Prakash Kumar Paudel

• PhD, Biology of Ecosystem
• Director at Conservation Nepal

For centuries, people worldwide have predicted disasters based on observations and experimentation, interpreting animal behavior, plant responses, weather patterns, and celestial phenomena. Despite its significance, such traditional and local knowledge remains under-researched and undocumented, limiting its potential for integration in disaster ris...

Traditional and local knowledge (TLK) can be instrumental in mitigating the risks of disasters. There are calls to prioritize such knowledge to promote community resilience against disasters. This study examines the integration of TLK into disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies in Nepal, India and Bangladesh using a qualitative content analysis. We...

Ecosystems provide valuable services in reducing the risks of disasters through various pathways, which are increasingly recognized as sustainable strategies for disaster management. However, there remains limited information on the underlying ecological processes of risk reduction. This paper addresses this gap by synthesizing ecological mechanism...

Scientific research on biodiversity and conservation generates the knowledge base useful in achieving sustainability targets. The knowledge gap limits our ability to design well-founded strategies and impedes the prospects of addressing myriad conservation challenges. It is therefore important to assess trends and biases in biodiversity and conserv...

Conservation biology in Nepal has recently been integrated in the undergraduate and graduate programs of various disciplines. Traditional courses (e.g., zoology, botany, forestry, social science and rural development, etc.) are being updated, allowing the principles of conservation biology to reach a wider audience. However, conservation materials...

Humanity faces a rising number of challenging disasters due to their increasing unpredictability and scale. While large-scale engineering solutions have been the mainstream approach, there is a growing acknowledgment that ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (eco-DRR) is a suitable approach in the long term due to its cost-effectiveness, social...

Landslides and soil erosion represent two common phenomena in mountainous regions, induced by heavy rainfall, floods, and human activities along the slopes. The practice of using vegetation to enhance slope stability is established in mountainous areas in Nepal and is deeply ingrained in traditional farming management, such as hedgerows, slope site...

This study aims to understand the perception of academic communities—both stationed in Nepal and abroad— on various aspects of research environment in Nepal and the challenges in carrying out research here. It further seeks to explore the relationship between different levels of research satisfaction, publications, funding and work experience. Here...

Nepal's diverse physiography, comprising the Himalayan north, hilly middle region, and Terai plains in the south, shapes distinct land use practices. Traditional wisdom in land use, driven by an understanding of the environment and disaster vulnerability, is being disrupted by rapid changes, notably driven by road construction. Linear settlements a...

Cultural beliefs, myths, and faith are integral components of local knowledge and practices, playing an important role in strengthening community responses to disaster risk reduction through various pathways. Firstly, these aspects influence people's understanding of the risks associated with disasters (e.g., risk perception) and their responses to...

Agriculture is vital for livelihoods in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. Local communities in these countries have developed unique farming systems well-adapted to their environments. This includes the use of local crop varieties with unique traits like flood, drought and disease resistance. Thus, community resilience to disasters was in place for cent...

Floodplain areas in Nepal have been prime locations for agriculture-related activities, as these areas can be easily irrigated and consist of nutrient-rich soil. However, with the expansion of agricultural infrastructure in other areas (e.g., irrigation systems, chemical fertilizers, high-yielding seeds), many of these floodplains are now abandoned...

Designing local development plans that consider site specific hazard risks is crucial. However, this consideration is often overlooked, even in areas with high hazard risks, resulting in significant damage to public resources. This policy brief examines the challenges that arise from ignoring local conditions by using Gobargada, a flood-prone villa...

Disaster risk reduction strategies are often accompanied by conventional adaptation approaches, involving high costs and limited flexibility. Conversely, ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has been advocated as a sustainable approach because it is cost-effective, efficient and provides co-benefits (e.g., ecosystem services). However, there is limited...

Averting biodiversity loss has been one of the most urgent challenges in our time. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic gave a clear message that human is a part of nature, and protecting/restoring biodiversity requires a more stringent and comprehensive conservation strategy. The most agreed strategy, among others, is to educate people...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has devastated every sphere of human society. Governments around the world implemented unprecedented policies designed to slow the spread of the disease and assistance to cope with its impacts. Such policies, however, are short-term and deba...

Nepal’s population of endangered Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris) is on the rise. In recent years, the presence of tigers has been documented at higher elevations. The objective of this study is to explore the possible reasons for the tigers’ presence at the higher elevations. It is critical that these high-altitude habitats for tigers be further ex...

The rate of species extinction has accelerated in the past few decades due to human-induced global changes. Establishing protected areas (PA) is one of the most viable solutions to averting this crisis. Although PA establishment in the past followed an ad-hoc approach without considering the conservation value of the prioritized areas, the developm...

Zoonosis-based epidemics are inevitable unless we revisit our relationship with the natural world, protect habitats and regulate wildlife trade, including live animals and non-sustenance products. To prevent future zoonoses, governments must establish effective legislation addressing wildlife trade, protection of habitats and reduction of the wildl...

Karnali province is the largest province in Nepal. No other province in Nepal has topographies as rugged, exhilarating and diverse as Karnali province. Between meandering river south of Birendranagar, dense forests intercepted by a large human settlement in Jajarkot, strikingly beautiful pasturelands in Jumla and insurmountable terrains in Kalikot,...

Nepal almost eliminated poaching of the greater one‐horned rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis over the past decade, although poaching of other rhinoceros species remains a major problem in other Asian countries, as well as in Africa. It is important to understand the processes leading to declines in poaching in Nepal that may provide insight into poss...

Radio stations particularly those of local FM have an influential role in disseminating environmental concerns among the wide populace. This study provides the first nationwide assessment of FM radio coverage of environmental issues in Nepal by using data collected from a web-based questionnaire survey from 102 radio stations. We found that environ...

Illicit wildlife trade may have devastating consequences for Nepal's wildlife populations given its increasing national and global connectivity and proximity with large Indian and Chinese markets. Despite its potential impacts, our understanding about trends, patterns and networks of illicit wildlife trade in Nepal is very limited. Here, we provide...

Institutions of higher learning are critical in promoting a knowledge-driven economy through research and training. Nepali universities receive funding from the University Grants Commission, Nepal (UGC-N) to support for impactful research. UGC-N requires grantees to publish research results as journal articles. We reviewed papers published through...

Red panda Ailurus fulgens, an endangered habitat specialist, inhabits a narrow distribution range in bamboo abundance forests along mountain slopes in the Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains. However, their habitat use may be different in places with different longitudinal environmental gradients, climatic regimes, and microclimate. This study aimed to...

We review the history, over the past half-century, of biodiversity conservation legislation and programs in Nepal. We especially consider how they have evolved in light of some earlier concerns resulting from, for example, the strict "fines and fences" conservation approaches first implemented in the 1970s, to pressing issues that emerged over time...

We review the history, over the past half-century, of biodiversity conservation legislation and programs in Nepal. We especially consider how they have evolved in light of some earlier concerns resulting from, for example, the strict "fines and fences" conservation approaches first implemented in the 1970s, to pressing issues that emerged over time...

Red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) live in the dense forests of mid-hills of the Himalaya and feed almost exclusively on bamboo. They are vulnerable to extinction due to human induced disturbances. Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation along with poaching are the most pressing anthropogenic threats to red panda conservation. The extinction risk to...

BackgroundA crucial step in conserving biodiversity is to identify the distributions of threatened species and the factors associated with species threat status. In the biodiversity hotspot of the Himalaya, very little is known about which locations harbour the highest diversity of threatened species and whether diversity of such species is related...

Local communities throughout the world are experiencing extensive social, cultural, economic, environmental, and climatic changes. Rather than passively accepting the effects of such changes, many communities are responding in various ways to take advantage of opportunities and to minimize negative impacts. We review examples from 13 cases around t...

Injury and death from wildlife attacks often result in people feeling violent resentment and hostility against the wildlife involved and, therefore, may undermine public support for conservation. Although Nepal, with rich biodiversity, is doing well in its conservation efforts, human-wildlife conflicts have been a major challenge in recent years. T...

Determining the distribution of species and of suitable habitats is a fundamental part of conservation planning. We used slope and ruggedness of the terrain, forest type and distance to the nearest village to construct habitat suitability maps for three mountain ungulates (barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), Himalayan goral (Naemorhedus goral) and Hi...

Many wildlife experts have recommended translocation of wild buffalo from Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal to have two separate populations within the country. In 2014, WWF-Nepal and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation announced success in procuring funding to move animals to Chitwan National Park. We suggest protocols for...

Understanding diversity patterns along altitudinal gradients, and their underlying causes are important for conserving biodiversity. Previous studies have focused on climatic, energetic, and geographic variables (e.g., mid-domain effects), with less attention paid to human-induced habitat modifications. We used published data of bird distributions...

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/cs.v1i1.9586Conservation Science 2013 1(1), 53-54

The need for Conservation Biology of specific species and ecosystems has been widely acknowledged worldwide. This is demonstrated by, among other things, scientific publications devoted to conservation biology of specific species and ecosystems (e.g. Glenn et al. 2001, Gower and Wilkinson 2005, Pratt 2009). The goal of conservation biology is to do...

Almost nothing is known about the distribution and status of the Himalayan serow, an IUCN category “near threatened” ungulate, formerly widely distributed from subtropical to subalpine regions, in the Nepalese Himalaya. Heavy hunting, together with habitat loss and fragmentation are believed to have caused local extinctions in many sites within its...

Forest landscapes in the midhills of western Nepal are not adequately conserved within a protected area network. The species and ecosystems in these human‐dominated landscapes are highly endangered. Understanding the effects of human activities on wildlife is therefore important for devising an appropriate conservation strategy in this region. Here...

The conservation of biodiversity is an important issue in developing countries like Nepal. Subsistence agriculture, including livestock rearing, is the main occupation of the majority of the people in rural areas (Brydon and Chant 1993). This puts an ever-increasing demand on the forest as the human population increases. Consequently, many forests...

In conservation the establishment of links between major habitats is commonly used to reduce the effect of habitat fragmentation and loss. There is no common model of a corridor, as it largely depends on the particular spatial configuration of land types and the way it is used. Geospatial information on land management practices provide the informa...

Nepal is a mountainous country in the central Himalayas, which occupies about one third of (800 km) of the entire length of the Himalayan mountain range. Nepal alone claims eight out of the top ten tallest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest (8,848 m). Apart from the mountains, deep gorges, river valleys and the flat lands it provides a...

The hunting of wildlife for subsistence and trade is a serious threat to conservation. It is widespread in the non-protected areas. However, there is no understanding of the nature and trends in hunting and their consequences for ­protected areas. The nature and scale of hunting north of the Bardia National Park were assessed to determine the spati...