch as 5% of all landslides in Nepal are associatedwith newly-constructed roads and trails.Solid waste is a common environmentalproblem in urban areas. The major cities haveexperienced high rates of population growth andunmanaged urban development, which haveresulted in an increasing volume of solid waste. Themain sources of solid waste are urban households.Slightly over 14% of the population live in Nepal’s 58municipalities; they generate more than 80% of allsolid waste. About two thirds of the waste materialsare organic. The impacts of inappropriate solid wastedisposal on rivers and human health are substantial.The disposal of waste into local rivers has adverselyaffected the quality of water and the aesthetic valueof rivers and cities. This problem is particularly acutein Kathmandu Valley.The municipalities are responsible for solidwaste management. However, most municipalitiesdo not have adequate resources or the technicalexpertise to manage solid waste disposal. Solidwaste disposal in landfill sites has become sociallyvery sensitive and people’s participation in it isgenerally weak. Lack of suitable infrastructure, suchas landfill sites, is also a problem in urban areas.Nepal is rich in water resources. Over 6,000rivers and streams drain the country. The rapidincrease in population has increased demands forwater for drinking, sanitation, irrigation, industry,energy, and recreation. Water shortages and waterpollution are serious problems in urban areasbecause of rural-urban migration, population growth,and unplanned urbanization. The problem ofsecuring a safe drinking water supply is very serious,particularly in Kathmandu Valley.There is evidence that water quality isdeteriorating rapidly in urban areas. Urban areasgenerally lack the infrastructure for the collection,treatment, and disposal of sewage. Limited facilitiesbuilt for this purpose are either ineffective ornonfunctional. Drainage is a common problem,particularly in the Terai. As few houses are connectedto the wastewater system, untreated domesticwaste is discharged into rivers. Most households inrural areas do not have latrines; people defecate inopen areas such as riverbanks and public lands.Likewise, most industrial effluents are dischargeddirectly into rivers. All of these practices contribute tosurface and groundwater pollution.Water pollution has become a serious publichealth problem. Biological water pollution, combinedwith inappropriate sanitation and hygienepractices, is responsible for diseases such asdiarrhea, typhoid, skin diseases, and intestinalworms. These are the most common diseases inNepal, and a large number of infants die annuallydue to diarrhea alone. Recently, arsenic contaminationof the groundwater of the Terai has become aconcern.Water pollution has also adversely affectedaquatic ecosystems. Nepal’s rivers have rich aquaticbiodiversity, which is threatened due to growingwater pollution. The rivers of Kathmandu Valley,particularly in the core city areas, have already lostaquatic biodiversity.Air pollution is a serious concern in urban areasdue to dust generated by vehicles, increasing use offossil fuels for transportation, and concentration ofindustries. Air pollution by industrial emission is alocal concern in many areas. Kathmandu Valley isespecially vulnerable to air pollution due to itstopography (a bowl-shaped valley), rapid andhaphazard urbanization, and significant increase ofvehicular transport in narrow streets. In addition, thepoor maintenance of the roads aggravates airpollution by contributing particulate matter to the air.The transport sector is the largest contributor tototal emissions of pollutants in Kathmandu Valley,followed by the household, industrial, and commercialsectors. Gasoline is the largest contributor to thetotal combined emission of all pollutants, whilefuelwood and coal are also major contributors. Withthe improved technology of brick kilns, pollutionfrom this sector is expected to be reduced inKathmandu valley. Indoor air pollution due toburning fuelwood in unventilated rural houses alsocauses serious health hazards.2 Environment Assessment of Nepal : Emerging Issues and Challenges
The third part of the book, Chapters 9 and 10,deals with environmental governance, the evolutionof environmental policies, standards regulation, theroles of different stakeholders, and the financing ofenvironmental programs. Weak enforcement ofenvironmental decisions and regulations appears tobe the most serious and persistent problem. Despitesignificant progress in introducing environmentalregulations and legislation, the loss of credibility ofthe Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE)as an effective environmental organization resultedin its dissolution, with environment functions beingmoved to the Ministry of Science and Technology.This ministry has been renamed the Ministry forEnvironment, Science and Technology (MOEST). Ithas yet to be seen whether the difficultiesencountered by MOPE will be successfully overcomeby this reorganization. Some of the problems relatedto poor implementation of environmental decisionsare endemic to all government organizations, whileothers are specific to particular environmentalissues.The fourth part, Chapters 11 to 13, deals withthree emerging environmental themes that are quitenew in the context of Nepal but are now receiving agood deal of attention. The discussion on environmentand conflict shows that conflicts regardingnatural resources are widespread in land, forest, andwater resources. A new area of environmentalconflict is also beginning in urban areas. Some ofthese problems have remained unresolved andunattended for so long that organizations may behesitant to ‘bell the cat’, given the continuing politicalturmoil and conflict situation in the country. Themost surprising revelation is that the Governmentdoes not have an established mechanism to addressthe ongoing conflicts related to natural resources,particularly some aspects of forest resources.Trade and environment represents a new areathat has become important for Nepal since it joinedthe World Trade Organization (WTO). Some exportsfrom Nepal have already been subjected toenvironmental barriers by other countries includingIndia. As a relatively new player in this area, Nepalhas a lot of catching up to do in terms of improvinginstitutional capacity, technical standards, andquality assurance of its exports; intellectual propertyrights; market access; trade in services; andcomprehensive surveillance of domestic andinternational trade.The discussion on environmental informationemphasizes the need for monitoring progress anddeveloping appropriate indicators. This has beenachieved to some extent by sharing and exchangingdata with different organizations. Information mustbe linked to policy analysis and decisions. This bookseeks to make analyzed information available in aform that is easily understood and accessible topolicymakers.Finally, in Chapter 14 the book deals with theemerging strategic issues for Nepal. The first of theseis promoting integrated ecosystem management andsustainable livelihoods. The chapter brings togetherthe different aspects of livelihood security in ruralareas and argues that further deterioration of rurallivelihoods can be prevented by more effectiveintegrated ecosystem management. It focuses on theissues of sustainable use of resource endowmentsand ecological niches; participatory and collaborativeapproaches; harnessing ecological, economic,cultural, and institutional opportunities; andpromoting decentralized and transparent decisionmaking. The second issue is promoting integratedurban environment management. Urban environmentalproblems are likely to become seriousbecause of rapid urbanization, poor infrastructure,haphazard management of urban development, andthe inadequate resources of urban developmentorganizations. Unless organizations work togetherwithin a common framework, urban growth is likelyto have a significant negative impact on environmentalresources because of increasing air andwater pollution, and unrealistic prices for naturalresources used by urban residents.Another priority area is institutional strengtheningand capacity building. MOPE was disbandedbecause it was seen as a weak organization withlimited capacity. The critical question now for itssuccessor MOEST is how to strengthen the organizationand how and where to build its capacity. Thelesson from MOPE’s dissolution is that otherorganizations in the Government have alsodeveloped important environmental capacity; thenew organization must find a niche that cuts acrosssectors, that supports sectoral work, and thatprovides leadership and vision regarding thechanging environment and its management in thefuture. Some of the specific areas where further workis needed include policy reforms, improvements inthe legislative system, working with others on tradeand environment, and mobilization for strongerenforcement of environmental laws and environmentalimpact assessment (EIA) and strategicenvironmental assessment (SEA) recommendations.The final priority is for an environmental andnatural resources information network. The demandfor appropriate environmental information isgrowing. What is available is often dispersed,heterogeneous, inaccessible, discontinuous, andunreliable. This situation added to the difficulty inproducing this report, and is responsible foroccasional inconsistencies in the data reported here,Chapter 1: Overview3
Page 2 and 3: About the OrganisationsAsian Develo
Page 4 and 5: © 2006 International Centre for In
Page 6 and 7: AcknowledgementsWe would like to ex
Page 8 and 9: PM2.5PAHRSSAARCSACEPSEASO 2TSPUKUND
Page 10 and 11: Chapter 6: Energy Resources 65Intro
Page 12 and 13: List of FiguresFigure 2.1: People a
Page 14 and 15: Table 6.1: Energy Consumption and P
Page 18 and 19: as data gathered by different agenc
Page 20 and 21: Table 2.1: Population Growth Rates
Page 22 and 23: mortality rates for rural and urban
Page 24 and 25: Agglomeration village in the centra
Page 26 and 27: soil erosion, and depletion of wate
Page 30 and 31: provision remains inadequate becaus
Page 32 and 33: Malnutrition remains a serious obst
Page 34 and 35: Table 2.24: Existing and Projected
Page 36 and 37: Table 2.28: Income Poverty Indicato
Page 38 and 39: Table 2.31: Change in Employment St
Page 40 and 41: In 2004, the average annual househo
Page 42 and 43: Mountain areas have the most food i
Page 44 and 45: Schaffner, U. 1987. “Road Constru
Page 46 and 47: Table 3.1: Agricultural Economic De
Page 48 and 49: Table 3.4: Estimated Soil Erosion R
Page 50 and 51: B. PradhanImpacts of land degradati
Page 52 and 53: Carson, B. 1985. “Erosion and Sed
Page 54 and 55: The trend of forest coverage in the
Page 56 and 57: BiodiversityState of BiodiversityNe
Page 58 and 59: The Government has given legal prot
Page 60 and 61: Different ways of maintaining biodi
Page 62 and 63: ———.2004. State of the Enviro
Page 64 and 65: Appendix 4.1: Table continuedMajor
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Appendix 4.2: Protected Plant and W
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Table A4.2.3: Nepal's Share in Plan
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to intense weathering, and percolat
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Table 5.5: Water Supply and Water T
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Table 5.9: Water Quality of Shallow
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species are reported to be endanger
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Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR).
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Definition, Forms, and UnitsEnergy
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Table 6.5: Hydropower PotentialRive
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Chilime Hydroelectric Project: An E
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load occurs from 6 pm to 9 pm with
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assessment of wind energy and lack
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Review of Dams and Development by t
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IUCNElizabeth Khaka, UNEP-NairobiRu
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therefore reflect the three guiding
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is a seasonal dust storm. Anthropog
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Figure 7.3: Average Air Quality, Ja
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matter, hydrocarbons, and NO x (Nae
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Figure: 7.9: Vehicle Registered in
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Brick Kilnchlorofluorocarbons (HCFC
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Climate ChangeA region’s climate
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Figure 7.14: Mean Annual Precipitat
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Table 7.3: National Ambient Air Qua
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India. Available: http://www.cleana
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———.1999. “Ambient Air Qual
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Appendix 7.1: World Health Organiza
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Table 8.1: Criteria for Urban Statu
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accommodate the rapidly increasing
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managing solid waste. They are part
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In most municipalities, hazardous w
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in worsening public health conditio
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objects of archaeological, historic
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Min BajracharyaB. PradhanVehicles a
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Department of Health Services (DOHS
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Table 9.1 describes the major highl
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the period to up 2017. The document
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earthquakes; and awareness raising
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Sub-regional LinkagesOther developi
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Figure 9.1: The Key Environmental I
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(iv)(v)(vi)plants, and other non-ti
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environmental governance can be bet
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can vary considerably. Both sides h
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Dhungel, D.N., and A.B. Rajbhandari
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Table A9.1.2: Industry-Specific Tol
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. Cultural Heritage8. Convention fo
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Appendix 9.3: Some Prominent Enviro
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Some funding arrangements made by t
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(NARDF 2004) for a period of 1 to 3
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Table 10.2: Annual Income and Expen
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Table 10.4: Users’ Share in Benef
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From Hands Around Everest bookFrom
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Table 10.8: Subsidy Rate for Biogas
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microorganism communities and the n
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subsidies (Mason 1996). All these a
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addressed only part of the problem.
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historical practice of community-ma
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moved or relocated. The fact that s
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Kathmandu Valley and receives a lar
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cooperative ventures provided neith
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further poaching has not been repor
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http://www.pugwash.org/reports/pac/
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United Nations. 2003. World Populat
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how other countries with substantia
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(i) Broad-based and sustainable eco
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Although progress is encouraging, m
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Nepal’s Changing Pattern of Trade
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Table 12.2: Trade/ GDP RatiosFY1981
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Table 12.5: Percentage Share of Maj
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well as other provisions in specifi
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Future Implications for NepalIncrea
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International Trade Forum (ITN). 20
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- Gross domestic product per unit e
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Time Series InformationGenerally tw
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Table 13.1a: Different Datasets Col
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elevant due to its multidisciplinar
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Figure 13.6: Examples of Applicatio
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Judith DobmannThere are many source
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———.2003. Mapping Nepal Censu
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sustainable livelihoods requires an
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and haphazard. Population pressures
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issue. These deficiencies stem from
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population must be assessed. MOEST
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Appendix 14.1: List of Key Environm
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(vii) The EIA report approving agen
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Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty a
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Nepal’s Progress Towards the MDGs
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Goal 4: Reduce child mortalityReduc
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