Introduction

The Himalayan region is considered to be very sensitive to climate change due to the high variation in altitudes. Changes in cloud cover and rainfall, particularly over land; melting of ice caps and glaciers and reduced snow cover are some of the prominent threats due to rise in temperature. The significant effect of climatic variability in major rivers and their tributaries has already been observed. As a result, rivers and tributaries, catchments, and watersheds are at risk from increased flooding, landslides, soil erosion, drought and more intense rain during the monsoon.

The main objective of this study was to identify and prioritize sub-basins/watersheds in the Middle and High Mountains of Nepal that are significantly vulnerable to Climate Change (CC). The approach of the vulnerability assessment framework of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was the guide for this study. The data integration and aggregation approach, by constructing indices, was adopted to integrate different types of indicators representing the dimensions of sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capabilities of climate change and vulnerability.

The spatial and socioeconomic data sets used for this study were collected and compiled from the government institutions, I/NGOs including the UN agencies and private organizations. The climate data (rainfall and temperature data for four seasons) used in this study were provided by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre. Further analyses were performed to construct the human and ecology sensitivity, climate risk/exposure and adaptive capability index, and on the basis of this information, combined maps of corresponding parameters were produced. Lastly, a combined vulnerability assessment was done and a map was produced with watersheds ranked according to their vulnerability.

For further details and information contact:
Salman Siddiqui or Luna Bharati

International Water Management Institute