D+C: The impacts of climate change make the poorest people on earth suffer more than others. This is evident in Mustang, a northern district of Nepal. Entire villages are thinking of relocating because water scarcity is getting worse. Swiss researchers assessed the options. Mustang is a tough place to live because of desert-like drought, freezing

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BBC: Nandi Lal Paswan, 59, is a farmer in Sripur, East Terai in Nepal. He is married and takes responsibility for the six other family members living in his house. Nandi Lal is content with his life, but he has worked hard to get where he is today. Thirty years ago he began farming a

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Indian Himalayan basins are earmarked for widespread dam building, but aggregate effects of these dams on terrestrial ecosystems are unknown. We mapped distribution of 292 dams (under construction and proposed) and projected effects of these dams on terrestrial ecosystems under different scenarios of land-cover loss. We analyzed land-cover data of the Himalayan valleys, where dams

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BBC: More than half of common plant species and a third of animals could see a serious decline in their habitat range because of climate change. New research suggests that biodiversity around the globe will be significantly impacted if temperatures rise more than 2C. But the scientists say that the losses can be reduced if

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Shalini Dhyani: Writes about hill agriculture, agro-forest and such ecosystem practices from Indian Himalayan region. She emphasizes on improving the socio-economic condition of mountain people by adopting a range of animal husbandry, agro-forestry and traditional agriculture practices through better scientific and technical inputs. Entire Himalayan ecosystem is undergoing rapid land-use and climatic changes in last

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Business Standard: Climate change is likely to bring down the production of key foodgrain crops like wheat and rice in the country by up to 18% in 2020, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today. “Climate change is projected to reduce timely sown irrigated wheat production by about 6% in 2020. In case of late sown

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World Bank: Climate Change Cutting Crop Production in Eastern Europe and Central Asia by over 25 Percent unless Action Is Taken Now. In parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, climate change is poised to hamper food production and curb rural incomes over the next decades unless farmers get the help they need through improved

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EU Climate Adaptation Platform: The preparation of these guidelines has benefited from useful inputs from a range of stakeholders, who had the opportunity to comment on a preliminary draft. Those include representatives from the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, KPMG, Network Rail, the European Institute for Environmental Policy, and KfW.

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Aljazeera: Government attempts a new insurance scheme to protect farmers from floods and other worsening weather problems. After five consecutive dry winters, Abdul Qadeer was jubilant at the prospect of a plentiful harvest of wheat after December rains soaked his farmland. But the 39-year-old farmer’s hopes were destroyed last month by torrential spring rains and

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CNN: Environmentally-friendly biofuel may have come a step closer with the news that scientists in the UK think they have found how a genetically-modified bacterium can produce diesel oil – on a very small scale so far.  British scientists may have found a new way to pump high quality diesel into the tractors, trucks and

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CNN: Climate change is responsible for more than half the changes detected in the world’s vegetation, researchers say, and human activities for only about a third. The amount of vegetation in the world, and the way it is spread across the planet, has changed significantly in the last three decades, researchers say. They attribute more

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Himalayan Times: Minister for Agriculture Development Tek Bahadur Thapa Gharti has directed ministry officials to evaluate the performance of projects based on the benefits that the projects have provided to people. Impact on livelihoods should be the base for evaluating the projects, he said during a performance review meeting of the Agriculture Ministry. “The traditional

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IIED: The poorest communities (and poorest countries) are leading the world in learning about and practising adaptation to climate change. The rich would do well to learn from them. The flood plain of the Ganges river in southern Bangladesh is only around two metres higher than sea level. Rising floodwaters can wipe out crops and

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Guardian: World is unprepared for changes that will see parts of Africa turned into disaster areas, say food experts. Millions of people could become destitute in Africa and Asia as staple foods more than double in price by 2050 as a result of extreme temperatures, floods and droughts that will transform the way the world

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ABC Net: The small, landlocked country of Bhutan is aiming to increase its national happiness by becoming the first country in the world to completely shift to organic farming. About 80 per cent of Bhutan’s 800,000 residents depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The country plans to use the organic status, which it hopes to

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The Better India: Puja Devi, 30, watches with satisfaction as her young son gulps down his glass of milk and then reaches for his satchel, ready to go to school. For some months now, the happy mother has been able to provide milk for her son every day, a far cry from earlier times when

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MP: A project to improve food security among vulnerable rural groups coordinated by Mountain Partnership member the International Potato Centre (CIP) is underway in four Latin American countries. In the Andes, the potato is one of the most important crops in the agricultural sector. However, in areas where the tuber is produced, chronic malnutrition in

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BioOne: This comprehensive textbook on upland management in the British Isles combines a critical understanding of upland agriculture and related environmental issues with an assessment of the political decisions that have affected these regions over the past 50 years. Lois Mansfield, an agricultural geographer, has delivered this well, in a detailed and well-illustrated textbook suitable for

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BioOne: Recent studies of future food production in South Asia generally agree that the conditions for production will radically change in the years to come, in particular due to climate change and market variations. However, because we do not know how conditions will be modified and what adaptations will be required by farmers, the article

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Alertnet: In Nambeyo village in Kenya’s semi-arid Isiolo County, former pastoralist Joseph Elila and his wife Pauline are busy threshing sorghum to remove the grain from the stalks. The couple has been converted into smallholder dry-land farmers after they lost their entire animal stock to cattle rustlers two years ago. The area is well known

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IIED: Countries need new tools to check whether climate change adaptation is keeping development on-track, and whether costs and benefits are fairly distributed. IIED and partners are developing a framework that does this by assessing risk management and resilience at many levels. As countries increasingly focus on adapting to climate change, and more ‘climate finance’

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The Hindu: Polluted skies, dead rivers, disappearing forests and displacement of peasants and tribal are what we see around us 40 years after the Chipko movement started On the 27th of March 1973 — exactly 40 years ago — a group of peasants in a remote Himalayan village stopped a group of loggers from felling

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‘Adaptation Ideas’ is a new series of Climate Himalaya. Here we will be showcasing a number of simple, practical and innovative ideas those could be adopted by individuals, communities and organizations for various environment friendly adaptive practices at home, offices and in public places.  The purpose of this ongoing series is to disseminate and communicate

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Alertnet: Leading climate scientists in Pakistan have called for the development of high-temperature-tolerant, climate-resilient, genetically modified crops and the construction of huge water reservoirs to mitigate the effects of climate change. Speaking after the launch of Pakistan’s National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) last month, Ashfaq Ahmad Chattha warned that rising temperatures due to climate change

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Researchers have come up with a neat solution to the problem of producing some forms of biofuel waste – add it to cement, and make concrete nearly a third stronger than other versions. LONDON, 23 March – Engineers are working on yet another way to deliver more energy and cut carbon dioxide emissions. The latest

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WWF: Coordination Group of the Summit for a Living Himalayas (SLH) comprising of delegates from four countries (India, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh) met again on 23 February 2013. For the WWF LHGI, decisions taken by this Group in this meeting are a big step towards large scale regional action in the Eastern Himalayas. For the

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UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark today launched UNDP’s 2013 Human Development Report, which charts the unprecedented rise of developing countries to create a new “global middle class.” “The development landscape is very different today from when the first Human Development Report was launched 23 years ago,” Helen Clark said, releasing UNDP’s 22nd flagship

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Dr. Madhav Karki discusses about sustainable mountain development- SMD agenda that was adopted during 1992 Rio Earth summit, and how the socio-economic and environmental issues were taken by countries in the Hindu Kush Himalayan- HKH region during last 20 years in terms of achieving the goals as envisioned in SMD document. He argues that mountain

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Scidev.net: Disease may challenge the ability of fish farming to feed the growing human population even as wild fish stocks decline and climate change hampers food production from other sources, a study shows. Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector in the world, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, with 90 per cent

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IUCN and the International Water Association (IWA)  launch the Nexus Dialogue on Water Infrastructure Solutions.The goal is to building partnerships for innovation in water, food, and energy security. The Dialogue recognises how the close interaction between water, energy and food – the nexus – has led to new demands for water infrastructure and technology solutions. Water, energy and food security

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DW: The rush around the world to plant crops used to produce biofuel has not only sparked a global food vs. fuel debate, but it’s also putting biodiversity at risk. Last fall, a group of more than 200 American scientists banded together to protest a government decision allowing two potentially invasive species of grass to

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UPI: Growing seasons in Earth’s northern latitudes are shifting and vegetation increasingly resembles lusher latitudes to the south, scientists say. With climate change, temperatures and vegetation in northern latitudes resemble those found 4 degrees to 6 degrees of latitude farther south as recently as 1982, they said. NASA scientists along with U.S. and international researchers

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Triple Pundit: The tiny nation of Bhutan attracted worldwide attention recently when it announced that it intends to convert its agriculture to 100 percent organic farming in the coming years.  For many, its claim is no surprise; the Kingdom of Bhutan has been incorporating sustainable growing methods into many of its agricultural practices for years.

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MARCC: Results from a landmark climate study for the Mekong region will be released at a press conference here Mar. 29, forecasting dramatic changes in growing conditions and yields for major crops like rice, maize, coffee, and rubber, and impacting fisheries and livestock productivity. “Our study is producing very shocking results. We’ve found that this

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The Association ‘Mountain territories of Dagestan’, Mountain Partnership member from Russian Federation, has organized the drawing competition ‘Mountains through children’s eyes’, under the support of Mountain Partnership Secretariat, within its celebration acivities of the International Mountain Day 2012. More than 300 drawings were received from the children and the best ones were selected for the

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AKF: At independence, Tajikistan faced a variety of rural development challenges precipitated by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing civil war from 1992 to 1997. The mountainous regions of the country were especially affected, as both events left these areas cut-off from previous supply routes and desperately short of food. The dependency

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Dr. Madhav Karki writes about the commitments made by the member countries during Rio+20 summit on various sustainable development goals (SDGs) on low carbon green economy principles and good governance practices, in socio-economic and environmental perspectives. He argues that post Rio+20 actions should be more cohesive, participatory, multi-disciplinary and simple in approach, so that they

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IRISH Times: They look like rice terraces, neat steps of land carved all the way up the steep hillsides, the mighty snow-capped Himalayan mountain range in the distance. But go closer and it’s not rice but potatoes that are growing in this lush valley about an hour’s journey north of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. “We used

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Skeptical Science: A few months ago we looked at some hopeful climate news, including Mexico passing comprehensive climate legislation nearly unanimously, and many other efforts from a variety of countries to reduce their carbon emissions. Ultimately the biggest emitters need to get on board as well.  China is often used as a scapegoat and excuse

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Times of India: GitaDevi of Kullu used to routinely visit apple orchards and jungles every morning, collect some guchhi ( morel mushroom, also known as common morel, morel or yellow morel) and leave it to dry near the tandoor and sell it for high prices to traders at her doorstep. She used to earn good

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Alertnet: No-till farming is a response to climate change that fits well with the needs of the Caribbean: it increases the ability to capture water, while withstanding both drought and excessive rains, says expert Theodor Friedrich, representative of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Cuba. The Caribbean islands are in dire need

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Preeti Soni, Advisor (Climate Change), UNDP India, talks to OneWorld South Asia, on the sidelines of an international conference held in New Delhi earlier this month. OneWorld South Asia: How do the challenges brought by climate change present an opportunity for better management of natural resources in India? Preeti Soni: Climate change is of course

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Project Syndication: Of all major world regions, Europe has worked the hardest to implement policies aimed at countering human-caused climate change. Yet the cornerstone of Europe’s approach – a continent-wide emissions trading system for the greenhouse gases that cause climate change – is in trouble. That experience suggests a better strategy for both Europe and

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WED celebrations began in 1972 and have grown to become the one of the main vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action. Mongolia, which is prioritizing a Green Economy shift across its big economic sectors such as mining and promoting environmental awareness among  youth, is

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The GWPF: The UN’s climate change chief, Rajendra Pachauri, has acknowledged a 17-year pause in global temperature rises, confirmed recently by Britain’s Met Office, but said it would need to last “30 to 40 years at least” to break the long-term global warming trend. Dr Pachauri, the chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

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Sciencealert: Increased carbon dioxide levels caused by climate change may help wheat cope with drought, according to researchers at The University of Western Australia. In a world-first study, PhD student Eduardo Dias de Oliveira found that when wheat is exposed to more CO2, it is better able to cope with high temperatures and water restrictions.

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Thenews: Global climate change is posing serious threats to agrarian countries despite the facts that majority of them are not the major contributor in global warming. However, they are facing decline in agricultural productivity and water resources.  Speakers, during presentations in a seminar to the Agricultural Journalists Association (AJA), said the climate change cannot be

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Justmean: Over the next 50 years, we will need to face global food and farming realities. We will need to meet the challenges of providing better nutrition for more people in spite of rapid environmental change while cutting back our overuse of natural resources, ecosystems and the climate. All this calls for social innovation in

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Times of India: Popular for its sweetness, apples produced in the Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh are now gradually losing their taste and even turning sour as a result of climate change. With the weather becoming erratic and a clear variation in temperature, snowfall and rainfall pattern being recorded, apple crops are no more getting

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Environmental Expert: Four UN Agencies to Assist 30 Countries in Transition to a Green Economy.  Nairobi — A new partnership launched today by four UN agencies aims to support 30 countries over the next seven years in building national green economy strategies that will generate new jobs and skills, promote clean technologies, and reduce environmental

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ClimateNewsNetwork: One of the Climate News Network’s editors, Kieran Cooke, was among a group of journalists recently investigating the impact of climate change in Nepal and the Himalayas. He reports on some of the problems facing farmers in the region. KATHMANDU, 15 February – Life has been good in the past few years for Saraswati

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UN News Centre: Top officials from the United Nations and the Andean community of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru today launched the ‘International Year of Quinoa’ to raise awareness of the nutritional, economic, environmental and cultural value of a food that has been traditionally cultivated for thousands of years. “I hope this International Year will

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RTCC: The latest Globe Climate Legislation Study was published in January 2013, focusing on 33 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. For the first time climate policymakers have a clear idea of how countries around the world are attempting to control their greenhouse gas emissions. We have selected the highlights from Globe’s analysis

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The Nation: With the visit of Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan to Thailand in June 2006 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of His Majesty the King, the Thais suddenly became aware of their fascinating neighbour to the northwest and its “Prince Charming” who became an instant fan of a legion of Thai

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UNDP: Poverty reduction and economic growth can be sustained only if natural resources are managed on a sustainable basis. Greening rural development can stimulate rural economies, create jobs and help maintain critical ecosystem services and strengthen and strengthen climate resilience of the rural poor. Conversely, environmental challenges can limit the attainment of development goals. The

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Guardian: By shunning all but organic farming techniques, the Himalayan state will cement its status as a paradigm of sustainability. Bhutan plans to become the first country in the world to turn its agriculture completely organic, banning the sales of pesticides and herbicides and relying on its own animals and farm waste for fertilisers. But

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CHI: In recent disasters in Indian Himalayan region we lost many human lives, livestock population, agriculture land, livelihood opportunities and huge infrastructure overnight.  The most affected states due to these calamities in India are Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim and part of West Bengal. The flood in Kosi and Indus basins in Nepal and Pakistan

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K N Vajpai: This article is in the series of responses to ongoing discussion on ‘Mountain Perspective’ at Link . It looks in to the aspects of mountain perspective and specificities as mentioned by Dr. N. S. Jodha during 1992s, and compares them in present  context. For the reference of readers and forum discussants, I

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RedOrbit: Over the next 25 years, increasing temperatures will have a “generally detrimental” impact on most types of crops and livestock, according to one of two reports detailing climate change and adaptation strategies released earlier this week by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The report, entitled “Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States:

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Mountain Partnership: Whether we live at sea level or higher, we are connected to mountains and affected by them in more ways than we can imagine. Mountains provide most of the world’s freshwater, harbour a rich variety of plants and animals, and are home to one in ten people. Yet, each day, environmental degradation, the

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