Stories

Three books across three initiatives published

Machine learning-based agricultural assessment helps reduce knowledge gaps for better-informed policy decisions in Nepal

The pandemic forced us to switch from face-to-face classroom and field training to the virtual classroom. It also forced us to confront the digital divide.

A separate glacier and snow research section has now been established within the National Water Resource Regulation Authority

Supporting a coordinated national spatial data infrastructure in Bhutan

The HKH is not just disaster-prone, it’s prone to multiple disasters which can cascade. These disasters – particularly floods, which account for a third of all disaster events in the HKH – often transgress country boundaries and transboundary efforts to address the shared risks can lead to more effective emergency response and disaster risk reduction.

Droughts have profound cascading impacts that lead to water scarcity, agricultural loss, and famine. In recent decades, the frequency and intensity of droughts have increased significantly. Near-real time monitoring of droughts and early warning are therefore critical for food and water security in the HKH region.

Developed through a collaborative effort by the SERVIR-HKH Initiative, the Streamflow Prediction Tool for Bangladesh was used by the country’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) for inputs into its own in-house hydraulic model and flood mapping applications during the 2018 and 2019 floods, resulting in reliable baseline inputs and accurate forecasts.

Women play a vital role in local environmental management and decision making. Yet, they are particularly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and consequently in related careers.

The Regional Land Cover Monitoring System (RLCMS) addresses challenges in land management – including difficulties in accessing data, lack of transparency in data collection methodologies, inconsistencies in land cover classification, and limited financial and staff resources – by annually generating high-resolution land cover data for the HKH region.

In a case illustrative of effective inter-agency collaboration and resource sharing, the flash flood in Panjshir Valley, north-central Afghanistan, on 12 July 2018 – which led to 10 people losing their lives – was investigated using satellite imagery and backed by on-site field appraisal.

Forest fires have adverse ecological and economic effects and are a major concern in many countries, including Nepal. During the long, dry summers, Nepal experiences many forest fires.

Understanding past and present glacier behavior and analyzing possible changes help us understand the impacts of climate change on water resources.

The integration of earth observation and geospatial information for timely and reliable data has become critical for monitoring food security and vulnerabilities associated with disasters and climate change…

The Institute of Water Modeling (IWM) in Bangladesh has developed a cost-effective information system that provides 8-day flood forecasting. The system provides near real-time information through web GIS with local-level flood forecast maps for flood events…

As a knowledge and learning centre, ICIMOD recognizes the role of information in improving the understanding of environmental and social changes and guiding policies and programmes in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.

Forest biomass is the sum of the above ground living organic material contained in trees, which is expressed as dry weight per unit area. Forest carbon trading has gained attention in recent years, for which practical methods for estimating forest biomass as well as carbon stocks are vital…

Bangladesh is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to floods, which kill and displace a huge number of people each year. Floods also destroy homes and damage agricultural land, which is the main source of income for most people.

Disaster reporting in Nepal is still paper based, which is time consuming and information is often outdated before it can be disseminated.

The community-based forest fire information system complements the efforts of ICIMOD to provide timely information about forest fire incidents in Nepal to relevant officials in the forestry sector. ICIMOD’s current forest fire Information system uses data collected…

Every year, the rainy season in the Chittagong Metropolitan Area (CMA), Bangladesh brings news of human causalities and property damage caused by landslides.

Over the years, the approach to natural disasters has changed from response and relief to risk reduction, with policy focusing more and more on building resilience and increasing preparedness among communities living in hazard prone areas…

Across the Hindu Kush Himalayas, forest fires are devastating to local communities and ecosystems, and are a huge challenge for forest managers. The first challenge to stopping forest fires is getting accurate and timely information, including…

Under ICIMOD’s SERVIR-Himalaya Small Grants Programme, the Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has developed a geospatial database and information system to identify potential water harvesting…

The study of forest above-ground biomass (AGB) for estimating the carbon stock in each tree is important, as it is well established that the emission of carbon is the largest factor affecting today’s climate.

The project ‘Engaging Local Citizens to Map Environmental, Agriculture and Food Security Data’ explores the use of free and open infrastructure of OpenStreetMap (OSM) to map data related to environment, agriculture, and food security…

The results of the project were discussed with stakeholders from Nepal’s Ministry of Agricultural Development and Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, research institutes, non-governmental organizations, and farmers’ representatives…

Forest fires are a major challenge in Nepal, where large patches of forest are lost each year as a result of fire incidents. In recent years, the number of forest fire incidents has risen, further contributing to the destruction and degradation…