Use of an integrated suite of sensors to simultaneously monitor fuel consumption, air quality, and adoption provides important insights and validates impact metrics for household stoves

The rise in sensor-based monitoring in the cookstove sector has been driven by the need for objective quantitative performance evaluation within context of use, and is especially useful if monitoring activities can be conducted by in-country project staff. This research explores the insights achievable from single and cross-sensor analysis following simultaneous in-home deployment of stove temperature loggers, weight-based fuel use loggers, and indoor PM concentration loggers deployed with remote guidance by researchers. Longitudinal performance metrics of an improved metal biomass stove with a chimney within its context of use were obtained using sensor suites consisting of stove temperature sensors (EXACT), household air pollution sensors (HAPEx), and fuel use sensors (FUEL) deployed in 48 households in the Taplejung and Panchthar districts of eastern Nepal. Households in the Taplejung district, comprised mostly of commercial tea houses, had a median reduction in daily household average PM concentration of 45.7% (n = 17) and a median reduction in logged household fuel use of 24.5%, or 2.17 kg/day (n = 15). Households in the Panchthar district comprised of smaller households had a median reduction in daily household average PM concentration of 64.5% (n = 19) and a median reduction in logged household fuel use of 8.13%, or 0.42 kg/day (n = 23). Cross-sensor analysis included use of household PM concentration to verify cooking event initiation and extraneous rises in PM outside of identified cooking events for potential exclusion. Household fuel use profiles were compared to known cooking events to determine whether a household had consistently interacted with the fuel measurement system as instructed, indicating which data were reliable and those that should be flagged. While both cross-sensor analysis and verification methods were examined as potential ways to obtain more information from the gathered data, further development of automated analytics platforms are needed before they can be used as reporting tools by project staff

An Ecological Assessment of Critically Endangered Chinese Pangolin Manis pentadactyla (Mammalia: Pholidota: Manidae) in the Midhills Region of Nepal

The Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) is a “Critically Endangered” insectivorous mammal. There is a lack of information on the ecology, distribution and behavior of this species in Nepal, even though community forests in the Midhills Region of Nepal are considered to be prime habitats for the species. We conducted an ecological assessment of the habitat use of this species in nine community forests covering an area of 170.69 ha in Balthali village in Kavrepalanchok district, Nepal. We divided each forest into 50 × 50 m grids and searched for Chinese Pangolin burrows along 50 m transects in each grid. We categorized burrows into two types, new and old burrows, and recorded 10 environmental variables for each burrow. We found a total of 542 burrows, including 323 old burrows and 219 new burrows. The average width and height of a burrow opening was 21.66 ± 3.94 cm (n = 542) and 22.42 ± 5.02 cm (n = 542). The total density of burrows in the study area was 3.1 ha−1, with new burrows density of 1.2 ha−1 and old burrows density of 1.8 ha−1. We found most burrows in sites with an elevation range of 1400 - 1500 m above sea level, gentle slopes, brown colored soil, high density of tree crown cover and undergrowth vegetation, southern exposure, within 150 m from a water source and less than 200 m from a human settlement. Our study has generated baseline data on the habitat use of Chinese Pangolin, which we hope will help in designing site-specific action plans for Chinese Pangolin conservation in Kavrepalanchok district, Nepal

First record of Bengal Tiger, Panthera tigris tigris Linnaeus, 1758 (Felidae), in eastern Nepal

We report the first record of a Bengal Tiger, Panthera tigris tigris, in eastern Nepal in 2020 based on photographic evidence. We documented this evidence at 3,165 m a.s.l., which makes it the highest elevation record of a tiger in Nepal. We recorded this evidence in one of 46 trail cameras deployed for monitoring Red Pandas in the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung (PIT) area. The PIT area, which has non-protected status, borders India in the east. Our finding supports the importance of transboundary conservation, which will benefit local and flagship wildlife in the PIT area