Kathmandu, 15 May 2023: Forest fires across Nepal dramatically rose by 76.5% between January and April 2023 – when compared with incidents reported over the entirety of the previous year.
We have awarded grants to four institutions to implement projects in Nepal and Pakistan under our SERVIR-HKH Small Grants Programme.
Nepal faces a double whammy of floods and landslides every year. Often considered a secondary hazard, landslides are usually triggered by incessant rainfall falling upon hilly and unstable slopes in Nepal’s predominantly mountainous terrain.
Bangladesh has the largest river delta in the world, which means much of the landscape is composed of alluvial floodplains. The northeast and southeast regions rise into small hills, and its river systems give life to coastal areas, wetlands, forests, fisheries, tea plantations, and industries.
In the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain ranges, the stunning landscape that makes the region so iconic is also creating a serious obstacle for public health – but NASA atmospheric scientists and the SERVIR programme are working to help keep mountain communities breathing easy.
The pristine, verdant slopes of the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) – the only extensive hilly area in Bangladesh – are rapidly changing. With the CHT hosting a growing number of tourists each year, development activities centred on tourism have been encroaching on biodiversity-rich landscapes, rural settlements, and fertile farmlands.
The impact of the 2022 floods on Pakistan’s rural communities and agriculture has been devastating, resulting in the loss of crops, livestock, and essential infrastructure.
Kathmandu, 22 April: The Forest Research and Training Centre (FRTC) is pleased to announce the launch of Nepal’s National Land Cover Monitoring System (NLCMS) to mark Earth Day. The system uses cloud computing and artificial intelligence to generate consistent data on how much of a region is covered by forests, wetlands, agriculture, and other land and water types, on an annual basis.
Assessment of floods in Nepal in October 2021, which affected seed availability, gives clues about actions to mitigate the impact of similar climate shocks on smallholder farmers.