The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
NEPALESE environmentalists have taken the Arun-III hydroelectric dam issue to court, even as the World Bank is expected to approve a loan of about $750 million for the project. Negotiations for the loan are in a "difficult stage", admits Nepalese minister of state for water resources Laxman Prasad Ghimire. However, …
MORE THAN 40 people have died of kala-azar and 120-odd people have been infected in Mahottari district of Nepal, close to the Indo-Nepal border, reports Jan Sarma for Panos Features. A shortage of insecticides has made it difficult to keep the virus at bay. In fact, in 1992-93, supplies were …
NEPAL will use a $3.3 million grant from the Global Environment Facility to conserve the unique ecosystem of the Barun valley on the southern slopes of Mount Everest. The valley lies in the Makalu-Barun National Park and conservation area and is believed to be one of the Himalayan kingdom's richest …
FROM EXCELLENT vegetable growers to taxi drivers -- that's the transformation the Jyapus of Kathmandu valley are undergoing. The agricultural practices of the Jyapus, a farming community that produces most of the fresh vegetables sold in Kathmandu, exemplifies the benefits of traditional farming methods. Indra Raj Pandey, an official in …
NEPAL'S carpet manufacturers have alleged that some environmental groups are the booming carpet industry in the name of a cleaner environment. Bijay Bahadur Shrestha, former president of the Central Carpet Industry Association, accused the government of not pursuing a clear-cut policy on the carpet industry, whose exports amount to $205 …
SOLID waste is piling up in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu. Entrepreneurs whose businesses are based on tourism say the country will lose tourists -- its major foreign exchange earner -- if the situation does not improve soon. Garbage disposal has been a problem since erstwhile West Germany, which had earlier …
A TEAM of US researchers have said carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon pollution levels in Kathmandu were the highest among Asian cities, writes Jan Sharma in a Panos report. The average carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon content of emissions of 8,000 vehicles monitored by the team were 3.95 per cent and 0.76 …
THOUGH under increasing pressure from conservation groups, Kathmandu is yet to impose a moratorium on giving away baby rhinoceroses to friendly countries as gifts. Animal lovers contend the government is actually selling the animals, because they are being shown as gifts against payments for rehabilitation and conservation. Conservation groups also …
MORE THAN 36 tonnes of highly toxic chemicals are stored even after their date of expiry in the godowns of the Agriculture Inputs Corp at Amlekhgunj, in central Nepal. The Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) says these pesticides were supposed to be burnt in the kiln of the Hetauda …
A RISE in poaching has threatened one-horned rhinoceroses in the Royal Chitwan National Park and the Royal Bardiya Wildlife Reserve along the Indian border. International groups are increasingly using traps and poisons to gather the rhinoceros horn, which fetches $25,000 per kg, according to a Panos report. Tirtha Man Maskey, …
FOREST degradation around a Nepali mountain village has been reversed in a span of 10 years despite an annual population growth rate of 2.5 per cent. In 1980, grazing and fodder collection was a major cause of degradation in Bhogteni, a village in the hills of central Nepal. However, in …
NEPALI environmentalists are opposing the Arun III hydro-electric power project in east Nepal on the grounds that there are "more practical, cost-effective and environmentally sound" alternatives, writes Jan Sharma in a Panos Features report from Nepal. However, the Kathmandu-based Alliance for Energy says the project "will be built entirely using …
"MARBLE, no; water, yes," shouted demonstrators at a recent rally in Kathmandu, demanding an immediate end to quarrying in the Godavari hills of the picturesque valley in which the capital nestles. The rally organised by Kathmandu Upatyaka Batabaran Bachau Andolan, warned the agitation would intensify if the government did not …
NEPALESE industrialists flatly deny their factories are polluting and at a recent seminar in Pokhara on the role of environmentalists in protecting the environment, they placed the blame squarely on the government in Kathmandu. They also ladled out some of the blame on public sector industries, motor vehicles and bureaucrats …
A NEPALESE expert committee rules out any adverse effect to Nepal from the Indo-Nepal agreement on the Tanakpur barrage, which concerns the utilisation of natural resources. The 11-member, government-appointed panel's ruling paves the way for parliamentary approval of the 120-MW hydel project. Nearly 3 ha of Nepalese land has been …
AIDS is a a disease that has no cure and this is forcing health workers to seek effective ways to prevent its spread. The experiences of the decade since the discovery of AIDS indicate strategies to change social attitudes and behaviour have limited the spread of the disease. Many grassroots …
Binod Bhattarai Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists Thapathali ,Kathmandu, P O Box 5143 Phone: 227691 Shree Govinda Shah or Hut Ram Vaidya Save Bagmati Campaign Tripureswor, Kathmandu P O Box 1155 Phone: 214600 Karna Shakya Nepal Heritage Society Bhadrakali Kathmandu, P O Box 1041 Phone: 211438 Anil Chitrakar Environmental Camps …
THE RAPID deterioration of Nepal's environment has had one positive outcome -- the country's environmental NGOs have begun to take the threat to their country's eco-system more seriously. Even the membership of the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists increased by 50 per cent over the last year. One group, the …
FOR A change, it's the children who are the focus of a conservation programme that is inspired by the saying "We have not inherited the earth from our forefathers, but only borrowed it from our children". Anil Chitrakar, a Kathmandu-based engineer-turned-conservationist. is responsible for the movement to educate children -- …
"Traffic jam on Everest", read a startling headline in The Rising Nepal, Kathmandu's leading English daily. The report went on to say that 34 mountaineers were on the way to the peak following the same route and they would all be jostling their way to the top. The headline, meanwhile, …
