Papers by Laxmi Dutt Bhatta
Cognizance Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies
This paper examines the possibility of integrating incentive for ecosystem services (IES) Scheme ... more This paper examines the possibility of integrating incentive for ecosystem services (IES) Scheme in municipal development planning. Nepal’s Local Government Operation Act empower municipal authorities to develop local level innovations and by laws, whereas Forest Act provides sufficient space towards IES schemes. The study is carried out in two municipalities, Dhankuta in the east, and Dasarath Chand in the far west, representing mid hills of Nepal. The study follows household questionnaire to understand stakeholders’ priority and IES possible institutional structure, focus group discussions, and Key Informant Interviews. The result revealed that IES schemes are feasible through multi-stakeholders’ engagement at the municipal level. There is a need for municipal facilitation to ensure upstream and downstream interlinkages, and ensuring incentives to upstream communities. In order to establish long term IES schemes, the institutional mechanism needs to be established within the munic...
Watersheds are key geographical features that supply a wide range of important environmental and ... more Watersheds are key geographical features that supply a wide range of important environmental and agricultural services. However, in many parts of Nepal, watershed areas are being degraded, with significant negative impacts on local livelihoods. To help policy-makers act to improve watershed conservation, a new SANDEE study in collaboration with the Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Program of ICIMOD has assessed the value of the services provided by the watershed that drains into the Koshi River Basin in central Nepal.
American Journal of Climate Change, 2018
Water Economics and Policy, 2017
This study was carried out to design an incentive payment for an ecosystem services (IPES) scheme... more This study was carried out to design an incentive payment for an ecosystem services (IPES) scheme in the Baitadi Town Water Supply and Sanitation Project of Nepal. The main intention behind the designing of the scheme was to develop strategy for equitable use of water resources and involve communities, watershed and water user, in the sustainable management of water resources. We administered household survey in both the watershed community and water users to elicit their preferences regarding water source management and drinking water supply. A discrete choice experiment was employed in the case of water users which showed that, for them, water quality and quantity are the most important attributes. The estimated annual willingness-to-pay of water users for doubling water availability is NPR 482,076 (USD 4,505) and for doubling the water quantity and the supply of clean water that can be drunk directly from the tap is NPR 1.18 million (USD 10,988). The results of consultations with...
Our sincere thanks go to the Village Development Committees (VDCs), Forest User Groups (FUGs) and... more Our sincere thanks go to the Village Development Committees (VDCs), Forest User Groups (FUGs) and nongovernment organizations (NGOs), community based organizations (CBOs), civil society members; and farmers and traditional healers, school teachers, herders, herb collectors, and entrepreneurs who provided generous cooperation and shared their experiences for the purpose of the study. v Acronyms and Abbreviations CDB Central Department of Botany CFUGs Community Forest User Groups IK Indigenous Knowledge KSL Kailash Sacred Landscape msl Mean Sea Level MAPs Medicinal and Aromatic Plants NTFPs Non-timber Forest Products NGOs Non-governmental Organizations TAR Tibet Autonomous Region TEK Traditional Environmental Knowledge TK Traditional Knowledge TU Tribhuvan University VDC Village Development Committee WCCB Wildlife Crime Control Bureau vi Executive Summary The Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) is a transboundary landscape (area: 31,252 sq.km) around Mount Kailash. KSL is exceptionally rich in cultural and ecological diversity and has its own traditional systems of resource use and management. KSL Nepal comprises approximately 42.5% of the total landscape area, and covers Baitadi, Darchula, Bajhang and Humla districts. This study was conducted in different representative villages of four districts of KSL Nepal with the aim of documenting the traditional practice and knowledge of the indigenous and local communities regarding natural resource use and management. Resources like agriculture, forest, pastureland and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have been managed by indigenous and local communities since time immemorial. People have been growing various crops depending on the location, climate and culture. Similarly, they decide the breed and number of livestock to be raised based on their access to pastureland, purpose, religious belief and location. Pasturelands are managed in two ways in KSL Nepal, either as open access or controlled access. Social institutions/communities decide the timing, duration, and area of grazing communally. Management structure of highland pasture is better regulated than that of lowland pasture. Forests in KSL Nepal are managed as government-managed forest, religious forest, community forest and leasehold forest. Local people develop rules and regulations to conserve the forest as a community forest and local authorities decide the time for collecting firewood and punish people involved in violating the rules. In some areas of KSL Nepal, forests are conserved as sacred forest where grazing and collection of timber, fodder, NTFPs, etc. are restricted. NTFPs have become major economic products in the region. The production of NTFPs is gradually decreasing due to unsustainable harvesting practices. Traditional institutions used to play a decisive role in resource conservation and management in KSL Nepal. Traditional authority systems still have a role in resource governance in Darchula and Humla districts. Property rights over resources are claimed when the economic value of the resources increases; property rights are hence defined accordingly. Traditionally, property rights were defined based on the ecological boundaries of the resources and social relations. Change in the political and administrative setup led to restricted resources use, but ecological boundaries and social relations continue to take precedence over the political and administrative setup. Disputes over access to resources sometimes lead to violent clashes, which are resolved by the community or adjudicated by the District Administrative Offices. Traditional knowledge on the use of plants and animals for diverse purposes is abundant in KSL Nepal. Traditional healers use plants as medicines for different ailments like abdominal disorders, cuts, burns, cough, cold, asthma, etc. Plants are used as wild vegetables, sources of oil, dyes and fibres, and the main source of timber and fodder. Furthermore, people in this region use plants for making agricultural equipment, honey, sour syrup and hay. Locals use wide varieties of plants and plant products in their ritual activities and other cultural practices. Animal resources are less extensively used than plant resources. However, traditional healers, amchis, and traders use animal species to obtain items such as fur, wool, bone marrow, meat, gall bladder, feather, etc. In some places (Bajhang district), temporal and spatial as well as horizontal and vertical transfer of traditional knowledge is constantly taking place through socio-ecological interaction of people of different age groups and areas. In other places (Darchula district), traditional knowledge about the management of resources has not been transferred smoothly to the next generation and faces the risk of loss. Generally, traditional knowledge is transferred through day-today activities inside the community or through specialists in particular forms of knowledge. Specialists' knowledge is usually transferred to the family members orally and through practice. It is necessary to address different issues related to traditional knowledge system for the management of biological resources. Institutionalization and documentation, access to resources, effective policy and legislation are needed to enhance the traditional knowledge system. To avoid unnecessary conflict over resources, access to traditionally used grazing areas and standard norms and rights for collecting resources should be well defined. Activities such as poaching and illegal extraction of forest products should also be resolved to conserve the resources. Bioprospecting of medicinal plants is necessary to encourage indigenous and local communities to continue conserving and using medicinal plants effectively and sustainably. Addressing all the issues demands strong local institutions, effective rules and regulations, and a transboundary approach for conserving resources sustainably.
PLOS ONE
The impacts of climate change are evident in the agriculture sector globally. These impacts are m... more The impacts of climate change are evident in the agriculture sector globally. These impacts are more severe and pronounced in a mountainous country like Nepal due to the high reliance on agro-economy and subsistence-based livelihoods by smallholder farmers that increase vulnerability and risks. Several ecosystem-based adaptation measures have proved to build the adaptive capacity of both agro-ecosystems and smallholder farmers by offering simple and affordable technologies however, these are yet to be prioritized by policy and programs for scaling. In this paper, we provide science-based evidence to traditionally used practices, such as jholmal (locally prepared bio-fertilizer and pesticides) and straw mulching by comparing their efficacy in terms of yield and reduction in disease pest infestation. The study was conducted in Kavre district of Nepal during 2017 and 2018 using participatory on-farm field trials for jholmal and straw mulching designed separately with Randomized Complet...
This study was undertaken in the Sardukhola sub-watershed of eastern Nepal to illustrate how loca... more This study was undertaken in the Sardukhola sub-watershed of eastern Nepal to illustrate how local policy instruments can be used to supplement government water supply. We discuss a strategy for using Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) to meet water demand in Dharan Municipality in Nepal. A rigorous process was followed in designing the PES scheme. Following focus group discussions, a Choice Experiment was carried out to determine the preferences of municipal water users. In addition, upstream households were interviewed to understand their requirements to participate in a watershed management program. Finally, we used a series of formal and informal stakeholder consultations to help validate household survey findings and develop an institutional framework for implementing PES. Our analysis indicates that water quality is the most important attribute preferred by water users and that upstream households require incentives to decrease domestic livestock grazing, change agricultural practices and reduce open defecation. Results suggest that developing a PES scheme would be socially acceptable and financially feasible and may contribute to a flow of USD 118,000 per year from water users for watershed management. In concurrence with local stakeholders, we propose a tri-partite institutional structure to implement PES. We note that a national PES policy would make it easier to initiate such integrated and market-oriented approaches for enhancing drinking water supply.
Climate and human-driven changes play an important role in regional droughts. Northwest Yunnan Pr... more Climate and human-driven changes play an important role in regional droughts. Northwest Yunnan Province is a key region for biodiversity conservation in China, and it has experienced severe droughts since the beginning of this century; however, the extent of the contributions from climate and human-driven changes remains unclear. We calculated the ecosystem evapotranspiration (ET) and water yield (WY) of northwest Yunnan Province, China from 2001 to 2013 using meteorological and remote sensing observation data and a Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model. Multivariate regression analyses were used to differ-entiate the contribution of climate and vegetation coverage to ET. The results showed that the annual average vegetation coverage significantly increased over time with a mean of 0.69 in spite of the precipitation fluctuation. Afforestation/reforestation and other management efforts attributed to vegetation coverage increase in NW Yunnan. Both ET andWY considerably fluc-tuate...
Recent research highlights the essential role of planted forests in providing multiple ecosystem ... more Recent research highlights the essential role of planted forests in providing multiple ecosystem goods and services (ES) to human society. However, there has been little assessment of these ES due to a lack of an appropriate framework and tools for assessment. Researchers, policymakers and society at large have shown considerable enthusiasm for appropriate approaches, classifications and tools to be developed for assessment of ES from planted forests. Drawing on lessons derived from ES assessments on various land use types, in this paper we propose and test an easy-to-apply framework to assess ES from planted forests in Nepal. We recognise that the diverse characteristics of planted forests, such as location, purpose, species, rotation, management intensity, and local demand and supply, can influence the provision of ES from planted forests. We show examples of opportunities to enhance multiple ecosystem services in planted forest landscapes, which meet both production and conservat...
Handbook of Climate Change Management, 2021
In this report, we present three thematically linked, but separate studies in the KSL addressing ... more In this report, we present three thematically linked, but separate studies in the KSL addressing issues of ecosystem services as assessed using the valuation approach. We follow these studies with a set of policy recommendations to address ecosystem service issues in a holistic approach that attempt to account for all the potential values of ecosystem services. With this approach, we can use these “values” to create more equitable and sustainable systems of supply and distribution.
The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, which stretches across eight countries in Asia and covers a... more The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, which stretches across eight countries in Asia and covers an area of 3.5 million km 2 , is home to spectacular lakes, rivers, aquifers and wetlands. They are a major source of freshwater indispensable to the lives of 230 million people living in the region. These ecosystems also play a vital role as regulators of water storage and ensure a wide range of goods and services such as drinking water, irrigation, hydro-energy, food-processing, recreation, habitats for biodiversity including rare and endemic species, water purification and buffering floods, among many others. Although these ecosystems provision such important goods and services, managing them wisely is challenging due to their remoteness and limited accessibility. Where they are accessible, local communities heavily depend on them for their livelihoods. Furthermore, the wetlands in the HKH region are steadily declining and undergoing degradation with substantial impacts on ecosystem services, biodiversity and the livelihoods of people. The major driving forces, either natural or anthropogenic, include siltation, expansion of agricultural land, over harvesting of wetland resources, runoff from agriculture and industrial pollution, among many others.
International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 2019
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand local perceptions on climate change and its imp... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand local perceptions on climate change and its impacts on biodiversity, rangeland, agriculture and human health.Design/methodology/approachA household survey with 300 interviewees and focus group discussions with key stakeholders were conducted and validated at two steps, using the climate data from the nearest weather stations and reviewing literatures, to correlate the local perceptions on climate change and its impacts.FindingsMajority of the respondents reported an increase in temperature and change in the precipitation pattern with increased hazardous incidences such as floods, avalanches and landslides. Climate change directly impacted plant distribution, species composition, disease and pest infestation, forage availability, agricultural productivity and human health risks related to infectious vector-borne diseases.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the remoteness and difficult terrain, there are insufficient local weat...
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Papers by Laxmi Dutt Bhatta