Community’s Aspirations, Envisioned Policies and Urban Planning for Equitable and Resilient Development of the Capital City Rapti/Deukhuri of Lumbini Province

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Socialising tomorrow's cities: Envisioning a future city in Rapti/Deukhuri Valley, Nepal.

Taking six cases of socio-economically disaggregated communities of the Rapti/Deukhuri Valley (southwestern Nepal), the book analyses communities' aspirations, hopes, future land use plans, risk management strategies, and policy priorities for actualising an equitable and resilient capital city in the Valley. While all communities aspired for resilient infrastructures, their priorities varied. The Tharus community prioritised preserving fertile land and Tharu culture, the migrants proposed strategic settlement expansion, integrating agricultural lands and green spaces, and Ethnic communities aspired for a future city with agricultural zones and flood control measures. The Madhesi, Muslim, and Dalit communities advocated for equitable access to housing and basic services. The informal settler/squatter community seeks land and housing security, education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. Finally, the Planners (i.e. government-employed urban planners and local elected representatives) envisioned an eco-friendly city with agriculture, employment, land categorisation, and cultural tourism. Incorporating the social and spatial elements in the envisioned city, the disaggregated groups prioritised policies for (1) a context-sensitive disaster risk reduction management, (2) managing informal communities, (3) ensuring agriculture and livelihood security, (4) conserving local ecology (e.g. forests, water), and (5) fostering traditional and technical skills for employment and economic prosperity in this provincial capital. The following key policy actions to socialise tomorrow's capital city in the Valley require the local and provincial authorities to (i) integrate resilient infrastructures and community perspectives in multi-hazard risk management, (ii) ensure equitable opportunities for employment, training, and inclusive decision-making accommodating a growing mixed society, and (iii) promote small-scale and traditional businesses for sustainable future livelihoods. Adhering to the principles of inclusivity and promoting equity, ecology, and good governance is vital for building a discrimination-free, risk-resilient, and well-governed tomorrow's capital city in the Valley

Forage quality in grazing lawns and tall grasslands in the subtropical region of Nepal and implications for wild herbivores

Subtropical grasslands interspersed in forests often present mosaics of tall grasslands and grazing lawns with a high variation in structure, biomass and nutrient concentration. However, the impact of such variation on forage quality is still poorly known. We quantified physical and chemical properties of grasses of grazing lawns and tall grasslands, interspersed in the forested region of Bardia National Park, Nepal during the hot-dry season. This area falls within Cwaclimate (Ko center dot ppen-Geigen climate classification). We found that grasses in grazing lawns had an average bulk density of -5400 g.m-3 whereas tall grasslands had an average bulk density of -1000 g.m-3 only. Forage in grazing lawns was comprised of a higher percentage of green leaf (up to 60%) compared to tall grassland (up to 40%). Phosphorus levels in green leaves were below maintenance requirements of wild herbivores (especially for grazers and mixed feeders) on both grazing lawns and tall grasslands. However, average crude protein levels in green leaves from both the grazing lawns and tall grasslands could meet the herbivores maintenance requirement (-7%). Only green leaves on grazing lawns had crude protein levels sufficient enough (9.7%) to meet the requirements of herbivores for maintenance and gestation, though not for lactation. We conclude that, during the hot-dry season, grazing lawns provide forage with a higher quantity and quality than tall grasslands. Consequently, grazing lawns can make a significant contribution to the maintenance or even growth of the grassland dependent wild ungulate population, such as chital (Axis axis), a primary prey species of the endangered tiger (Panthera tigris) in Bardia National Park. The insight of this study will provide a basis for restoring grazing lawns for quality forage, and aid in the conservation and management of wild grazers and mixed feeders

Data underlying the publication: Forage quality in grazing lawns and tall grasslands in the subtropical region of Nepal and implications for wild herbivores.

We randomly laid down 1 m × 1 m quadrats with equally spaced grids of 10 cm × 10 cm in both the grazing lawns and tall grasslands. We laid down a total of 160 quadrats (eight in each sampling site) and recorded bare ground, litter, animal droppings and vegetation. Within each quadrat, we used the point intercept method at 100 sampling points to assess the percentage cover of the different plant species. We only used vegetation hits for calculating the Shannon-Wiener diversity index and species richness. We used grid corners as the point to record the hits. We measured grass height at three random points within each 1 m × 1 m quadrat with a ruler to 0.5 cm precision. We chose three different points in different direction within a quadrat to measure the grass height. We assessed grazing intensity by visually estimating the bite marks within a quadrat at a scale from 0 to 3 [i.e., 0 – not grazed, 1 – lightly grazed, up to 25% of quadrat area grazed; 2 – moderately grazed, (up to 50% grazed), and 3 – heavily grazed ( more than 50% grazed)]. We clipped the vegetation at ground level in a 20 × 20 cm frame in the centre of each quadrat and determined fresh weight using a digital weighing scale [with a capacity of 600 g and accuracy of 0.5 mg; Brand: Equal (class II)] immediately after clipping. We hand-sorted the samples into green leaf, green stem, dry leaf and dry stem which were subsequently dried in the shade at ambient temperature (~30 °C) for five days until air-dry before recording the air-dry weight. Air-dried samples of green leaf and green stem were stored in paper bags for separate chemical analyses. We collected soil subsamples from each quadrat. The soil samples (n = 20) were placed in airtight zip-lock plastic bags for chemical analyses. The dataset (file name: GrazingLawns_TallGrasslands_BardiaNP_Nepal.xlsx) contains three sheets: Sheet 1(veg_count_data) contains record of the grass species observed from 10 cm x 10 cm frame within a 1 m x 1m quadrat. Zero indicated – no record of species. Sheet 2 (Physical_chemical_prop) contains information on grass physical properties (height, biomass, bulk density, proportion of green leaf and stem) and soil chemical properties (soil pH, soil moisture, soil organic matter, soil nitrogen and soil phosphorus). Sheet 3 (Label) contains description for the variables mentioned in sheet 1 & 2

Data underlying the publication: Forage quality in grazing lawns and tall grasslands in the subtropical region of Nepal and implications for wild herbivores.

We randomly laid down 1 m × 1 m quadrats with equally spaced grids of 10 cm × 10 cm in both the grazing lawns and tall grasslands. We laid down a total of 160 quadrats (eight in each sampling site) and recorded bare ground, litter, animal droppings and vegetation. Within each quadrat, we used the point intercept method at 100 sampling points to assess the percentage cover of the different plant species. We only used vegetation hits for calculating the Shannon-Wiener diversity index and species richness. We used grid corners as the point to record the hits. We measured grass height at three random points within each 1 m × 1 m quadrat with a ruler to 0.5 cm precision. We chose three different points in different direction within a quadrat to measure the grass height. We assessed grazing intensity by visually estimating the bite marks within a quadrat at a scale from 0 to 3 [i.e., 0 – not grazed, 1 – lightly grazed, up to 25% of quadrat area grazed; 2 – moderately grazed, (up to 50% grazed), and 3 – heavily grazed ( more than 50% grazed)]. We clipped the vegetation at ground level in a 20 × 20 cm frame in the centre of each quadrat and determined fresh weight using a digital weighing scale [with a capacity of 600 g and accuracy of 0.5 mg; Brand: Equal (class II)] immediately after clipping. We hand-sorted the samples into green leaf, green stem, dry leaf and dry stem which were subsequently dried in the shade at ambient temperature (~30 °C) for five days until air-dry before recording the air-dry weight. Air-dried samples of green leaf and green stem were stored in paper bags for separate chemical analyses. We collected soil subsamples from each quadrat. The soil samples (n = 20) were placed in airtight zip-lock plastic bags for chemical analyses. The dataset (file name: GrazingLawns_TallGrasslands_BardiaNP_Nepal.xlsx) contains three sheets: Sheet 1(veg_count_data) contains record of the grass species observed from 10 cm x 10 cm frame within a 1 m x 1m quadrat. Zero indicated – no record of species. Sheet 2 (Physical_chemical_prop) contains information on grass physical properties (height, biomass, bulk density, proportion of green leaf and stem) and soil chemical properties (soil pH, soil moisture, soil organic matter, soil nitrogen and soil phosphorus). Sheet 3 (Label) contains description for the variables mentioned in sheet 1 & 2. </p

Data underlying the publication: Forage quality in grazing lawns and tall grasslands in the subtropical region of Nepal and implications for wild herbivores.

We randomly laid down 1 m × 1 m quadrats with equally spaced grids of 10 cm × 10 cm in both the grazing lawns and tall grasslands. We laid down a total of 160 quadrats (eight in each sampling site) and recorded bare ground, litter, animal droppings and vegetation. Within each quadrat, we used the point intercept method at 100 sampling points to assess the percentage cover of the different plant species. We only used vegetation hits for calculating the Shannon-Wiener diversity index and species richness. We used grid corners as the point to record the hits. We measured grass height at three random points within each 1 m × 1 m quadrat with a ruler to 0.5 cm precision. We chose three different points in different direction within a quadrat to measure the grass height. We assessed grazing intensity by visually estimating the bite marks within a quadrat at a scale from 0 to 3 [i.e., 0 – not grazed, 1 – lightly grazed, up to 25% of quadrat area grazed; 2 – moderately grazed, (up to 50% grazed), and 3 – heavily grazed ( more than 50% grazed)]. We clipped the vegetation at ground level in a 20 × 20 cm frame in the centre of each quadrat and determined fresh weight using a digital weighing scale [with a capacity of 600 g and accuracy of 0.5 mg; Brand: Equal (class II)] immediately after clipping. We hand-sorted the samples into green leaf, green stem, dry leaf and dry stem which were subsequently dried in the shade at ambient temperature (~30 °C) for five days until air-dry before recording the air-dry weight. Air-dried samples of green leaf and green stem were stored in paper bags for separate chemical analyses. We collected soil subsamples from each quadrat. The soil samples (n = 20) were placed in airtight zip-lock plastic bags for chemical analyses. The dataset (file name: GrazingLawns_TallGrasslands_BardiaNP_Nepal.xlsx) contains three sheets: Sheet 1(veg_count_data) contains record of the grass species observed from 10 cm x 10 cm frame within a 1 m x 1m quadrat. Zero indicated – no record of species. Sheet 2 (Physical_chemical_prop) contains information on grass physical properties (height, biomass, bulk density, proportion of green leaf and stem) and soil chemical properties (soil pH, soil moisture, soil organic matter, soil nitrogen and soil phosphorus). Sheet 3 (Label) contains description for the variables mentioned in sheet 1 & 2. </p