ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

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– Gross domestic product per unit energy use– Carbon dioxide emission per capitaFigure 13.1: Relationships among Indicators, Data, andInformation to Meet Users’ NeedsTarget 10: Halve by 2015 the Proportion ofPeople without Sustainable Access to SafeDrinking Water.Indicator:– Proportion of population with sustainableaccess to improved water sourcesTarget 11: Significantly Improve the Lives of atleast 100 million Slum Dwellers by 2020.Indicators:– Proportion of people with access toimproved sanitation– Proportion of people with access to secureland tenureCoherent and compatible baseline data anddata systems must be in place to derive theindicators described above. A United NationsDevelopment Programme report by the NepalCountry Team in 2002 shows that Nepal’s progress inmeeting MDG Goal 7 has been poor and indicatesthat lack of data is part of the problem.Importance of Environmental IndicatorsIndicators need to be based on primary data whichare the foundation for scientific analysis and decisionmaking. An index is a composite of severalindicators. Combining relevant indicators from thevast array of environmental data into a compositeindex reveals the evidence more convincingly thanindividual indicators would. Environmentalindicators represent a powerful tool for communicatingsynoptic information on the environment todecision makers and the public. Indicators representa bridge between the wealth of detailed informationand the need for interpreted information. Environmentalindicators facilitate better understanding ofenvironmental trends and conditions at multiplelevels of users—the general public, researchers andscientists, and policymakers (Figure 13.1). Thepackaging of environmental data into indicators willhelp to simplify complex issues and set precise goals,and monitor progress towards those goals.Environmental indicators are not easy toformulate and their development is the subject ofmuch national and international research (ICSU2002). Environmental indicators are relativelyunderdeveloped compared with economic andsocial indicators, and there is no widely usedcomposite index that captures the progress ofenvironmental sustainability, similar to gross nationalSource: After Braat, in Kurik and Verbruggen (1991)product for economic development or the humandevelopment index.Environmental Information DatabaseFrameworkAccess to multisectoral environmental databases atmultiple levels is the key to environmentalassessment and monitoring. An environmentalinformation database should integrate informationfrom socioeconomic and biophysical sources,natural disasters, and polices and institutions. TheUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hasbeen advocating a framework environmentaldatabase for state of the environment reporting at thenational level (Rump 1996). Embracing such aframework at the national level will help Nepal dealwith environmental information (see Figure 13.2).Issues Related to EnvironmentalInformationNeeds for environmental data and information aredetermined by specific environmental problems.Some critical questions regarding environmentaldata and information are:(i) What are the pressing environmentalproblems?(ii) What are the data needs?(iii) What are the data gaps?(iv) What are the institutional mechanisms tosupport the data and information?Environmental data and information aremultidisciplinary and integrative in nature,measuring human activities and natural events thataffect the environment. There needs to be a194 Environment Assessment of Nepal : Emerging Issues and Challenges
Figure 13.2: Framework for an Environmental Information DatabaseBIOPHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTINPUTLAND WATER ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE BIODIVERSITYLand use Inland water pollution Air pollution Destruction of biodiversityDeforestation Utilization of inland water Climate change Loss of aquatic fishLand degradation Marine water pollution Wildlife tradeLand desertificationHabitat lossWaste disposalProtected areasSOCIOECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTPOPULATION HEALTH AGRICULTURECharacteristics of population Characteristics of health Agricultural productionPopulation growth Mortality incidences Livestock population & productionRural urban migration Noise pollution Use of agrochemicalsHealth educationPOVERTY TRANSPORATION TOURISMENERGY EDUCATION ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENTRenewable energyNonrenewable energyINDUSTRYENVIRONMENTALINFORMATIONDATABASEOUTPUTSTABLESGRAPHSMAPSNATURAL DISASTERSFLOOD HAZARD DROUGHT HAZARD CYCLONE EARTHQUAKE FOREST FIRESVOLCANOSLANDSLIDESPOLICIES AND INSTITUTIONSSTATUS OF EIASTATUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND MANAGEMENTPARTICIPATION IN MAJOR GLOBAL CONVENTIONSSource: UNEP/EAP-AP—State of the Environment Data Collection and Reporting Training for South Asia (unpublished).continuous process to survey and monitor bothquantitative and qualitative assessment of theresources base or environmental conditions. Specificenvironmental problems require assessment ofexisting data structure and identification of datagaps. Proper institutional mechanisms allow sharingof data and information and will fill the data gaps. Aconcept of “information infrastructure” is emergingin which information is seen as infrastructure liketelecommunications or road infrastructure.Information infrastructure related to the environmentcan be seen as a broad policy, technical, financial,and institutional framework to promote and useenvironmental information. An informationinfrastructure on the environment will be the key tomanaging environmental problems. Such aninformation infrastructure on environment willfacilitate integrating environmental concerns intoeconomic development, tracking environmentalchanges and managing the environment, andpromoting environmental awareness to the public.Core Environmental InformationAlmost all environmental problems share commoninformation needs. These include basic descriptionsof such things as topography, land use/land cover,infrastructure, and demography (human activity) thatare common information denominators (UNEP andUNDP 1994). Such details can be considered the coreenvironmental information that will facilitate betterunderstanding within the context of the environmentalproblem (local, regional, and national) in itsfullest sense. The specific type of environmental andnatural resources information, however, will bedictated by the nature of the developmentinterventions for which it is designed.Development of core environmental datasets isoften labor and technology intensive, and they areexpensive to produce and update (UNEP and UNDP1994). These core datasets provide a wide variety ofuses specific to a given location; for instance, landuse information is needed to address manyenvironmental problems, but often no single use canjustify the cost of development. Focusing onenvironmental assessment and sustainable developmentstrategies, a broad-based symposium organizedby UNEP and UNDP identified ten high-prioritycore environmental datasets that are central to manytypes of studies related to environmental assessment.These are: land use and cover, demographics,hydrology, infrastructure, climatology, topography,economy, soils, air quality, and water quality.In Nepal, many different government agencieshave mandates to generate and maintain coreinformation, but the availability of information variesfrom theme to theme and data gaps persist.Chapter 13: Environmental Information, Analysis, and Integration195
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About the OrganisationsAsian Develo
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© 2006 International Centre for In
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AcknowledgementsWe would like to ex
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PM2.5PAHRSSAARCSACEPSEASO 2TSPUKUND
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Chapter 6: Energy Resources 65Intro
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List of FiguresFigure 2.1: People a
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Table 6.1: Energy Consumption and P
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forests are also used for infrastru
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as data gathered by different agenc
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Table 2.1: Population Growth Rates
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mortality rates for rural and urban
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Agglomeration village in the centra
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soil erosion, and depletion of wate
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provision remains inadequate becaus
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Malnutrition remains a serious obst
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Table 2.24: Existing and Projected
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Table 2.28: Income Poverty Indicato
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Table 2.31: Change in Employment St
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In 2004, the average annual househo
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Mountain areas have the most food i
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Schaffner, U. 1987. “Road Constru
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Table 3.1: Agricultural Economic De
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Table 3.4: Estimated Soil Erosion R
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B. PradhanImpacts of land degradati
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Carson, B. 1985. “Erosion and Sed
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The trend of forest coverage in the
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BiodiversityState of BiodiversityNe
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The Government has given legal prot
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Different ways of maintaining biodi
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———.2004. State of the Enviro
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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
Page 158 and 159: Some funding arrangements made by t
Page 160 and 161: (NARDF 2004) for a period of 1 to 3
Page 162 and 163: Table 10.2: Annual Income and Expen
Page 164 and 165: Table 10.4: Users’ Share in Benef
Page 166 and 167: From Hands Around Everest bookFrom
Page 168 and 169: Table 10.8: Subsidy Rate for Biogas
Page 170 and 171: microorganism communities and the n
Page 172 and 173: subsidies (Mason 1996). All these a
Page 174 and 175: addressed only part of the problem.
Page 176 and 177: historical practice of community-ma
Page 178 and 179: moved or relocated. The fact that s
Page 180 and 181: Kathmandu Valley and receives a lar
Page 182 and 183: cooperative ventures provided neith
Page 184 and 185: further poaching has not been repor
Page 186 and 187: http://www.pugwash.org/reports/pac/
Page 188 and 189: United Nations. 2003. World Populat
Page 190 and 191: how other countries with substantia
Page 192 and 193: (i) Broad-based and sustainable eco
Page 194 and 195: Although progress is encouraging, m
Page 196 and 197: Nepal’s Changing Pattern of Trade
Page 198 and 199: Table 12.2: Trade/ GDP RatiosFY1981
Page 200 and 201: Table 12.5: Percentage Share of Maj
Page 202 and 203: well as other provisions in specifi
Page 204 and 205: Future Implications for NepalIncrea
Page 206 and 207: International Trade Forum (ITN). 20
Page 210 and 211: Time Series InformationGenerally tw
Page 212 and 213: Table 13.1a: Different Datasets Col
Page 214 and 215: elevant due to its multidisciplinar
Page 216 and 217: Figure 13.6: Examples of Applicatio
Page 218 and 219: Judith DobmannThere are many source
Page 220 and 221: ———.2003. Mapping Nepal Censu
Page 222 and 223: sustainable livelihoods requires an
Page 224 and 225: and haphazard. Population pressures
Page 226 and 227: issue. These deficiencies stem from
Page 228 and 229: population must be assessed. MOEST
Page 230 and 231: Appendix 14.1: List of Key Environm
Page 232 and 233: (vii) The EIA report approving agen
Page 234 and 235: Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty a
Page 236 and 237: Nepal’s Progress Towards the MDGs
Page 238 and 239: Goal 4: Reduce child mortalityReduc
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