Rangelands, conflicts, and society in the Upper Mustang Region, Nepal

Rangelands are considered critical ecosystems in the Nepal Himalayas and provide multiple ecosystem services that support local livelihoods. However, these rangelands are under threat from various anthropogenic stresses. This study analyzes an example of conflict over the use of rangeland, involving two villages in the Mustang district of Nepal. This prolonged conflict over the use of rangeland rests on how use rights are defined by the parties, that is, whether they are based on traditional use or property ownership. Traditionally, such conflicts in remote areas were managed under the Mukhiya (village chief) system, but this became dysfunctional after the political change of 1990. The continuing conflict suggests that excessive demand for limited rangelands motivates local villagers to gain absolute control of the resources. In such contexts, external support should focus on enhancing the management and production of forage resources locally, which requires the establishment of local common property institutions to facilitate sustainable rangeland management.<br /

Providing Native Experiences in Mobile with PWA

The thesis aimed was to gain a deeper understanding of progressive web apps (PWAs) and how the knowledge obtained could be used to develop a functional PWA that provides the look and feel of a native mobile app while utilizing the power of the web. This is to explore the idea of breaking away from mobile apps ecosystem from development perspective which is expensive and time-consuming. A bus booking web app was developed as a full-stack app using MERN stack. Since the communication between backend and frontend occurred through the REST APIs, it enabled for the development of frontend independently and enhance it with the use of modern web technologies to create PWA. For a web developer with a fair share of knowledge of web technologies, it is relatively easier to implement PWA traits into the existing web app. From the user’s perspective, the PWA experience is no different from a native mobile app with added accessibility of the web. Thus, the development of PWA is sure to remarkably benefit developers, businesses and users all over the world