Reducing gender inequality in urban water management in Nepal

Studies indicate that traditional gender roles are perpetuated in urban transition through patriarchal structures and institutions. Pre-existing gender norms reinforce hurdles for inclusive and equitable participation in water management in the urban context in Nepal. This brief is based on the analysis of water policies, as well as the narratives of men and women involved in drinking water management practices. Findings from the research shows gender inequality is worsening. Although women’s increased representation in local government has led to positive outcomes in voicing women’s concerns in water governance, gender equality interventions are treated as one time and ad-hoc without any clear theory of change.Climate & Development Knowledge NetworkLocal Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI

Loss and Damage from Climate Change: Building Knowledge and Capacity in the Most Vulnerable Countries

Mitigation and adaptation are at the center of global climate negotiations. However, as climate change impacts become more frequent and more severe, these two well-accepted pillars of climate policy are not sufficient. Burgeoning damage and loss from climate change is inevitable, and it has become urgent to expedite international policy work on Loss and Damage (L&D) response. L&D has been identified as a policy action area within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) system; however, progress has been extremely slow. By undertaking a review of the current situation, including country-level examples from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Vanuatu, we consider the immediate needs of the most vulnerable countries and suggest high-priority actions to move forward. These actions include: 1. Clarifying conceptual dilemmas around loss and damage vis-à-vis adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk reduction, demonstrating how L&D policy concepts can be implemented. 2. Assisting developing and vulnerable countries in undertaking diagnostic assessments with respect to loss and damage and identifying policy and institutional options to advance L&D at national and sub-national levels. 3. Facilitating knowledge-sharing among developing and most vulnerable countries with regard to policy, risk governance, response to Loss and Damage, and ensuring socially inclusive responses. 4. Helping create learning opportunities for key policy and research champions in vulnerable countries. 5. Helping develop a dedicated L&D financing system at national and sub-national levels. 6. Providing technical assistance to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to formulate a coherent approach to L&D negotiation within the UNFCCC system as well as enhanced representation of Loss and Damage situations for the Global Stocktake 2023 international conventions. 7. Building the Research and Development (R&D) capacity of national research and training groups in most vulnerable countries vis-à-vis comprehensive risk management, including how national institutions can deliver with respect to multiple outcomes including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), adaptation at large and L&D. 8. Developing and strengthening national database systems to facilitate loss and damage accounting and financial delivery

Elevational Gradients in Bird Diversity in the Eastern Himalaya: An Evaluation of Distribution Patterns and Their Underlying Mechanisms

BACKGROUND: Understanding diversity patterns and the mechanisms underlying those patterns along elevational gradients is critically important for conservation efforts in montane ecosystems, especially those that are biodiversity hotspots. Despite recent advances, consensus on the underlying causes, or even the relative influence of a suite of factors on elevational diversity patterns has remained elusive. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined patterns of species richness, density and range size distribution of birds, and the suite of biotic and abiotic factors (primary productivity, habitat variables, climatic factors and geometric constraints) that governs diversity along a 4500-m elevational gradient in the Eastern Himalayan region, a biodiversity hotspot within the world's tallest mountains. We used point count methods for sampling birds and quadrats for estimating vegetation at 22 sites along the elevational gradient. We found that species richness increased to approximately 2000 m, then declined. We found no evidence that geometric constraints influenced this pattern, whereas actual evapotranspiration (a surrogate for primary productivity) and various habitat variables (plant species richness, shrub density and basal area of trees) accounted for most of the variation in bird species richness. We also observed that ranges of most bird species were narrow along the elevation gradient. We find little evidence to support Rapoport's rule for the birds of Sikkim region of the Himalaya. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: This study in the Eastern Himalaya indicates that species richness of birds is highest at intermediate elevations along one of the most extensive elevational gradients ever examined. Additionally, primary productivity and factors associated with habitat accounted for most of the variation in avian species richness. The diversity peak at intermediate elevations and the narrow elevational ranges of most species suggest important conservation implications: not only should mid-elevation areas be conserved, but the entire gradient requires equal conservation attention

Unravelling the misfit: How gender equity interventions in Nepal's agrobiodiversity management fails to respond to rapidly changing rural livelihood context

Presented by Basundhara Bhattarai (Institute for Study and Development), as part of the Annual Scientific Conference hosted by the University of Canberra and co-sponsored by the University of Canberra, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research, Canberra, Australia, April 2-4, 2019

Gender, climate change, and adaptation: investigating agrobiodiversity management practices in a mountain village of Nepal Himalayas

© 2015 Dr. Basundhara BhattaraiThis research examines the interplay between gender and adaptation in the context of increasingly uncertain climate conditions and socio-economic transitions, taking a case study of a mountain village in Nepal. This study is conducted at a time when the evidence of climate change has become more visible and more widely accepted than in the past, and also when several other socio-economic changes such as male out-migration, feminization of agrobiodiversity management and increased road networks and market expansion, are also becoming increasingly noticeable throughout the Nepal Himalayas. Combining social-ecological systems with feminist political ecology lenses, this study has generated an in-depth account from a village-level case study of agrobiodiversity management in Kaski district of Nepal, along with the analysis of institutional and policy contexts. Through this, it has demonstrated how gender-based power relations and gender- differentiated knowledge shape adaptation practices in the case study village. It has, in particular, generated in-depth evidence of the ways in which men and women in the case study village respond to the impacts of multiple stressors/pressures in the daily business of managing the local agrobiodiversity, and demonstrates how gender-based power relations and knowledge shape the possibilities for adaptation. This research addresses a particular gap in current knowledge about whether the changing context (climate and social) can have a positive or negative impact towards closing the gender gap as communities and households undertake adaptive actions in agrobiodiversity management. It demonstrates that due to the lack of understanding of the dynamic interplay between gender and complex social-ecological systems (i.e. agrobiodiversity management systems) among policy makers, development agencies and extension groups, people are likely to benefit less from the current adaptation strategies and practices that are being promoted at the local level. Despite several technical innovations in agrobiodiversity management, traditional gender-based power relations have hardly changed, with women continuing to play the subordinate role, as the deeply internalized frame of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ does not normally allow the emergence of ‘critical awareness’ among local community members, particularly women. This thesis shows that the gender-agrobiodiversity adaptation link is not straightforward, requiring a nuanced view of the interplay between gendered forms of knowledge, power and decision-making practices within multiple arenas of agrobiodiversity management ranging from the household, community, national level policy formulation processes and beyond. Improved access to and control over household and community level agrobiodiversity resources, often assumed to have positive effects on gender-based power relations, do not necessarily lead to gender equitable adaptation practices unless we take structural complexity into account. The adaptive capacity of households and communities is to a large extent dependent on how gendered forms of knowledge and power are linked or disconnected across scales of multiple disciplines rather than confined to a single developmental discipline. Theoretically, this research demonstrates that bringing together the elements of social-ecological systems and feminist political ecology approaches is a constructive way to understand gender and adaptation linkages

Rescuing forests from the carbon trap

As climate policies incentivise forest carbon enhancement, forest ecosystems have been reduced to carbon forestry. As a result, the potential of forests for both the natural world and human beings is being severely compromised. Co-benefits to ecosystems and communities have often been presented as a solution but without much effect. In this paper, we highlight how the current discourse on forest and climate change has become carbon centric, masking the overall resilience building potential of forest ecosystems. We also explore potential ways forward

Decentralisation and promotion of women's rights in Nepal : exploring constraints, opportunities and intervention avenues; a final project narrative

Copublished with Himalayan Grassroots Women's Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI)- NepalThis research examines the effectiveness of women’s participation in the context of state decentralisation processes in Nepal. It focuses on gendered social relations that shape women’s agency in the governance of public resources and services. This study analysed the depth and breadth of participation through which women exercise their agency in various policy and socio-cultural contexts of decentralization. In the study, men as well as women revealed that women committee members mostly listen to discussions led by men, and legitimise men’s decisions by signing the minute books when meetings close. This research also identified some processes and strategies that enhance positive impact of decentralization on women