Participatory ecological monitoring brings together conservationists and members of the public to collect data about changes in nature. This article scrutinizes the “social nature” of such monitoring, considering not only its impacts for nature, but also society, and importantly the ways in which these interact. Drawing on the field of nature–society studies we present a framework with which to explore case studies from the community forests of Nepal. We document the importance of multiple knowledges of nature, including what is referred to as “local monitoring” and its relation to the scientific procedures promoted in participatory monitoring; the consequences of participatory monitoring as a situated and embodied practice, such that it may (re)produce social inequalities; and the place of monitoring within the wider socioecological regime, with regard to possible unintended consequences for both nature and society. This article thus expands our understanding of the complexities of this increasingly popular approach to conservation. 相似文献
To enable more effective monitoring of sustainable development for meeting targets of the post-2015 agenda, assessment is required at the sub-national level to better understand the spatial variation in factors which contribute to sustaining livelihoods. In this research we take Nepal as a case study; a nation consistently ranked as one of the poorest in the world. To understand how sustainable development can effectively promote livelihood diversification, we advocate that a multidimensional spatial approach is essential for monitoring social and environmental change to aid decision-making processes. To achieve this, a multidimensional index was created to spatially explore the landscape of livelihoods across rural Nepal. A methodology was developed to quantify the livelihoods asset pentagon (human-physical-social-financial-natural) of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. 23 socio-environmental indicators were selected to map the multidimensionality of livelihoods at the eco-development area unit level and produce the Multidimensional Livelihoods Index (MLI). Results indicate considerable spatial variability in the factors affecting people's livelihoods across Nepal. In general, the MLI decreases as you move north and east, reflecting changes in the topographic landscape and distance from the Kathmandu Valley Outcomes suggest an effective method for monitoring change at a sub-national level; highlighting potential locations and/or livelihood strategies for improving the targeting of resources (e.g. investment of foreign aid) to facilitate more sustainable development for the future. 相似文献
Abstract This study presents the first comprehensive nationwide trend detection of streamflow in Nepal, a country that has been historically understudied despite its critical location as the southern pathway for most of the Himalayan snowpack melt and torrential seasonal monsoon rains. We applied Mann-Kendall and Sen's trend tests using trend-free pre-whitening and bootstrap approaches to two streamflow data sets to deal with serial and cross-correlation. The two data sets comprised 23–33 hydrometric stations with 31 years and more than 20 years of published data, respectively. The test on the 33 stations data set showed that 23% of the streamflow variables studied had statistically significant trends, evenly divided between upward and downward trends. Similarly, in the second, relatively smaller data set, 24% of variables exhibited trends, of which 41% were downward and 59% upward. The higher percentage of observed upward trends in pre-monsoon and winter seasonal average flow is noteworthy given the potential snowmelt contribution in many of the studied sites. Trends were mostly absent in stations draining the larger basins. However, some spatial patterns were seen in the observed trend directions, specifically, a downward trend in the Karnali-Mahakali River basin and an upward trend in the West Rapti River basin, as well as a nationwide absence of trend in the post-monsoon season. Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz Citation Gautam, M.R. and Acharya, K., 2011. Streamflow trends in Nepal. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (2), 344–357. 相似文献
Abstract A simple guide (shown in the appendix) is produced, which enables a water manager or engineer to make an estimate of statistics of water equivalent of snow cover for return periods between 5 and 100 years for most places in the United Kingdom. This paper describes how the guide was produced using many different sources of data. The methods described here will be of help to both meteorologists and hydrologists in temperate countries with similar snow questions. 相似文献
The seismic ground motion hazard for Nepal has been estimated using a probabilistic approach. A catalogue of earthquakes has been compiled for Nepal and the surrounding region (latitude 26% N and 31.7% N and longitude 79° E and 90° E) from 1255 to 2011. The distribution of catalogued earthquakes, together with available geological and tectonic information were used to delineate twenty-three seismic source seismic source information and probabilistic earthquake hazard prediction relationship, peak ground accelerations (PGAs) have zones in Nepal and the surrounding region. By using the parameters in conjunction with a selected ground motion been calculated at bedrock level with 63%, 10%, and 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years. The estimated PGA values are in the range of 0.07-0.16 g, 0.21 0.62 g, and 0.38-1.1 g for 63%, 10%, and 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years, respectively. The resulting ground motion maps show different characteristics of PGA distribution, i.e., high hazard in the far-western and eastern sections, and low hazard in southern Nepal. The quantified PGA values at bedrock level provide information for microzonation studies in different parts of the country. 相似文献
Tourism is Nepal's largest industry, giving people in rural areas an alternative to subsistence farming. Tourism can have an impact on the forest cover of a region as trees provide firewood for cooking and heating and timber for building accommodation. In 1986 the Annapurna Conservation Area Project was established to ensure that tourism was managed more sustainably, which includes minimising its impact on the forest cover. This study assesses the impacts of tourism on the forest cover in the Annapurna region by comparing Landsat images from 1999 to 2011. This was achieved through spectral classification of different land cover and by assessing the change in forest cover in relation to increasing distances from tourism villages. A major problem with remote sensing in mountainous regions such as Nepal is shadow caused by the relief. This issue was addressed by only assessing areas which were free from shadow, which in effect meant a sample was used rather than the whole study region. The results indicate that there has been an 8 percent reduction in overall forest extent, but this change varies by region. In the northern, drier regions there has been a net increase in forest cover, while in the southern regions there has been a net reduction in forests. The influence of tourism facilities on forest is also variable. Around each of the tourism villages sampled there was a general trend of forest removal decreasing as the distance from each village increased, which indicates tourism does have a negative impact on forests. However, there was an opposite trend in the northern villages that were well inside the conservation area. 相似文献