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Bajracharya, SR; Khanal, NR; Nepal, P; Rai, SK; Ghimire, PK; Pradhan, NS (2021). 'Community Assessment of Flood Risks and Early Warning System in Ratu Watershed, Koshi Basin, Nepal.' In Sustainability 13: 3577.
The community-based flood early warning system enables local communities to enhance their resilience to flooding risks. We highlight the efficacy of the community assessment of flood risks and early warning systems. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we evaluate the progress of such a system implemented in the Ratu River – a small tributary of the Koshi River in Nepal. The establishment of a community network in 2015 was instrumental in the dissemination of flood early warning information and in building local capacities to understand risks and take timely action. The flood early warning resulted in awareness-raising, strengthened upstream–downstream linkages, and resulted in a greater willingness among communities to help each other prepare for flood disasters in the Ratu watershed.
Gul, C; Mahapatra, PS; Kang, S; Singh, PK; Wu, X; He, C; Kumar, R; Rai, M; Xu, Y; Puppala, SP (2021). 'Black Carbon Concentration in the Central Himalayas: Impact on Glacier Melt and Potential Source Contribution.' In Environmental Pollution 275: 116544
Nepal, S; Pradhananga, S; Shrestha, NK; Kralisch, S; Shrestha, JP; Fink, M (2021). 'Space–Time Variability in Soil Moisture Droughts in the Himalayan Region.' In Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 25: 1761-1783 DOI: 10.5194/hess-25-1761-2021.
We examined soil moisture drought over a 28-year period (1980–2007) in the transboundary Koshi River basin in the central Himalayan region. We found that the J2000 model can simulate the hydrological processes of the basin with good accuracy. We observed considerable variation in soil moisture in three physiographic regions and across the four seasons due to high variation in precipitation and temperature conditions. Our results suggest that both the occurrence and severity of droughts have increased in the basin. Our insights on the frequency, spatial coverage, and severity of drought conditions can help improve management of water resources and enhance agricultural productivity in the region.
Shi, P-l; Duan, C; Wang, L; Wu, N; Kotru, R; Gurung, J (2021). 'Integrated Landscape Approaches to Building Resilience and Multifunctionality in the Kailash Sacred Landscape, China.' In Journal of Mountain Science DOI: 10.1007/s11629-020-6500-x.
We use the perspective of integrated ecosystem management to strengthen crop-livestock integration and innovative livelihoods, and propose a multifunctional Kailash Landscape to activate the inter-linkages among agriculture, animal husbandry, and heritage pilgrimage/tourism. We analysed a case study of the Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative in China by land use and land cover change and its consequence on multiple ecosystem services. We found integrated landscape management to be effective in building resilience of socio-ecosystems by reducing the vulnerability of traditional agriculture. We show that integrated landscape approaches provide an effective perspective for sustainable socioeconomic development in this sacred landscape. Our findings highlight the importance of landscape-scale ecosystem-based adaptation to environment change.
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