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 …
Belonging to Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. these plants are highly sensitive to climatic conditions like extreme drought and extended exposure to sunlight Between 2010 and 2019, botanists and taxonomists working on Impatiens -- a group of plants commonly known as Balsams or jewel-weeds -- discovered 23 new species from the …
The Tiger Panthera tigris is a large and wide-ranging cat that occupies a variety of habitats, where it generally serves as the top predator. The tiger is also a flagship species(Dinerstein et al. 2007), and attention to protecting tiger populations and their habitats in Asian eco-regions has increased over the …
This management plan has been prepared by the Government of Nepal in response to the Bishkek declaration (2013) to secure 20 snow leopard landscapes by 2020. The management plan process involved extensive consultation and in-depth analyses of the current bio-climatic and socio-economic situation; an assessment of future scenario based on …
Global climate change is affecting biodiversity and ecological processes. We coupled a general circulation model that uses global datasets with terrain-based analyses to identify potential climate refugia in two conservation landscapes in Nepal for climate changeintegrated conservation planning. The results indicate that lower and mid-montane forests are vulnerable to climate …
A biological treasure trove of over 200 new species was discovered in the Eastern Himalayas between 2009 and 2014, according to WWF Living Himalayas Initiative’s latest regional species discovery report. The report, released in Bhutan on World Habitat Day, is entitled “Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland”, and maps out scores of …
In Eastern Himalayan region, snow melt is the major source of fresh water. Also, snow covered areas lying at low altitudes are expected to be most vulnerable to global warming. Thus, assessment of the snowmelt runoff under different climatic scenarios is important for efficient management and planning of water resources, …
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal are connected by the combined system of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, but erratic water supplies and pressures of population growth are leading to tensions over management of these transboundary waters. GOLAM RASUL outlines the main issues of transboundary water management in this Himalayan …
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal in the Eastern Himalayas are interconnected by the common river systems of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna (GBM). The GBM basin is home to approximately 700 million people, comprising over 10% of the world's population. The economy and environment of the region depend on water, …
NEW DELHI: In what appears to be another grim outcome of climate change, a study has found that forests in eastern Himalayas are gradually 'browning', with trees withering and foliage declining even during productive seasons. Similar changes were noted in tropical mountain forests across the world. Among the 47 protected …
Several species of Asian birds are likely to lose their habitat due to climate change, says a research published in the journal Global Change Biology. Researchers from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the UK-based BirdLife International and Durham University have contributed to the study which says that 45% and …
Climate change is threatening the survival of a number of Asian bird species, including those in India, a new study warns. The research conducted by Durham University and BirdLife International says that many avian species from the region are likely to suffer from climate change. The species will require not …
Bhutan has decided to crack down on illegal mining of dolomite along the Indo-Bhutan border in an attempt to curb pollution of groundwater in the foothills of Eastern Himalayas that has affected productivity of the tea gardens of Dooars in West Bengal. The 150-odd gardens in the region produce nearly …
Seven years ago, when the Arunachal Pradesh government introduced cultivation of large cardamom in Lower Subansiri and other adjoining districts as an alternative to jhum or slash-and-burn cultivation, the tribal families found it a new money-spinner. But this year has been suddenly a huge disaster because of the proliferation of …
Responses of hornbills and Ducula pigeons to hunting and disturbances to their habitats may help us understand the implications for the regeneration of their dependent tropical forest trees.
The Eastern Himalayan belt is the centre of origin for a number of crops, including rice. This study explored the customary laws and farming practices of Lepcha and Limbu communities, and what they mean for the design of mechanisms to protect traditional knowledge (TK) at national and community levels. It …
The large dams being built on the rivers of the eastern Himalayas have become highly controversial. The hydropower that north-east India is expected to produce is meant almost entirely for use elsewhere. That these dams will be exclusively hydropower and not multipurpose dams and that there will be a great …
Till five to six years ago, yak rearing was gradually becoming the last thing that young men from the Monpa community in the Kameng region of western Arunachal Pradesh were interested in. And there were reasons for this. Besides being an expensive activity with diminishing returns, climate change was also …
Guwahati, May 22: Assam plans to prepare a people’s bio-diversity register, which will document the biological resources in the state, their medicinal or any other use or any other traditional knowledge associated with them. Assam forest and environment minister Rakibul Hussain announced this during a function organised here today on …
‘Jhum kheti’, commonly known as slashand-burn or shifting cultivation, is the most predominant farming system practised by the hilly communities of North East (NE) India, where the jhumias transform forests into rural landscapes. This farming system still persists and plays an important role in providing subsistence livelihoods to at least …
IMPHAL, April 15 – The scientists at the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Manipur centre have successfully induced breeding of Khabak (Bangana dero), an indigenous minor carp of the region in an extended breeding season. “We have successfully started to breed Bangana dero in an extended breeding season following …
