Renewable electricity production in mountain regions: toward a people-centered energy transition agenda

This paper examines progress and limitations in the transition from current dependence on carbon-based energy toward clean, renewable, and socially just energy in the Hindu Kush Himalaya and the Andes. Focusing on electricity production from sustainable hydropower, solar, and wind energy, the assessment does not cover biomass energy, although this is recognized to be an important energy source in these regions. Using meta-analysis methods, a set of 68 peer-reviewed publications was reviewed to systematically address 2 research questions: (1) Which electricity generation options in mountains can address local demands and adaptation needs while supporting broader decarbonization efforts? (2) What technical innovations, policy, and governance mechanisms can aid this transition? Considering governance, finance, individual and collective action, and science and technology dimensions of the transition challenge, recommendations for policymakers, mountain communities, and practitioners are made. These include setting up clear and effective policy measures, programs, and incentives to support energy transition plans and help mountain communities and energy practitioners to fully embrace the transition. Strong political commitment supported by international cooperation for a transition agenda centered on mountain people will enable community participation, stimulate technological innovation, and establish mechanisms to monitor and enforce social and environmental impact remediation. Este artículo examina los avances y las limitaciones en la transición de la actual dependencia de la energía basada en el carbono hacia una energía limpia, renovable y socialmente justa en el Hindu Kush Himalaya y los Andes. La evaluación, que se centra en la producción de electricidad a partir de energía hidroeléctrica, solar y eólica sostenibles, no cubre la energía de biomasa, aunque se reconoce que es una fuente de energía importante en estas regiones. Utilizando métodos de metanálisis, se revisó un conjunto de 68 publicaciones revisadas por pares para abordar sistemáticamente dos preguntas de investigación: (1) ¿Qué opciones de generación de electricidad en las montañas pueden abordar las demandas locales y las necesidades de adaptación al mismo tiempo que respaldan esfuerzos de descarbonización más amplios? (2) ¿Qué innovaciones técnicas, políticas y mecanismos de gobernanza pueden ayudar en esta transición? Teniendo en cuenta las dimensiones de gobernanza, finanzas, acción individual y colectiva y ciencia y tecnología del desafío de la transición, se formulan recomendaciones para los formuladores de políticas, las comunidades de montaña y los profesionales. Estos incluyen el establecimiento de medidas políticas, programas e incentivos claros y eficaces para apoyar los planes de transición energética y ayudar a las comunidades de montaña y a los profesionales de la energía a abrazar plenamente la transición. Un fuerte compromiso político respaldado por la cooperación internacional para una agenda de transición centrada en los pueblos de las montañas permitirá la participación comunitaria, estimulará la innovación tecnológica y establecerá mecanismos para monitorear y hacer cumplir la remediación del impacto social y ambiental.Centro de Investigación en Economía y ProspectivaFil: Scott, Christopher A. Pennsylvania State University. Department of Ecosystem Science and Management; Estados UnidosFil: Khaling, Sarala. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Regional Office Eastern Himalaya–Northeast India; IndiaFil: Shrestha, Padmendra P. University of Arizona. School of Geography, Development & Environment; Estados UnidosFil: Riera, Félix Sebastián. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Centro de Investigación en Economía y Prospectiva (CIEP); ArgentinaFil: Choden, Kinley. National Environment Commission.Water Resource Coordination Division; BhutanFil: Kasvi, Singh. TERI School of Advanced Studies; Indi

Laboratory and clinico-demographic profile of patients investigated for tuberculosis in the National Referral Hospital of Bhutan

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is an important public health problem in Bhutan. Microscopy is the primary method of diagnosis of TB in developing countries including Bhutan. Performance of microscopy in the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH), has never been assessed. A retrospective review of laboratory records for three years (2014-2016) was performed to determine the laboratory profile of patients investigated for different types of TB at the JDWNRH. A total of 10,821 sputum and 3,495 non-sputum samples were examined for pulmonary TB (PTB) and extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) respectively. The commonest EPTB samples were Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC), urine and sterile fluids. About 6% (127/2163), 5 % (130/2390) and 5% (289/5310) were positive for PTB in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively and EPTB positivity was about 7% in all years. During follow-up a significant number of patients remained sputum positive. Sputum sample satisfactory rate (quality) varied between 51 % to 79% in the primary samples. Sample completeness (number) ranged between 62.3% to 94.6% but dropped sequentially in the follow-up cases. Sample completeness of urine samples for EPTB ranged between 75-90%. EPTB positivity rate was highest in FNAC, followed by urine, pleural fluid and ascitic fluid samples. Higher number of patients were investigated for TB in subsequent years from 2014 to 2016. TB positivity rates for PTB and EPTB remained consistent over three years at about 5-6% and 7% respectively. There was a significant variation in sputum sample adequateness (by quality and number). Sputum conversion in the follow-up cases was lower than other countries. Educating the patients on the importance of providing adequate samples can improve TB diagnosis, enhance early treatment, reduce transmission and contribute significantly towards TB elimination

Patterns of foraging activity and fidelity in a Southeast Asian flying fox

Background: Improved understanding of the foraging ecology of bats in the face of ongoing habitat loss and modification worldwide is essential to their conservation and maintaining the substantial ecosystem services they provide. It is also fundamental to assessing potential transmission risks of zoonotic pathogens in human-wildlife interfaces. We evaluated the influence of environmental and behavioral variables on the foraging patterns of Pteropus lylei (a reservoir of Nipah virus) in a heterogeneous landscape in Cambodia. Methods: We employed an approach based on animal-movement modeling, which comprised a path-segmentation method (hidden Markov model) to identify individual foraging-behavior sequences in GPS data generated by eight P. lylei. We characterized foraging localities, foraging activity, and probability of returning to a given foraging locality over consecutive nights. Generalized linear mixed models were also applied to assess the influence of several variables including proxies for energetic costs and quality of foraging areas. Results: Bats performed few foraging bouts (area-restricted searches) during a given night, mainly in residential areas, and the duration of these decreased during the night. The probability of a bat revisiting a given foraging area within 48 h varied according to the duration previously spent there, its distance to the roost site, and the corresponding habitat type. We interpret these fine-scale patterns in relation to global habitat quality (including food-resource quality and predictability), habitat-familiarity and experience of each individual. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that heterogeneous human-made environments may promote complex patterns of foraging-behavior and short-term re-visitation in fruit bat species that occur in such landscapes. This highlights the need for similarly detailed studies to understand the processes that maintain biodiversity in these environments and assess the potential for pathogen transmission in human-wildlife interfaces

Population size estimates of transgender women and transgender men in Bhutan, 2020.

Population size estimates of transgender women and transgender men in Bhutan, 2020.</p

Gender and sexual identities of transgender women and men, Bhutan, 2020.

Gender and sexual identities of transgender women and men, Bhutan, 2020.</p

Bhutan’s Forests through the Framework of Ecosystem Services: Rapid Assessment in Three Forest Types

Forests in mountain ecosystems provide a diversity of services and goods in mountain landscapes, and the immediate utility of the forest to upstream residents must be balanced with the insurance forests provide for downstream residents in the form of, especially, the services of water regulation and soil stabilization. Little empirical data exist for Bhutan that confirm a causal link between upstream forest use and downstream security. To help to fill this gap, we summarize the results of two literature reviews related to forest ecosystem services and human well-being, using the framework of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH). We report preliminary findings of three field-based assessments of forest ecosystem services on hillsides. We conducted an assessment of the perceptions of local residents about the forest ecosystem services in three distinct forest areas of Bhutan. The studies were carried out in high-altitude oak forests, forest management units (FMUs) in government reserve forests, and community plantations. We engaged villagers in focus group discussions and conducted key informant interviews. The strongest evidence in the literature for linkages between forests and GNH was found for the role forests play in socio-economic development and good governance, particularly through the community forestry program. Regulating services of forests were cited as crucial to several aspects of human well-being, but little empirical evidence was provided. To local residents in the three study locations, the provisioning services of forests were highly ranked, as were water regulating services. At the plantation sites, residents felt that the new forests did improve soil stability and water provisioning services. Cultural services were identified but not highly prioritized. Awareness of forest ecosystem services was high among participants in the study, but understanding of the causal links between forest use and human well-being was mixed. Lack of direct evidence about causal pathways between upstream forest condition and downstream security leaves gaps in our knowledge and even perpetuates myths and misconceptions about the role that forests play. We encourage further research at multiple scales and using mixed methods to test hypotheses on the linkages between forests and human well-being in mountain landscapes

Experiences of Becoming and Being Academic Women in Bhutan

No research has previously been carried out on women in Bhutan becoming and being academics. Although there is a strong legal environment for gender equality generally, in practice there are socio-cultural interpretations of Buddhist teachings that have negatively impacted upon women. We used interviews following Giddens' structuration theory where signification is given prominence. In this exploratory study, eight research assistants (RAs) interviewed two junior and two senior female academics each in English. Each RA transcribed the data which were analyzed with the assistance of NVivo. The major inspiration for the younger women to become academics was their teachers. Parents, family and partners were also seen as important support. Social structures and practices, supported by certain Buddhist interpretations, were dominant in affecting these academic women's role. Teaching load was apparently shared equally but research and service roles were strongly gendered. Discriminatory practices were identified including unequal access to learning opportunities (including overseas), in research and in access to power (information). Two thirds of the interviewed women had practical suggestions about how to improve gender equity though very few mentioned affirmative action strategies common in the West. The vast majority of the 30 women interviewed indicated that they were happy with their work as academics. Policy, practice and research implications are identified

Pteropus lylei primarily forages in residential areas in Kandal, Cambodia

International audienceBats are the second most species-rich Mammalian order and provide a wide range of ecologically important and economically significant ecosystem services. Nipah virus is a zoonotic emerging infectious disease for which pteropodid bats have been identified as a natural reservoir. In Cambodia, Nipah virus circulation has been reported in Pteropus lylei, but little is known about the spatial distribution of the species and the associated implications for conservation and public health. We deployed Global Positioning System (GPS) collars on 14 P. lylei to study their movements and foraging behavior in Cambodia in 2016. All of the flying foxes were captured from the same roost, and GPS locations were collected for 1 month. The habitats used by each bat were characterized through ground-truthing, and a spatial distribution model was developed of foraging sites. A total of 13,643 valid locations were collected during the study. Our study bats flew approximately 20 km from the roost each night to forage. The maximum distance traveled per night ranged from 6.88-105 km and averaged 28.3 km. Six of the 14 bats visited another roost for at least one night during the study, including one roost located 105 km away. Most foraging locations were in residential areas (53.7%) followed by plantations (26.6%). Our spatial distribution model confirmed that residential areas were the preferred foraging habitat for P. lylei, although our results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited number of individuals studied. Synthesis and applications: Our findings suggest that the use of residential and agricultural habitats by P. lylei may create opportunities for bats to interact with humans and livestock. They also suggest the importance of anthropogenic habitats for conservation of this vulnerable and ecologically important group in Cambodia. Our mapping of the probability of occurrence of foraging sites will help identification of areas where public awareness should be promoted regarding the ecosystem services provided by flying foxes and potential for disease transmission through indirect contact