Impact of firing on global warming

Fire accounts for roughly half of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and about twenty percent of total emissions from human activities, report researchers writing in the journal Science. The estimates — based on analysis of fire's impact on emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane; albedo or the reflectivity of Earth's surface; and release of aerosols and other particulates — suggest fire plays a major large role in climate than conventionally believed.

"It's very clear that fire is a primary catalyst of global climate change," said Thomas W. Swetnam of the University of Arizona in Tucson, one of 22 co-authors of the report.
The Kelsey Complex fire ranges in the Klamath National Forest, in 1987. Photo courtesy of Florida Division of Forestry."We've estimated that deforestation due to burning by humans is contributing about one-fifth of the human-caused greenhouse effect -- and that percentage could become larger."

Other research suggests that higher temperatures could trigger a feedback effect whereby emissions from forests will increase due to reduced rainfall and increased incidence of fire and tree-killing pest outbreaks. Increased emissions will in turn exacerbate these impacts.

"Fires are obviously one of the major responses to climate change, but fires are not only a response -- they feed back to warming, which feeds more fires," said Swetnam. While cautioning that their work is an early attempt to quantify the impact of fire on climate, the authors put forth some estimates for sources of emissions from fire. For example, CO2 emissions due to deforestation since 1750 is estimated at 182-199 billion tons carbon (total fossil fuel emissions since 1750 are estimated at 315 billion tons), while fire is estimated to contribute around 4 percent of total methane emissions and around 5 percent of nitrous oxide emissions.

The authors say a better understanding of the climate impact of fire will enable scientists develop models to more accurately forecast future future change — important given the rising economic toll from uncontrolled burning. Fires in Southeast Asia and Latin America during the 1997–1998 El Niño event caused some $19-24 billion in losses, including billions of dollars in human health costs.

"There is growing awareness of the deleterious effects of such uncontrolled fires on biodiversity, human health, and the economy. However, there remains a serious lack of knowledge about fire’s fundamental role in Earth system processes, as well as an insufficient appreciation of fire’s interaction with anthropogenic global environmental change," the authors write.

"For example, though the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report concluded that global climate change will increase the risk of extreme fire events (7), its assessment did not quantify potential fire-climate feedbacks. In order to achieve a better understanding of fire, it must be understood as an integral Earth system process that links and influences regional and global biogeochemical cycles, human activity, and vegetation patterns. Failure to develop a coordinated and holistic fire science will slow efforts to adapt to changing fire regimes and manage fire."

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0423-fire.html

Indigenous forest management and global warming

A new book written by members of indigenous communities across Indonesia argues that traditional forest management practices can provide important lessons in the effort to slow climate change. The book, titled Forests for the Future, describes "the skills and knowledge used for generations to manage forest ecosystems without destroying them", according to a statement from Indonesia's Indigenous Peoples' Alliance (AMAN) and Down to Earth, the NGOs that published the work. "Forests for the Future, avoids romanticizing the indigenous way of life," the statement continued. "Instead it presents lessons learned from communities striving to meet today's economic and political challenges. It is a testament to the willingness of indigenous peoples to engage with an international audience so that their ways of forest management may be better known and get the recognition and respect they deserve."
Forests for the Future warns that carbon finance schemes that allow industrialized nations to offset emissions by paying for forest conservation in tropical countries present "huge risks" to indigenous communities, including loss of livelihoods and the denial of their right to manage their forests. The book argues that industrial forestry interests in Indonesia will use the mechanism to grab indigenous lands in order to profit from carbon trading. While such concerns are legitimate, there are indeed emerging safeguards for forest carbon projects — including the Voluntary Carbon Standard or the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance — to protect against such injustices.

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0422-forests_for_the_future.html

Orchard losses 'threaten species'

Traditional fruit orchards are vanishing from England's landscape - with serious consequences for wildlife, conservationists have warned. The National Trust says 60% have disappeared since the 1950s, putting local varieties of apples, cherries, pears, plums and damsons under threat.
It is launching a £536,000 drive to reverse the decline of the orchards. Their trees provide important habitats for species such as the noble chafer beetle and lesser spotted woodpecker.
The orchards - some with as few as five trees - also offer sources of pollen and nectar to bees, which are thought to be declining partly because of a lack of suitable food. Pressure from commercial fruit growers has led many small-scale producers to develop their orchards or convert them to other uses.
The National Trust's head of nature conservation, Dr David Bullock, said traditional orchards had been "disappearing at an alarming rate over the last 60 years". "We are in real danger of losing these unique habitats - and the wildlife, local fruit varieties and their rich heritage - and if we don't act in some cases we will not even know what local varieties of fruit have been lost," he said.
The trust has teamed up with government advisory body Natural England to launch the project to promote local fruit varieties. It will undertake surveys to get a better understanding of the habitat, work to improve the condition of existing orchards and create new ones, and train people how to plant, prune and propagate trees.
Kate Merry has been appointed as orchard officer to champion the cause. She said: "We now have a real opportunity to reverse the decline of traditional orchards and recognise the important role they play in our cultural and natural heritage; if we don't act there is a real danger they will not survive the 21st Century."
Hollowed and gnarled
Trees in traditional orchards are widely spaced and the sites are often grazed by animals such as sheep, or cut for hay.
They provide a good habitat for wildlife because they are subject to low intensity management, with few or no chemicals used, and the trees are allowed to reach a stage where they are hollowed and gnarled. The noble chafer beetle makes its home in the dead wood of older fruit trees, while the lesser spotted woodpecker can also find nesting and feeding areas in the trees.
A survey by the National Trust last year of more than 100 traditional orchards in its care turned up a number of other species in the habitat, many of them rare.
At the Killerton estate in Devon, where the new programme has been launched, surveys found insects including the orchard park beetle and the apple tree lace bag. It also proved a feeding ground for long-eared bats. Apples - including two varieties unique to the estate - are used to make cider and chutney, with the profits used to maintain the orchards.
Poul Christensen, acting chairman of Natural England, said: "Successful orchards are worth their weight in gold, not just for the valuable contribution they make to the economy but to the subsequent enhancement of these precious wildlife habitats." In 2007, the government prioritised orchards as habitat to protect in recognition of their importance to wildlife.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8014873.stm

World's major rivers drying up

Water levels in some of the world's most important rivers have declined significantly over the past 50 years, US researchers say. They say the reduced flows are linked to climate change and will have a major impact as the human population grows.
The only area with a significant increase in water flows was the Arctic due to a greater snow and ice melting. The study was published in the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) Journal of Climate.
Rainfall patterns 'altered'
From the Yellow river in northern China to the Ganges in India to the Colorado river in the United States - the US scientists say that the major sources of fresh water for much of the world's population are in decline.
The researchers analysed water flows in more than 900 rivers over a 50-year period to 2004.
They found that there was an overall decline in the amount of water flowing into the world's oceans.
Much of the reduction has been caused by human activities such as the building of dams and the diversion of water for agriculture. But the researchers highlighted the contribution of climate change, saying that rising temperatures were altering rainfall patterns and increasing rates of evaporation.
The authors say they are concerned that the decline in freshwater sources will continue with serious repercussions for a growing global population.
While some major rivers, including the Brahmaputra in South Asia and the Yangtze in China, have larger water flows, there is concern that the increased volume comes from the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas. This means that in future these rivers might decline significantly as the glaciers disappear.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk

Degrading planet: Can feed us?

As part of Planet Under Pressure, a BBC News series looking at some of the biggest environmental problems facing humanity, Alex Kirby explores the challenge of feeding the world without destroying the planet.

More of us are eating more and better than ever before. World cereal consumption has more than doubled since 1970, and meat consumption has tripled since 1961. The global fish catch grew more than six times from 1950 to 1997.
None of this happened by magic, though, but only by giving Nature a massive helping hand.
The World Resources Institute said in 1999 that half of all the commercial fertiliser ever produced had been applied since 1984. So one question is whether the world can go on increasing its harvests at this rate - or even faster, to cater as well for the extra 75 million people born annually.
Crop increases
Our recent achievements are impressive - while global population doubled to 6 billion people in the 40 years from 1960, global food production more than kept up. The proportion of malnourished people fell in the three decades to the mid-1990s from 37% to 18%. But we may not be able to go on at this rate.
For a start, much of the world's best cropland is already in use, and farmers are having to turn to increasingly marginal land. And the good land is often taking a battering - soil degradation has already reduced global agricultural productivity by 13% in the last half-century. Many of the pesticides on which the crop increases have depended are losing their effectiveness, as the pests acquire more resistance.
A key constraint is water. The 17% of cropland that is irrigated produces an estimated 30-40% of all crops, but in many countries there will be progressively less water available for agriculture.
Many of these are poor countries, where irrigation can boost crop yields by up to 400%. There are ways to improve irrigation and to use water more effectively, but it's not clear these can bridge the gap.

Biotechnology, in principle, may offer the world a second Green Revolution, for example by producing drought-resistant plants or varieties that withstand pest attacks.
But it arouses deep unease, not least because of fears it may erode the genetic resources in thousands of traditional varieties grown in small communities across the world. Nobody knows what the probable impacts of climate change will be on food supplies.
Modest temperature increases may actually benefit rich temperate countries, but make harvests even more precarious across much of the tropics.
Too little space
Another question concerns the huge cost to other forms of life of all the progress we've made in securing our own food supply. The amount of nitrogen available for uptake by plants is much higher than the natural level, and has more than doubled since the 1940s.
The excess comes from fertilisers running off farmland, from livestock manure, and from other human activities. It is changing the composition of species in ecosystems, reducing soil fertility, depleting the ozone layer, intensifying climate change, and creating dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and other near-coastal seas.
The sheer amount of the Earth we need to produce our food is having an enormous impact.
Globally, we have taken over about 26% of the planet's land area (roughly 3.3 billion hectares) for cropland and pasture, replacing a third of temperate and tropical forests and a quarter of natural grasslands.
Another 0.5 billion ha has gone for urban and built-up areas. Habitat loss from the conversion of natural ecosystems is the main reason why other species are being pushed closer to the brink of extinction. Food security comes at a high price. In any case, it is a security many can only envy.
Increasing hunger
At the moment we are not on course to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving world hunger by 2015. Although the proportion of hungry people is coming down, population increase means the actual number continues to rise.
In the 1990s global poverty fell by 20%, but the number of hungry people rose by 18 million. In 2003, 842 million people did not have enough to eat, a third of them in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Hunger and malnutrition killed 10 million people a year, 25,000 a day - one life extinguished every five seconds. The world does produce enough to feed everyone. But the food is often in the wrong place, or unaffordable, or can't be stored long enough. So making sure everyone has enough to eat is more about politics than science.
But whether we can go on eating the sort of diet we've grown used to in developed countries is far from clear. Much of it travels a long way to reach us, with the transport costs adding hugely to the "embodied energy" it contains. There's a lot to be said for eating local, seasonal food where we can.
And meat usually demands far more than grain - water, land, grain itself (34% of world grain supplies are fed to livestock reared for meat). Yet, worldwide, the richer we grow the more we turn to meat.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4038205.stm

Impacts of illegal trade of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Nepal

A headline article in the Telegraphnepal discusses the status of several medicinal and aromatic plants in Nepal and concludes that they are endangered because of illegal trade supported by "rampant illiteracy" prevailing in the local villages.
The article focuses on the mushroom Cordyceps sinensis, Fritillaria cirrhosa, (both important in traditional Chinese Medicine); Larix himalaica, (used for construction) and mentions Seabuckthorn (used in cosmetics) as well as essential oils.
The author of the article, Khilendra Gurung, is a Nepalese botanist and researcher in the non-Timber forest products of Nepal, especially including aromatic plants, with a number of published papers on the essential oils of Nepal. Eight of his papers are posted online on Scribd, an article site. They include a 44 page inventory of non timber forest Products (NTFPs) in the Manaslu Conservation Area, an an analysis of wintergreen oils, two papers on Sea Buckthorn, an MS-GC of Rhododendron oil, a specification for Lindera neesiana, and an overview of the the essential oil bearing plants of Nepal.

Source:http://www.aromaconnection.org/2008/09/illegal-trade-a.html

Lichens: Bioindicators of air pollution

Lichens are considered the result of a symbiotic association of a fungus and an alga.

More precisely the term “alga” indicates either a Cyanobacteriae or a Chlorophyceae; the fungus is usually an Ascomycetes, although on rare occasions it may be either a Basidiomycetes or a Phycomycetes.

In this association, the alga is the part that is occupied with the formation of nutrients, since it contains chlorophyll (Chl), while the fungus supplies the alga with water and minerals.These organisms are perennial and maintain a uniform morphology over time.

They grow slowly, have a large-scale dependence upon the environment for their nutrition, and – differently from vascular plants – they do not shed parts during growth.Furthermore, their lack of cuticle or stoma means that the different contaminants are absorbed over the entire surface of the organism.

As far back as 1866, a study was published on epiphytic lichens used as bioindicators.

Lichens are the most studied bioindicators of air quality. They have been defined as “permanent control systems” for air pollution assessment.

During the last 30 years, many studies have stressed the possibility of using lichens as biomonitors of air quality in view of their sensitivity to various environmental factors, which can provoke changes in some of their components and/or specific parameters.

For indeed, many physiological parameters are used to evaluate environmental damage to lichens, such as: photosynthesis; chlorophyll content and degradation; decrease of ATP; variations in respiration levels; changes in the level of endogenous auxins; and ethylene production.

Furthermore, laboratory exposure to SO2 causes relevant membrane damage to lichen cells.

Many studies show a positive correlation between the sulphur content of lichens and SO2 present in the atmosphere.

Various authors report that the concentration of Chl a + b is altered by vehicle traffic pollution, and by urban emissions.

In general, lichens that are transplanted into areas with intense vehicle traffic show an increase in Chl a + b concentration that is proportional to increases in emissions.

Gift of the Himalayas - high value plants and NTFPs

The Himalayas are a rich repository of flora with a large number of native plants and high value nontimber forest products.The high topographic complexity and related climatic variability of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape has given rise to significant ecological gradients, and thus, high ecosystem diversity over a relatively small area and due attention for conservation of these natural resources.

In Nepal, the Sacred Himalayan Landscape harbors numbers important flora such as oaks (Castanopsis and Quercus), Rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.) and Himalayan Larch (Larix griffithiana), and globally threatened fauna such as snow leopard (Uncia uncia), red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) and highly important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs).

Broadly, NTFP may be classified as edible and non-edible plant and animal products.

The former include edible plants and animals, honey, oils, fish, spices and so on. Non-edible products include grasses, bamboo, ornamental plants, insect products, oils for cosmetic use, and medicinal products among others.

From the economic viewpoint, NTFP are equally important as wood-based products. About 150 types of NTFP are significant in international trade. They are also increasingly being acknowledged for their role in sustainable development and conservation of biological diversity. Up to 80% of the population in developing countries depend on NTFP for subsistence, both economically and for nutrition. It is an important asset especially for people living in Nepal's Sacred Himalayan Landscape contributing significantly in their livelihood. In recent year, the use of many NTFP has gone from subsistence collection to large-scale commercial extraction resulting into over-harvesting and degradation of diversity, quality and availability of many valuable species.

Therefore, there is the need to address the sustainable harvesting issues of NTFPs/MAPs in mountains of Nepal for future generation. Though conservation agencies are addressing the issue of sustainable production of NTFP, there are a number of challenges to be met, some of which include the disappearing forest cover, inequitable market access of marginalized populations and the monopoly of high - value NTFP by logging and poaching mafia. This report is a WWF Nepal's initiative to conserve these high value NTFPs of mountains by providing concise information of prioritized species in mountain program areas of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape.

Download
Gift of the Himalayas - high value plants and NTFPs [pdf, 838 KB]

Source:http://www.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/nepal/news/publications/?118460/Gift-of-the-Himalayas-high-value-plants-and-NTFPs

Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.
The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialised countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so.
Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.”
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. 184 Parties of the Convention have ratified its Protocol to date. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh in 2001, and are called the “Marrakesh Accords.”
The Kyoto mechanisms
Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of meeting their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms.
The Kyoto mechanisms are:

1. Emissions trading – known as “the carbon market"
2. Clean development mechanism (CDM)
3. Joint implementation (JI).

The mechanisms help stimulate green investment and help Parties meet their emission targets in a cost-effective way.
Monitoring emission targets
Under the Protocol, countries’actual emissions have to be monitored and precise records have to be kept of the trades carried out. Registry systems track and record transactions by Parties under the mechanisms. The UN Climate Change Secretariat, based in Bonn, Germany, keeps an international transaction log to verify that transactions are consistent with the rules of the Protocol.
Reporting is done by Parties by way of submitting annual emission inventories and national reports under the Protocol at regular intervals. A compliance system ensures that Parties are meeting their commitments and helps them to meet their commitments if they have problems doing so.
AdaptationThe Kyoto Protocol, like the Convention, is also designed to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. It facilitates the development and deployment of techniques that can help increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.
The Adaptation Fund was established to finance adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Fund is financed mainly with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities.
The road ahead
The Kyoto Protocol is generally seen as an important first step towards a truly global emission reduction regime that will stabilize GHG emissions, and provides the essential architecture for any future international agreement on climate change.
By the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, a new international framework needs to have been negotiated and ratified that can deliver the stringent emission reductions the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has clearly indicated are needed.

Source:http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

Climate crisis needs empowered people

By Jacqueline McGlade

People power is at the heart of the effort to beat climate change, says Professor Jacqueline McGlade, head of the European Environment Agency. In this week's Green Room, she says that the task is so great, and the timescale so tight, that we can no longer wait for governments and businesses to act.
It is no longer sufficient to develop passive lists or reports to 'inform' citizens of changes in our environment. The key to protecting and enhancing our environment is in the hands of the many, not the few.
To adapt effectively to the challenges that will come with climate change, including biodiversity loss, water stress and forced migrations of species, we need to harness the information available and will to act at the local level.
That means empowering citizens to engage actively in improving their own environment, using new observation techniques and innovative economic ideas.
Sadly, the political, economic and administrative mechanisms that we design to tackle environmental concerns all too often leave citizens sidelined as silent observers.
Information is made available as lists of figures or spreadsheets that only experts can interpret.
Imagine if all the statistics that inform our evening weather forecasts were presented in this way, or all the data that drives popular software like Google or Windows.
Do you think they would continue to be as popular?
To encourage and benefit from participation we need to present our information in a way everyone can understand. To address this urgent need the European Environment Agency (EEA) is working with the European Union, developing new systems to engage citizens as suppliers and users of environmental data. The Shared Environmental Information System is one such collaboration between the EU and EEA.
The initiative will guide Europe's collection and dissemination of environmental information over the coming years. This new approach supports the shift from paper to web-based reporting, managing information as close as possible to its source and making it available to users openly and transparently.
For Europe's citizens, this will mean both greater access to information and a bigger role in reporting. When EU bodies review members' compliance with environmental standards, they will increasingly refer to national websites where everyone can access the relevant data, rather than relying on confidential submissions.
Meanwhile, data collected pursuant to regulatory obligations will be integrated with information from voluntary, professional and amateur groups as well as from empowered citizens. This will build a much more complete and nuanced picture of the state of Europe's environment.
Silent witnesses
Citizens have a role to play in data gathering the world over. In the Arctic, for instance, indigenous people form part of the EEA's global observation network, providing evidence of the real change taking place to complement our observational data and models.
We know already that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the globe.
Yet outside the territories, little is understood of the true cost to indigenous people of retreating ice or the impact of seasonal change on hunting. We need to rectify this if we are to make the right decisions.
It is no longer sufficient to develop passive lists or reports to "inform" citizens of changes in our environment. We need to engage with citizens and ask how they can inform us. Obtaining and using local knowledge will help us empower citizens, and will also give us a better indication of what we need to do to be truly sustainable.
To really engage the public, more co-ordinated and timely gathering of complex data needs to be complemented by "real time" delivery of the information, in language that is accessible to all.
The EEA's recently launched online portal, which is called the Global Citizen's Environmental Observatory, will enable European environmental information to be gathered and presented in a single location.
The Observatory will give governments, policymakers and citizens easy access to clear, comprehensible data in real time.
It will provide information on all environmental media - from the global perspective to the view from the street - at levels of detail previously unseen. Water Watch, which provides information on bathing water quality, represents an illustration of the services to come.
Launched by the EEA and Microsoft last summer, it was visited almost 265,000 times in the first three weeks of August; a clear indication of public demand for user-friendly environmental information.
Crucially, the Observatory will afford every one of us a role in the information process by prioritising two-way communication. In the case of Water Watch, local people are encouraged to give their opinion on the quality of the beach and water, thereby supplementing and validating official information.
Information technologies offer new ways to use all available data to the full and to present findings in ways that engage citizens and policymakers alike. An example is the Climate Change Simulator, known as C-ROADS, currently being developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with support from the EEA.
C-ROADS allows users to see how decisions on greenhouse gas emissions made by political leaders today will influence the climate over the next 100 years. If the world cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, 50% or 80%, what impacts will climate change have? The simulator provides some of the answers.
Importantly, it will be available to everyone, and isn't only for super computers and technicians.
That means each of us can use the same data as governments to model the change in his or her country. From personal experience, I have noticed that people find the simulator simple to use and convincing in terms of its output.
It gives immediate feedback, which is essential when we want heads of state and ministers to see the consequences of their actions.
And it gives them and their citizens an insight into the scale of change that is needed.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7893230.stm

Pandas opt for low-cal sweeteners

Red pandas have surprised researchers by demonstrating a liking of artificial sweeteners.
The Journal of Heredity research was investigating the sweet taste preferences of carnivorous animals. While some of them preferred natural sugars, only pandas favoured aspartame, neotame and sucralose.
The researchers believe the ability to taste such molecules may have evolved because similar ones might exist among the panda's natural foods.
The receptors for sweet substances are formed from a pair of proteins, with the receptors' detailed shapes determining whether they react to natural or artificial sweeteners.
The team demonstrated in 2005 that the carnivore family Felidae - which includes the big cats and the domesticated variety - showed no preference for either natural sugars or sweeteners.
They went on to show that Felidae family animals only expressed one of the two genes that code for proteins that together form sweet receptors on animal tongues.
The new research investigated a number of animals in a similar taste test at two Swiss zoos, followed by genetic profiling. The animals included meerkats, ferrets, genets, mongoose, and lions as well as the pandas.
Over the course of a day, the animals were allowed to choose from two water sources: plain water or water sweetened using one of six natural or six artificial sweeteners.
Message received
In keeping with the prior research, the lions showed no preference for water sweetened in any way. All of the other animals showed some preference for at least one of the naturally sweetened water sources.
But pandas alone favoured the artificially sweetened water. Until now it was thought that only primates could taste aspartame, the pandas' favourite among the artificial sweeteners.
The researchers then looked at the genes that code for sweet receptors. Only the lions suffered from the "pseudogenisation" that prevents formation of the receptors; all of the others had some form of sweet receptors.
However, the genetic analysis showed subtle differences in the fine structure of the pandas' receptors relative to all the other sweet-toothed animals.
"This may explain why the red panda is able to taste artificial sweeteners," said Xia Li, a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and lead author of the study.
"What we don't know is why this particular animal has this unusual ability. Perhaps the red panda's unique sweet receptor evolved to allow this animal to detect some compound in its natural food that has a similar structure to these sweeteners."
The researchers will continue to study the fine interplay between the genes that code for sweet receptors, the molecules the receptors can bind to, and ultimately how that influences animals' diets.
"This is the essence of molecular science," said Monell's Joseph Brand, senior author of the research, "asking a behavioural question and getting a molecular answer."

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8002978.stm

How to designs eco-friendly garden?

In our Planet Under Pressure series we've looked at some of the world's biggest environmental problems. But the first steps toward solving these issues can begin at home - which is why we asked you to send us your designs for an eco-friendly garden.
We asked you to design a garden which is a relaxing green space for you, your family and friends, uses natural resources in a sustainable way and encourages a wide range of plants and wildlife.
The winner was Gina Couch, from the UK. Her entry was chosen by a team of experts from the BBC Gardening website, and she wins a copy of the Henry Doubleday Research Foundation's Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.
You can see Gina's winning entry below, as well as some of the best other designs we received.

WINNER

Gina Couch :: Naturally Ours

Gina Couch devoted much of her garden space to encouraging wildlife.
Her design included a "living wall made from recycled pipes and wood, providing bee/wasp hotels, ladybird towers, a hedgehog house plus bird feeders and shelter and nesting sites."
Other features which impressed the judges included a bog garden and pool with shallow, sloping sides to allow easy access for frogs and other amphibians.
Judges comment: A lovely naturalistic, flowing design. There is great attention to detail, taking into account all the environmentally-friendly elements, as well as creating a garden that is very aesthetically pleasing and a harmonious place for humans and wildlife.

RUNNERS UP
Nyske Blokhuis :: A Haven For All
Nyske Blokhuis, from the Netherlands, placed her emphasis on creating a balance between humans, wildlife and plants.

Her design featured a pond and a pergola to provide room for bird boxes and feeders in winter, while stacked branches of the fence and under the benches provide shelter for insects, hedgehogs and amphibians.
The plan includes a wide variety of plants with the aim of ensuring that flowering takes place in some part of the garden almost all year round, providing food for visiting insects.
Judges comment: Good use of the space with a practical design and some interesting features. However, while the planting palette was varied, it would only really look good in the summer months as there is no structural planting to create all-year interest.
Meryl Kelsey Masters :: The Lunch Gathering

Meryl Kelsey Masters designed "a place for lunch in a shady hollow with a wildlife pool and hedges attracting birds and small animals".
Her design features a bog garden fed by shallow pebble-lined channels and a central copper pergola, which catch and divert rainwater, log seats and tables, a small woodland area and a meadow. Judges comment: An interesting garden with lots of different features, but overall a slightly unfocused design.
Philippa Greenwood :: The Wild Side
Philippa Greenwood designed her garden for a modern family to provide "somewhere for relaxation, entertainment and the appreciation of nature whilst caring for the environment."

Designed to be "modern and eye-catching, it is also practical and low maintenance. The garden is as organic and self-sufficient as possible to ensure impact on the environment is small."
Philippa's garden also features a wildflower meadow, nesting boxes for birds and bats, a pond and a log stack sculpture to provide shelter for hedgehogs and frogs.
Judges comment: A very well-executed design, which is modern and user friendly as well as including some good environmental features, but didn't offer enough hiding space and planting cover for wildlife or a wide enough selection of plants.
William Wasey :: KHCTC Eco Garden

William Wasey's garden combined nature with ecologically sound technology.
His design features a buddleia hedge, wind-turbine powered pond planted with reeds and native water plants, a greenhouse and a shed fitted with solar panels.
Other elements include bird baths, long grass to encourage insects, trellises and raised flowerbeds.
Judges comment: A great design, in a distinctive style. The garden addresses all eco-friendly issues, but is perhaps quite busy, with all the different elements. We particularly liked the inclusion of solar panels and a wind turbine however.
Jean Andre Waag Hermann :: A Life In The Trees
Jean-Andre Waag-Hermann from France designed an imaginative and ambitious garden based around a natural pergola created from interwoven tree branches.

His design was set in local countryside in the Vosges region of France, which is characterised by hedged farmlands dotted with small villages.
Jean-Andre wrote: "The pergola could be used as a welcoming place to have a drink or meal with friends. Tree houses could be built to watch nature, or for kids to play in."
Judges comment: We really liked the design concept and it was presented in a professional way with good visuals. However we feel that this is a scheme more appropriate to a large landscaping project, rather than an average back garden.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4225517.stm

Flora and Fauna of Nepal

Nepal's flora and fauna can be divided into four regions:-
1. Tropical Deciduous Monsoon Forest:
2. Subtropical Mixed Evergreen Forest:
3. Temperate Evergreen Forest:
4. Subalpine and Alpine Zone:
Ranging from the subtropical forests of the Terai to the great peaks of the Himalayas in the north, Nepal abounds with some of the most spectacular sceneries in the whole of Asia, with a variety of fauna and flora also unparalleled elsewhere in the region. Between NepalÕs geographical extremes, one may find every vegetational type, from the treeless steppes of the Trans-Himalayan region in the extreme north and the birch, silver fir, larch and hemlock of the higher valleys to the oak, pine and rhododendron of the intermediate altitudes and the great sal and sissau forests of the south.
The rolling densely forested hills and broad Dun valleys of the Terai along with other parts of the country, were formerly, renowned for their abundance and variety o wildlife. Though somewhat depleted as a result of agricultural settlements, deforestation, poaching and other causes, Nepal can still boast richer and more varied flora and fauna than any other area in Asia. For practical purposes, NepalÕs flora and fauna can be divided into four regions:-
1. Tropical Deciduous Monsoon Forest:
This includes the Terai plains and the broad flat valleys or Duns found between successive hill ranges. The dominant tree species of this area are Sal (Shorea Robusta), sometimes associated with Semal (Bombax malabricum), Asna (Terminalia termentosa), Dalbergia spp and other species, and Pinus rosburghi occurring on the higher ridges of the Churia hills, which in places reach an altitude of 1800m. Tall coarse two-meter high elephant grass originally covered much of the Dun valleys but has now been largely replaced by agricultural settlements. The pipal (ficus religiosa) and the ÔbanyanÕ (ficus bengalensis) are to be noticed with their specific natural characteristics. This tropical zone is NepalÕs richest area for wildlife, with gaurs, buffaloes, four species of deer, tigers, leopards and other animals found in the forest areas rhinoceros, swamp deer and hot deer found in the valley grasslands and two species of crocodile and the Gangetic dolphin inhabiting the rivers. The principal birds are the peacock, jungle fowl and black partridge, while migratory duck and geese swarm on the ponds and lakes and big rivers of Terai. Terai forests are full of jasmin, minosa, accecia reeds and bamboo.
2. Subtropical Mixed Evergreen Forest:
This includes the Mahabharat Lekh, which rises to a height of about 2400m and comprises the outer wall of the Himalayan range. Great rivers such as the Karnali, Narayani, and Sapta Koshi flow through this area into the broad plains of the Terai. This zone also includes the so-called Ômiddle hillsÕ which extend northwards in a somewhat confused maze of ridges and valleys to the foot of the great Himalayas. Among the tree species characteristic of this region are Castenopsis indica in association with Schima wallichii, and other species such as Alnus nepalensis, Acer oblongum and various species of oak and rhododendron which cover the higher slopes where deforestation has not yet taken place. Orchids clothe the stems of trees and gigantic climbers smother their heads. The variety and abundance of the flora and fauna increase progressively with decreasing altitude and increasing luxurance of the vegetation. This zone is generally poor in wildlife. The only mammals, which are at all widely distributed, are wild boar, barking deer, serow, ghoral and bears. Different varieties of birds are also found in this zone. Different varieties of birds are also found in this zone.
3. Temperate Evergreen Forest:
Northward, on the lower slopes and spurs of the great Himalayas, oaks and pines are the dominant species up to an altitude of about 2400m above which are found dense conifer forests including Picea, Tusga, Larix and Abies spp. The latter is usually confined to higher elevations with Betula typically marking the upper limit of the tree line. At about 3600 to 3900m, rhododendron, bamboo and maples are commonly associated with the coniferous zone. Composition of he forest varies considerably with coniferous predominating in the west and eracaceous in the east. The wildlife of this region includes the Himalayan bear, serow, ghoral, barking deer and wildboar, with Himalayan tahr sometimes being seen on steep rocky faces above 2400m. The red panda is among the more interesting of the mammals found in this zone; it appears to be fairly distributed in suitable areas of the forest above 1800m. The rich and varied avifauna of this region includes several spectacular and beautiful pheasants, including the Danfe pheasant, NepalÕs national bird.
4. Subalpine and Alpine Zone:
Above the tree line, rhododendron, juniper scrub and other procumbent woody vegetation may extend to about 4200m where it is then succeeded by t a tundra-like association of short grasses, sedge mosses and alpine plants wherever there is sufficient soil. This continues up to the lower limit of perpetual snow and ice at about 5100m. The mammalian faun is sparse and unlikely to include any species other than Himalayan marmots, mouse hare, tahr, musk deer, snow leopard and occasionally blue sheep. In former times, the wild Yak and great Tibetan sheep could also be sighted in this region and it is possible that a few may still be surviving in areas such as Dolpa and Humla. The bird life at such as lammergeyer, snowcock, snowpatridge, choughs and bunting, with redstarts and dippers often seen along the streams and rivulets. Yaks are the only livestock, which thrive at high altitude. They serve both back and draught animals. The cheeses prepared out of the milk are edible for months. The female Yak provides milk to the Sherpas.
Of the wonderful flora and fauna must suffice to indicate what a paradise Nepal is to the lovers of wild animal and bird life, to the naturalists and to the forester.

Star and Luxury Hotels in Nepal

Nepal 5 (Five) star hotels and resorts directory. Nepal accommodation choices for 5 star luxury hotels and resorts. See list of Nepal hotels for full list or Nepal hotels for list showing a brief summary, reviews and customer ratings. For hotel information, hotel reviews, the best rates or to make a reservation, select a hotel and let asiahotels.com be your Nepal travel agent.
List of Chitwan hotels
Maruni Sanctuary Lodge Chitwan
List of Dhulikhel hotels
Himalayan Horizon Hotel Dhulikhel
Lodge Resort Dhulikhel
Mirabelle Dhulikhel
List of Kathmandu hotels
Country Villa Kathmandu
Crowne Plaza Kathmandu-Soaltee
Del' Annapurna Hotel Kathmandu
Everest Hotel Kathmandu
Gangjong Hotel Kathmandu
Gokarna Forest Resort Kathmandu
Grand Hotel Kathmandu
Hotel Thamel Kathmandu
Hotel Vaishali Kathmandu
Hotel Yak And Yeti Kathmandu
Hyatt Regency Kathmandu
Kathmandu Guest House Kathmandu
Manang Hotel Kathmandu
Marshyangdi Hotel Kathmandu
Radisson Hotel Kathmandu
Royal Singhi Hotel Kathmandu
Shanker Hotel Kathmandu
Sherpa Hotel Kathmandu
List of Lumbini hotels
Buddha Maya Gardens Lumbini
Yeti Hotel Lumbini
List of Pokhara hotels
Base Camp Resort Pokhara
Blue Bird Hotel Pokhara
Dragon Hotel Pokhara
Fewa Prince Hotel Pokhara
Fish Tail Lodge Pokhara
Hotel Barahi Pokhara
Hotel Kantipur Pokhara
Pokhara View Garden Hotel
Trek-O-Tel Hotel Pokhara

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Ants inhabit 'world without sex'

An Amazonian ant has dispensed of sex and developed into an all-female species, researchers have found. The ants reproduce via cloning - the queen ants copy themselves to produce genetically identical daughters.
This species - the first ever to be shown to reproduce entirely without sex - cultivates a garden of fungus, which also reproduces asexually.
The finding of the ants' "world without sex" is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Anna Himler, the biologist from the University of Arizona who led the research, told BBC News that the team used a battery of tests to verify their findings.
Unusual evolution
By "fingerprinting" DNA of the ant species - Mycocepurus smithii - they found them all to be clones of the colony's queen.
And when they dissected the female insects, they found them to be physically incapable of mating, as an essential part of their reproductive system known as the "mussel organ" had degenerated.

Asexual reproduction of males from unfertilised eggs is a normal part of some insect reproduction, but asexual reproduction of females is "exceedingly rare in ants", write the researchers.
"In social insects, there are a number of different types of reproduction," explained Dr Himler. "But this species has evolved its own unusual mode."She and her colleagues do not know exactly why this particular species has become fully asexual, and how long ago the phenomenon evolved. They are carrying out further genetic experiments, which will enable them to estimate how long ago the evolutionary change occurred.
No sex please
There are advantages to life without sex, as Dr Himler explained.
"It avoids the energetic cost of producing males, and doubles the number of reproductive females produced each generation from 50% to 100% of the offspring."
But combining genetic material in sexual reproduction gives future generations many more advantages. "If we're more diverse, we're more resistant to parasites and disease," explained Laurent Keller, an expert in social insects from the University of Lausanne.
"In a colony of clones, if one ant is susceptible to a parasite, they will all be susceptible. So if you're asexual, you normally don't last very long.
"But in ants we're seeing more and more reports of unusual methods of reproduction," added Professor Keller, who was not involved in this study.
He also points out that social insects, like ants, may be particularly well suited to this type of reproduction because it enables the queen to control the caste and sex of all the offspring in her colony.
The first farmers
Dr Himler's interest in Mycocepurus smithii was originally sparked not by their unusually biased sex ratio, but by their ability to cultivate crops.
"Ants discovered farming long before we did - they have been cultivating fungus gardens for an estimated 80 million years.

"They collect plant material, insect faeces and even dead insects from the forest floor and feed it to their crops," she said.
Many different species of ant - including the famous leafcutter ants - cultivate fungi, relying on it for nutrition.
But this particular species is able to grow "a greater number of crops than other ant species", she explained.
"When we started to study this species more closely, we just weren't finding any males. That's when we started to look at them in a different way."
Since the fungus crop reproduces asexually, Dr Himler thinks it might give the ants some kind of advantage "not to operate under the usual constraints of sexual reproduction".
"There is certainly more work to be done in this system," she added. "We're quite excited about the direction this research might take us, and its implications."

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7998931.stm

Ancient medicines were alcoholic

A team of researchers in the US has discovered traces of a medicinal alcoholic drink in bottles that are more than 5,000 years old. The scientists extracted wine compounds and plant-derived ingredients from a jar taken from the tomb of one of the first pharaohs of Egypt, Scorpion I.
This is the earliest sample of a human-made medicine. The researchers report their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Patrick McGovern, professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, led the research. The vessels that he and his team tested came from excavated tombs in southern Egypt - the earliest of which dates from 3150BC. "This is the earliest Egyptian vessel ever found to have wine in it," Professor McGovern told BBC News.
"It shows that, by trial and error, humans were discovering remedies over 5,000 years ago, and that alcoholic beverages were a key part of the discovery process."
Designing medicine
The team used organic solvents to extract residues from inside the jars.

With extremely sensitive chemical techniques, they were then able to separate the different compounds within the residue. The jars tested positive for tartaric acid - a reliable chemical marker for grape and wine in the Middle East.
The scientists also found compounds from a number of herbs, some of which have known medicinal properties, and from tree resin. Professor McGovern pointed out that alcoholic drinks would have been ideal for dissolving these plant-derived substances.
"As well as adding flavour, these compounds were likely to have been used with a medicinal aim in mind," he said.
His team also tested residue from inside a later Egyptian jar, or amphora, dating from between the 4th and 6th Centuries. He now wants to find out if some of the ancient remedies he found could be revived.
Professor McGovern has started a collaboration with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center, testing compounds found in ancient fermented beverages from China, including the earliest chemically confirmed alcoholic beverage in the world, dated to 7000BC.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7992575.stm

Global Water Crisis

The world's water crisis is simple to understand, if not to solve.
The amount of water in the world is finite. The number of us is growing fast and our water use is growing even faster.
A third of the world's population lives in water-stressed countries now. By 2025, this is expected to rise to two-thirds. There is more than enough water available, in total, for everyone's basic needs.
The UN recommends that people need a minimum of 50 litres of water a day for drinking, washing, cooking and sanitation. In 1990, over a billion people did not have even that.
Providing universal access to that basic minimum worldwide by 2015 would take less than 1% of the amount of water we use today. But we're a long way from achieving that.
Pollution and disease
Global water consumption rose sixfold between 1900 and 1995 - more than double the rate of population growth - and goes on growing as farming, industry and domestic demand all increase.

As important as quantity is quality - with pollution increasing in some areas, the amount of useable water declines.
More than five million people die from waterborne diseases each year - 10 times the number killed in wars around the globe.
And the wider effects of water shortages are just as chilling as the prospect of having too little to drink.
Seventy percent of the water used worldwide is used for agriculture. Much more will be needed if we are to feed the world's growing population - predicted to rise from about six billion today to 8.9 billion by 2050.
And consumption will soar further as more people expect Western-style lifestyles and diets - one kilogram of grain-fed beef needs at least 15 cubic metres of water, while a kilo of cereals needs only up to three cubic metres.
Poverty and water
The poor are the ones who suffer most. Water shortages can mean long walks to fetch water, high prices to buy it, food insecurity and disease from drinking dirty water.

But the very thing needed to raise funds to tackle water problems in poor countries - economic development - requires yet more water to supply the agriculture and industries which drive it. The UN-backed World Commission on Water estimated in 2000 that an additional $100bn a year would be needed to tackle water scarcity worldwide.
This dwarfs the $20bn which will be needed annually by 2007 to tackle HIV and Aids, and, according to the Commission, it is so much it could only be raised from the private sector.
Even if the money can be found, spending it wisely is a further challenge. Dams and other large-scale projects now affect 60% of the world's largest rivers and provide millions with water.

But in many cases the costs in terms of population displacement and irreversible changes in the nearby ecosystems have been considerable.
Using underground supplies is another widely used solution, but it means living on capital accumulated over millennia, and depleting it faster than the interest can top it up.
As groundwater is exploited, water tables in parts of China, India, West Asia, the former Soviet Union and the western United States are dropping - in India by as much as 3m a year in 1999.
Technical solutions
New technology can help, however, especially by cleaning up pollution and so making more water useable, and in agriculture, where water use can be made far more efficient. Drought-resistant plants can also help.
Drip irrigation drastically cuts the amount of water needed, low-pressure sprinklers are an improvement, and even building simple earth walls to trap rainfall is helpful.

Some countries are now treating waste water so that it can be used - and drunk - several times over. Desalinisation makes sea water available, but takes huge quantities of energy and leaves vast amounts of brine. The optimists say "virtual water" may save the day - the water contained in crops which can be exported from water-rich countries to arid ones.
But the amounts involved would be immense, and the energy needed to transport them gargantuan. And affordable, useable energy will probably soon be a bigger problem than water itself.
Climate change
In any case, it is not just us who need water, but every other species that shares the planet with us - as well all the ecosystems on which we, and they, rely.
Climate change will also have an impact. Some areas will probably benefit from increased rainfall, but others are likely to be losers. We have to rethink how much water we really need if we are to learn how to share the Earth's supply.
While dams and other large-scale schemes play a big role worldwide, there is also a growing recognition of the value of using the water we already have more efficiently rather than harvesting ever more from our rivers and aquifers. For millions of people around the world, getting it right is a matter of life and death.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3747724.stm

Declining Biodiversity in UK

Biodiversity in the UK is continuing to decline according to statistics released by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Defra is studying these trends as part a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), aiming to "significantly reduce the rate of species loss by 2010".
But conservationists are "very concerned" the target will not be met.
The government said it had made some progress and continued to provide resources to tackle the problem.
The latest update shows that many species are still disappearing from the UK.
Eighteen indicators by which to assess UK biodiversity were agreed in 2007 by Defra and its partners.
The measurements are represented as traffic lights - an indicator is green if it is improving and red if it is getting worse.
Defra along with conservation groups are taking the measurements which include the population of rare plants and animals, the status of habitats and ecosystems, and the impacts of pollution.
Responding to this latest assessment, Buglife, a conservation trust that works with Defra, pointed out that the abundance of farmland birds and seabirds had changed from orange to red, and that the area of sensitive habitats threatened by acid rain had moved from green to orange.

The trust highlighted the consequences of the decline, pointing out that six species on the BAP list had been lost from the UK since 1994."We urgently need a boost of resources in a new Green Deal before we cause irreversible damage to Britain's fragile habitats," said Matt Shardlow, director of Buglife.
Defra agreed that more action was needed to stop biodiversity loss.
Wildlife Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies, said: "The Government is continuing to work with the public, wildlife conservation groups, and farmers to conserve our valuable wildlife."
But Martin Warren, chief executive of Butterfly Conservation, told BBC news that there was "no chance" that the 2010 target would be met.
"There has been lots of effort by government and NGOs, but there simply aren't the resources to tackle the problem," he said. "I just hope that 2010 will be the incentive for the government to provide the necessary resources to get some real conservation work done, and reverse these trends."

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7982461.stm

Wise use of Himalayan Wetlands

Wetlands are the most productive ecosystems on earth, have the richest biodiversity, and serve very vital functions. They provide habitats for many endangered wildlife species and retain water and mitigate floods, recharge and purify groundwater, and play a central role in the economies of communities of the Himalayan region. They have also been the source of inspiration and cultural and spiritual values for humankind for millennia.
In a ‘Regional Technical Workshop on the Himalayan Wetlands Initiative’ held in Kathmandu, Nepal, representatives from six countries – Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan – the RAMSAR Convention Secretariat for Wetlands, Wetlands International, WWF, IUCN and ICIMOD met for three days from 1-3 September to discuss the importance of conserving and facilitating sustainable use of the region’s valuable wetlands. The workshop was organised by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and co-hosted by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, representing the host country.
During the workshop’s inaugural session, RAMSAR representatives and ICIMOD experts emphasised that water resources in the form of snow and ice are threatened by climate change, and can potentially lead to reduced water availability in rivers in the dry season. “Therefore the importance of wetlands to sustain livelihoods and provide water resources and other ecosystem services is constantly increasing.”
This contention was supported by Mr. Ananda Pokhrel, Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation who, during the same session, said: “The loss of glaciers in the Himalaya will cause significant decrease in the availability of freshwater in the whole region, which will have adverse effects on wetland ecosystems and people dependent on them.” Various studies in fact suggest that warming in the Himalayan region has been much greater than the global average over the last 100 years.
Therefore, a Himalayan Wetlands Initiative Strategy for the sustainable use and conservation of wetlands in the region is of critical importance. The workshop discussed and agreed on such a strategy, which will support the implementation of the RAMSAR convention on wetlands among countries sharing the Himalayan region - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan and Tajikistan. Once approved by member governments of the region, the strategy will be presented at the next 10th International Conference on Parties (COP 10) of the RAMSAR Convention for Wetlands, in Changwon in South Korea in October 2008.

Himalayan Region and Needs for Biodiversity Data

The two-day workshop “Linking Geodata with Biodiversity Information in the Himalayas” organised by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Global Mountain Biodiversity Programme (GMBA) concluded on Sunday 16th November with a call to create a mountain biodiversity information network in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region for mutual benefit and transboundary cooperation. The workshop was organised as a precursor to the ongoing International Mountain Biodiversity Conference and was attended by representatives from ICIMOD’s regional member countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The workshop emphasised the increasing need for geo-coded information in the inventory and assessment of biodiversity that are essential for management strategies and conservation interventions as well as for developing and testing scientific hypotheses.
Dr. Andreas Schild, Director General of ICIMOD welcomed the participants and emphasised the importance of geo-coded information in understanding the rapid environmental changes that are taking place in mountain ecosystems. He highlighted the significant role that ICIMOD can play to promote regional approaches and a methodology for filling the data gap in the Himalayas. Professor Christian Körner, chair of the Global Mountain Biodiversity Programme, stressed the biophysical characteristics of the mountains which are endowed with immense biodiversity. Locational information is not only fundamental for understanding biodiversity but also helps us to explore the evolutionary process of species. There is a need to build a corporate community for making mountain biodiversity information available to a wider scientific community and policy-makers.
ICIMOD and GMBA shared their experiences in developing GIS-enabled biodiversity portals as a gateway for biodiversity information and demonstrated the benefit of geo-referenced biodiversity data for integrated analysis and spatial visualisation of biodiversity information in relation to climate, land use, physiography, and other important parameters. The workshop participants deliberated on ways of improving the biodiversity database at the national and local levels, the need for standardisation and harmonisation for data exchange, and providing a way to facilitate easy and open access to geo-coded biodiversity information. The workshop participants emphasised the role of ICIMOD as a regional knowledge hub on biodiversity by linking with global level initiatives and customising relevant international knowledge and experience, and thereby transferring the necessary technology to the member countries. The participants stressed the importance of creating a mountain biodiversity information network in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region for mutual benefit and transboundary cooperation.

Source:http://www.icimod.org/?page=266

Needs for long-term monitoring of glaciers

More than 70 international scientists today called for better monitoring and improved data sharing on Himalayan ice and snow.During a three-day workshop on Cryosphere and Hazards for the Hindu Kush Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau that concluded today, the scientists agreed that there is a major need of better long-term monitoring of glaciers in the Himalayas, using direct observation in the field, to complement remote sensing techniques alongside sharing of data among different countries in the region, stated a press release issued by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development today.

Started from March 31 and organised by ICIMOD, the workshop came up with a six-point conclusion, urging the governments of the Himalayan countries to facilitate data generation and sharing and to identify at least one model glacier in each country for long-term field-based study.It highlighted on the need of developing a standard method that could be used for monitoring and assessing glaciers across the region to facilitate comparative analysis. Development of basin-wide water scenarios should be encouraged for all major water basins in the region and scientists should be educated and trained on emerging technologies and a database developed on glaciological data resources, it stated.

The workshop brought together the best geosciences expertise available for the region. The scientists brainstormed on new ideas and procedures for obtaining information about the status and trend of snow and ice resources in this extended mountain area, release added.The massive stores of water in the region in the form of snow and ice have got the nickname
of ‘Water Tower of Asia’ and the ‘Third Pole’ - the largest ice reserves in the world outside the Arctic and Antarctic. However, these snow and ice resources are undergoing rapid changes attributing to climate change, the release said.
Source:http://www.thehimalayantimes.com

Nepal Himalaya and Threat of Ice-melt

The Khumbu Glacier on Mount Everest has retreated more than three miles (five kilometers) from the time when Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay famously set out to conquer the world's highest peak in 1953.
Scientists have documented a similar trend in glaciers throughout the Himalaya, the mountain range that houses Mount Everest. The range, which spans several Asian nations, is known as the Water Tower of Asia, since billions of people depend on its life-bringing flows.
But scientists fear that these water supplies could eventually dry up as the glaciers melt due to global warming. Researchers have therefore installed an automatic weather station on the Himalayan Ngozumpa Glacier, the longest in Nepal (see map).
The unmanned station will record data, such as solar radiation, humidity, air temperature, wind speed, air pressure, and precipitation. Changes in water flow caused by glacial melting will also be measured in a river fed by the 16-mile-long (25-kilometer-long) glacier.
Previously, scientists monitoring these mountain glaciers had to climb the icy peaks or rely on satellite images.
WWF, the international conservation group, donated the equipment for this project to the Nepalese government's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.
"Taking this glacier as a pilot site we can predict what the implications are of climate change in the glacier environment," said Sandeep Chamling Rai, climate change officer for WWF's Nepal Program.
Rai says there are not enough automatic weather stations in Nepal "to give a clear picture of what is going on in the Himalayan region."
He adds that another station is soon to be installed on Mount Everest's Khumbu Glacier.

Busted Lakes
Last year WWF released a report warning that Himalayan glaciers are currently receding at an average rate of 33 to 50 feet (10 to 15 meters) per year.

In India (see map) the Gangotri Glacier, the source of the Ganges (or Ganga) River, is retreating at a rate of 75 feet (23 meters) annually.
The report also noted that air temperatures in the region have risen by 1.8°F (1°C) since the 1970s—twice as much as average warming in other northern hemisphere countries over the same time period. WWF says environmental impacts associated with faster melting glaciers include an increased risk of flooding and landslides.
At least 20 glacier lakes in Nepal have grown to the point where they could potentially burst, according to a 2001 survey by the United Nations Environment Program.
Formed by accumulated meltwater, the overfilled lakes could suddenly discharge massive volumes of water, known as glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF).
Such flooding can cause loss of life and widespread damage to villages, roads, bridges, and farmland.
"GLOF is a major threat in Nepal as a result of climate change," Rai, of the WWF Nepal Program, said. "We have been seeing this quite often, and we feel that there will be more in the near future. Lots of glacier lakes are expanding in size."
From Flood to Drought
Jennifer Morgan, director of WWF's Global Climate Change Program, says glacial melting will also increase the volume of water in rivers, causing widespread flooding.
"But in a few decades this situation will change, and the water level in rivers will decline," she added.
Over time, as the glaciers become smaller, seasonal melt will decrease and contribute less water to annual river flows.
For example, researchers at the National Institute of Hydrology in Roorkee, India, estimate that reduced glacier meltwater would cut July-through-September river flow of the Ganges by two-thirds.
This decline would leave 500 million people and 37 percent of India's irrigated land short of water. Himalayan glaciers also feed six other of Asia's great rivers—Indus, Brahmaputra, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, and Huang Ho—putting communities across this region at risk of water shortages.

Sources:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0310_060310_glaciers.html