January 2014
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5,535 Reads
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10 Citations
Climate change is a global phenomenon, and its implications are more critical in a mountainous country like Nepal. Moreover, nearly 80 % of annual precipitation occurs in four months (June-September). Also, Nepal contains 3,252 glaciers and 2,315 glacier lakes of various sizes above 3,500 m that are sensitive to climate change with the annual mean temperature increasing at a rate of 0.4°C per decade from 1975 to 2005. Similarly, the majority of meteorological stations examined from 1961 to 2006 also show an increasing trend in extreme rainfall events. On the other hand, overall forest area has decreased at an annual rate of 1.7 % in Nepal. Climate change has been found to have negative effect on the forests of Nepal. There has been loss of historic range of flagship species like tiger.Some of the widely adopted adaptation practices in the forestry sector by local communities include stall feeding, reduce number of livestock, use alternative to firewood, control fire and grazing, and improve forest management. The adaptive measure relevant to biodiversity conservation are buffer zone implementation, water holes construction, species translocation, commercial farming of medicinal plants, habitat restoration etc.Climatic alterations such as these, especially increasing temperatures, are having profound impacts on vital components of life such as forests and biodiversity, which make up the livelihoods of many people in Nepal. People living in developing countries like Nepal often depend on forests for water, food, medicine, shelter, fibers, fuel for cooking, forage for their livestock, and timber products. Losses of forested areas due to the impacts of climate change will subsequently threaten many livelihood capitals (i.e., human, social, physical, and economic capitals) of the Nepalese people. As some vegetable species such as tomatoes, millet, and wheat shift to higher elevations, local communities will lose income and will be forced to migrate.