Environment conservation dept in offing

RAZEN MANANDHAR

Kathmandu, July 26:

The Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MoEST) is going to have a separate department for environment conservation soon.

The MoEST is doing homework to set up a Department of Environment Conservation. A draft concept paper in this regard will soon be forwarded to the chief secretary for final approval. A special team headed by joint secretary Khumraj Punjali has been formed to develop a framework for the department.

“A separate department will give a boost to our environment conservation initiatives,” Punjali told The Himalayan Times.

According to the framework developed so far, the department will mainly have six sections — environmental planning and auditing, pollution control and standard, laboratory and research, communication, law and administration.

As per the framework, the new department will have less than 50 civil servants.

The MoEST believes that the department will be run by staffers of several government offices, who are capable but are lying idle. “So, it is not going to be a big financial liability for the ministry. Nontheless, we will have to assign duties and responsibilities to staffers,” he said.

A government officer said, “The budget will not be a problem for the department as we have not been able to utilise budget allocated for us. Inability to execute projects is the problem.”

Presently, there is only one department — the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology — under the MoEST. This department works in some specific areas that are not directly related to environment conservation.

“The department will be based outside Singha Durbar premises. This way, more and more people will visit us and we will interact with them on various issues,” the official said.

Published: July 27, 2007 12:00 am On: Nepal

https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/environment-conservation-dept-in-offing/

Save Nepal from landmines

The armed coflict has ended in Nepal. But the treat of the imapct is till there. It is known that only Nepal Army has laid over 14,000 landmines in 52 districts during the conflict. And it is not sure h how many by the Maoist army. Now, the war has ended. But anytime, anybody can be victimised due to the unexosed land mines and other impovershed exploxive devises.

Will anybody going to take care? I heard that Denmark and other countries are giving us money. But the experiences have shown us that we are very fast to blow the donation money but slow to work on the field.

What else can I say now?

Hodiaux estas tiel nomata "Tago de Virinoj". Mi ne scias kial virinoj (ne cxiuj, mi scias) gxuas gxin. Iel, mi diziras sukceson kaj felicxon al virinoj konataj okaze tiu tago.

La partoprenintojde la renkontigxo revenis hieraux vespere el la longa pielvagado. Mi iris al la hotelo por renkonti ilin sed mi estis iom malfrua kaj ili jam iris al siaj cxambroj. Mi povis salutin nur al S-ro Hori.

Narendra, Poshraj kaj Rustam tre eksciite rakontis al la gaja piedvagado kaj mi tre bedauxris ke mi mem ne povis partopreni en gxi. Ili havis ankaux belegajn fotojn ili kaptis dum la piedvagado je negxplenaj montoj. Mi gxojis ke cixuj membroj estis sanaj, felicxaj kaj bone gxuis la vagadon. Nur kelke da ili estis lacaj.

Ili hodiaux matene forveturos al Daman, alia flanko de monto de kie ili vidos panoramon de la Himalajo, kune kun Monto Everesto.

Kaj, mi hodiaux matene povis paroli kun Ursula. Sxi vokis al mia hejmo. Kaj sxi diris ke sxi estas tute sana. Mi estas felicxe ke mi renkontos ilin morgaux vespere. Kaj sabato estos la internacia vespero. Mi devas multon fari.

Environment agencies' integration in offing

RAZEN MANANDHAR

Kathmandu, March 4:

The Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MoEST) is working to integrate major environment agencies being run under two ministries — the MoEST and the Ministry of Forest and Social Conservation (MoFSC).

The MoEST is going to find out similarities in the handling of three areas of environment – desertification, climate change and biodiversity – so that problems related to implementation as well as duplication will be traced and resolved.

Currently, desertification and climate change are handled by the MoEST, while the MoFSC is handling biodiversity.

“The ministry is going to start a project in two weeks to solve all environment-related confusions at the policy level,” said Batu Krishna Upreti, chief of the Environment Assessment Section at the MoEST.

The National Capacity Needs Self-Assessment for Global Environment Management Project (NCSAP) will identify, confirm or review priority areas for action within the three thematic areas and identify related capacity needs within and across the areas. It further intends to catalyse targeted and coordinated action, and requests for future external funding and assistance. Similarly it also intends to link country action to the boarder national environmental management and sustainable development framework. The Rs 14 million project will be nationally executed and the MoEST will be the National Executing Agency, which will last for one-and-a-half-years.

“It will find synergies among and across these areas to direct actions towards achieving the national goal of sustainable development,” he said.

Upreti further said that the outcome of the project is to identify priorities and needs for capacity building to protect the global environment, taking into account the three global conventions on biodiversity, climate change and desertification.

“For example, we have national action plan on desertification but it alone cannot work, as the subjects are closely related with biodiversity and climate change as well,” he said, adding that such confusions on policy level are going to be cleared through this project.

He further said similar projects are being implemented or are on the way to be implemented, which will be combined in the future.

Published: March 05, 2007 12:00 am On: Kathmandu

https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/environment-agenciesae-integration-in-offing/

INGOs plan Bengal tiger census in Nepal

Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, January 30[2007]:


Various international non-government organisations are making plans to carry out a census of Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris) in Nepal’s national parks.
Recent studies have put the number of the wild cats in Nepal at about 350 to 375.
A tiger survey has been initiated in the Bardia National Park with a focus on the Babai river floodplain. A team of seven park personnel will start monitoring from the Chepang area, the gateway of the Babai, according to the last updated draft of the tiger count plan.
“We are currently working on methods to conduct a survey in the national parks to find out how many tigers are living in the habitat, which is constantly under human threat,” Dr Ghanashyam Gurung, the action country representative of WWF Nepal, told The Himalayan Times.

He expressed the hope that the count will most probably begin this season with support from various other institutions and will last for some six months.

“This is the first time the WWF is initiating such a survey. The past five years of the insurgency have had a marked impact on wildlife population in the Babai river floodplain,” he said.

Gurung added that the WWF will also develop a congregated methodology of counting rhinos. He, however, refused to comment on the financial aspect of the surveys.

The current tiger population estimation is based on various sources and surveys carried out in the past three decades.

However, it has been felt that there is insufficient information on the demographic patterns of the tigers such as population structure, spatial distribution, home-range size, movements, social organisations, age-structure, survival rate, extent for breeding etc, according to a recent outline document for tiger conservation.

Currently, three isolated areas in Nepal remain as tiger habitats. Chitwan occupies the largest area where 75 per cent of the tigers are within protected areas. The other two populations are those in Bardia and Shuklaphanta.

A $ 1 million revised action plan to conserve tigers and their habitat is on the final stage of drafting. It will consolidate various programmes on tigers for the coming five years.

Koshi river basin to be managed in integrated way{conservation}

Razen Manandhar

Kathmandu, January 3[2007]:


Seventeen districts under the watershed areas of the Koshi river and its tributaries in the eastern Nepal are being integrated into a long-term conservation programme under the name of Koshi River Basin Management (KBRM).

The programme is being envisaged by the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) of the
government with technical support from WWF Nepal.

“We will cover all the areas of the eastern Nepal, which are considered important from the point of view of water, wetland, wildlife, vegetation and indigenous culture in one big programme,” said Neera Pradhan, programme manager. This is the first initiative of its kind in the country and the main objective is to explore partnership and formulate a vision for conservation, she said. The districts to be covered are: Sindhupalchowk, Kavre, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Solukhumbu, Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Udayapur, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Saptari, Taplejung, Terhathum, Dhankuta, Panchthar, and Sunsari. The programme will bring Sagarmatha National Park, Makalu-Varun National Park,
Kanchanjunga Conservation Area and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve Area under a single umbrella
institution.

Pradhan said the formulation of KBRM as a pilot programme was guided by the National Water Plan, a 25-year plan of the government to manage water for all purposes. A joint team of the government and WWF will soon visit selected areas to be covered by the programme and will prepare a strategic paper within a year, she said.

The importance of river basin management, instead of a project-to-project basis, lies in the inherent
interrelation of water and land resources to form a unit. This approach focuses development and management of water, land and related resources to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of ecosystem. Executive secretary of the WECS, Ram Krishna Tiwari, said the project will generate necessary information on resources within Koshi river basin to ensure their wise use.

Kalam tells nations to focus on rural development

Published: December 16, 2006 12:00 am On: Nepal

RAZEN MANANDHAR

New Delhi, December 15 :

President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam today urged ministers and experts on housing development from 35 countries to stress on the development of rural areas, if they want to make their countries free from urban poverty.

“If you want to reduce pressure on urban areas bring more support and development in rural areas,” he said. President Kalam was addressing the inaugural session of the first Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Human Settlements today. Minister of state for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation of India Kumari Selja said that the countries must accept "inclusion" of the poor as part of core policy in all urban programmes. She said that the secretarial meeting held during the last two days has focused on four major themes -- pro-poor urban governance and planning, slum upgrading, delivery of Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation and financing sustainable urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific.

Anna Kajumlo Tibaijuka, the under-general -secretary of UN and executive director of the UN-HABITAT assured that the new UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is ready to offer the Asia-Pacific region all support in the field of water and sanitation.

"We are now at a significant turning point in history. The year 2007 will be the year in which for the first time, half of human population will be living in towns and cities. It makes the beginning of a new urban area," she said.

MoU signed

NEW DELHI: A memorandum of understanding between the government of Nepal and UN-HABITAT was signed on Friday. Kishore Thapa, the director general of Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, and Dr Anna Kajunmulo Tibaijuka, the under-secretary-general of UN and executive director of UN-HABITAT, signed the document, which will provide a grant of $2.5 million till the end of 2010. The money will be spent on development of infrastructure. Also present were Minister of Physical Planning and Works Gopal Man Shrestha and the advisor to UN-HABITAT Nepal Office Dr Ros-han Raj Shrestha. - HNS