Evolving policies for conservation: An Historical Profile of the Protected Area System of Nepal

Nepal has instituted progressive conservation programmes since the 1970s. This move was in reaction to very rapid rates of land clearance in the lowland areas of the country and an opening up to the world that led to nature-based tourism as a major economic enterprise. Formal conservation began with the passage of national legislation in 1973 offering strong protection for national parks and wildlife reserves, but denied usufruct rights to rural communities. From the late 1970s to the 1990s, the legislation was amended several times. Each case was, in several fundamental ways, a loosening of control by government authorities. Nepal now has buffer zone legislation and allows for the designation of conservation areas in addition to the more-strictly defined categories. Beginning in the 1990s, both government and foreign-backed projects have been implementing landscape level conservation approaches; a number of initiatives in trans-boundary protected area management with India and China have also begun and non-governmental organizations have taken an increasingly active role. This paper considers the expansion of the protected areas network in light of historical, cultural and economic factors and concludes that Nepal has been reactive in adopting conservation programmes. Both outside and inside influences have strongly affected the development of conservation programmes and there are several areas in which more work needs to be done. This includes the need for implementing both national and international conservation law and adopting social and biological monitoring programmes in and around protected areas. In addition, factors outside the control of conservation officials (i.e. a Maoist insurgency) have indirectly hindered conservation programmes in recent years and have greatly complicated prospects for further success.     

Screening of hepatoprotective effect of a herbal mixture against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in Swiss albino mice

The hepatoprotective potential of a herbal mixture was evaluated against CCl4 induced liver injury in Swiss albino mice. Liv 52, a commercially available polyherbal hepatoprotective drug was evaluated for comparison. The potential toxicity of the above herbal hepatoprotective agents was also compared. It was observed that there was a reduction in the enzyme biomarkers (Aspartate and Alanine Transaminase) of liver injury in the herbal mixture treated groups, which was similar to the reduction initiated by Liv 52. An increase in glutathione was observed in the herbal mixture treated groups and it was assumed that the herbal mixture protects the liver by virtue of its antioxidant nature along with high regeneration initiation potential. From the study it is also concluded that the herbal mixture is safer than Liv 52.     

Status of industrial fluoride pollution and its diverse adverse health effects in man and domestic animals in India

Hydrofluorosis in humans and domestic animals is a worldwide health problem and caused by a prolonged period of fluoride exposure through drinking of fluoride contaminated water. But in recent years, due to rapid industrialization in India, diverse serious health problems among industrial workers and residents and domestic animals living in the industrial areas due to fluoride pollution are on the rise. A number of coal-burning and industrial activities such as power-generating stations, welding operations and the manufacturing or production of steel, iron, aluminum, zinc, phosphorus, chemical fertilizers, bricks, glass, plastic, cement, and hydrofluoric acid are generally discharging fluoride in both gaseous and particulate/dust forms into surrounding environments which create a industrial fluoride pollution and are an important cause of occupational exposure to fluoride in several countries including India. An industrial emitted fluoride contaminates not only surrounding soil, air, and water but also vegetation, crops and many other biotic communities on which man and animals are generally dependants for food. Long- time of inhalation or ingestion of industrial fluoride also causes serious health problems in the forms of industrial and neighborhood fluorosis. In India, whatever research works conducted so far on the chronic industrial fluoride intoxication or poisoning (industrial and neighborhood fluorosis) in man and various species of domestic animals due to a prolonged period of industrial fluoride exposure or pollution (contamination) are critically reviewed in the present communication. Simultaneously, we are also focused the various bio-indicators and bio-markers for chronic industrial fluoride intoxication or pollution.     

Net Carbon Sequestration Potential and Emissions in Home Lawn Turfgrasses of the United States

Soil analyses were conducted on home lawns across diverse ecoregions of the U.S. to determine the soil organic carbon (SOC) sink capacity of turfgrass soils. Establishment of lawns sequestered SOC over time. Due to variations in ecoregions, sequestration rates varied among sites from 0.9 Mg carbon (C) ha^?1 year^?1 to 5.4 Mg C ha^?1 year^?1. Potential SOC sink capacity also varied among sites ranging from 20.8 ± 1.0–96.3 ± 6.0 Mg C ha^?1. Average sequestration rate and sink capacity for all sites sampled were 2.8 ± 0.3 Mg C ha^?1 year^?1 and 45.8 ± 3.5 Mg C ha^?1, respectively. Additionally, the hidden carbon costs (HCC) due to lawn mowing (189.7 kg Ce (carbon equivalent) ha^?1 year^?1) and fertilizer use (63.6 kg Ce ha^?1 year^?1) for all sites totaled 254.3 kg Ce ha^?1 year^?1. Considering home lawn SOC sink capacity and HCC, mean home lawn sequestration was completely negated 184 years post establishment. The potential SOC sink capacity of home lawns in the U.S. was estimated at 496.3 Tg C, with HCC of between 2,504.1 Gg Ce year^?1 under low management regimes and 7551.4 Gg Ce year^?1 under high management. This leads to a carbon-positive system for between 66 and 199 years in U.S. home lawns. More efficient and reduction of C-intensive maintenance practices could increase the overall sequestration longevity of home lawns and improve their climate change mitigation potential.     

Chemical aspects of Indian varieties of asbestos dust

Actinolite, anthophyllite, amosite, chrysotile and tremolite varieties of asbestos from Indian mines were analysed for their chemical composition. Significant differences were found as compared with the composition of corresponding foreign varieties. The significance of this in relation to their possible toxic effects and the need for toxicological work with Indian varieties are discussed.     

Market-based approaches and tools for improving water and air quality

Nitrogen (N) losses from agriculture are negatively impacting groundwater, air, and surface water quality. National, state, and local policies and procedures that can mitigate these problems are needed. Market-based approaches where waste treatment plants (point sources) can purchase nutrient credits from upstream agricultural operations (non-point sources) to meet their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements within the Clean Water Act are being explored. This paper reviews these market-based approaches for enhancing air and water quality at a lower cost than simple command-and-control regulation, and describes new tools that are being developed, such as Nitrogen Trading Tool (NTT), that can be used to assess nitrogen losses to the environment under different management scenarios. The USDA-NRCS, EPA and several other state and local agencies are interested in these new tools. The NTT, though primarily designed for water quality markets, also estimates savings in nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions that can be traded in carbon markets. For example, an analysis using NTT shows that for 100 ha of crop land, a C sequestration equivalent of approximately 25–38 Mg C y^?1 for a farm in Ohio, and 13–21 Mg C y^?1 for a farm in Virginia could be achieved with better nitrogen management practices. These numbers across a watershed could be much larger with improved N and conservation management practices that contribute to better water quality and lower global warming potential. There is a need to further develop, calibrate, and validate these tools to facilitate nitrogen and carbon trading future markets around the globe to increase environmental conservation across agro-ecosystems worldwide.     

Seasonal variations of natural ventilation and radon-222 exhalation in a slightly rising dead-end tunnel

The concentration activity of radon-222 has been monitored, with some interruptions, from 1997 to 2005 in the end section of a slightly rising, dead-end, 38-m long tunnel located in the Phulchoki hill, near Kathmandu, Nepal. While a high concentration varying from 6 x 10(3) Bq m(-3) to 10 x 10(3) Bq m(-3) is observed from May to September (rainy summer season), the concentration remains at a low level of about 200 Bq m(-3) from October to March (dry winter season). This reduction of radon concentration is associated with natural ventilation of the tunnel, which, contrary to expectations for a rising tunnel, takes place mainly from October to March when the outside air temperature drops below the average tunnel temperature. This interpretation is supported by temperature measurements in the atmosphere of the tunnel, a few meters away from the entrance. The temporal variations of the diurnal amplitude of this temperature indeed follow the ventilation rate deduced from the radon measurements. In the absence of significant ventilation (summer season), the radon exhalation flux at the rock surface into the tunnel atmosphere can be inferred; it exhibits a yearly variation with additional transient reductions associated with heavy rainfall, likely to be due to water infiltration. No effect of atmospheric pressure variations on the radon concentration is observed in this tunnel. This experiment illustrates how small differences in the location and geometry of a tunnel can lead to vastly different behaviours of the radon concentration versus time. This observation has consequences for the estimation of the dose rate and the practicability of radon monitoring for tectonic purposes in underground environments.     

Co-benefits of a carbon tax in Nepal

This paper analyzes the co-benefits of introducing a time variant carbon (C) tax scheme in Nepal, a hydropower resourceful country, by using a bottom up integrated energy system model based on the MARKet ALlocation (MARKAL) framework with time horizon of 2005–2050. It discusses the effects of C tax on energy mix, environmental emissions, energy supply security, energy efficiency, energy system cost, and employment benefit. The study shows that the C tax (that gradually increases from US13/tCO < sub > 2 < /sub > e in 2015 to US 13/tCO₂e in 2015 to US 200/tCO₂e by 2050) results in a reduction of the cumulative emission of greenhouse gases by 83.9 million tons CO₂e (12%) as compared to that in the base case. With the introduction of the C tax, there would be a need for additional hydropower capacity of 945 MW by 2050 as compared to the capacity in the base case. The emission of local pollutants consisting of sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC) in 2050 would be reduced by 12%, 7% and 1% respectively under the C tax scenario. Total amount of imported energy would decrease by 13%, which corresponds to a reduction in discounted net fuel import cost by 5% during the study period. Furthermore, the C tax would result in new employment generation of 151 thousand man-years associated with the additional hydropower capacity requirement.