Nepal lies in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region which has the most extensive high-altitude areas on earth and the largest areas covered by glaciers and permafrost outside the polar regions. Over one billion people depend on Nepal’s Himalays, which serve multiple ecosystem services. Huge social and cultural richness, not to mention Nepal's agricultural and tourist economy, and are at stake as the global climate changes.
A country with diverse and disparate geographical regions and huge seasonal fluctuation, within a 200 km span from north to south, Nepal spans the arctic to the tropical. The disparate geographical sections of the country can be divided geographically is into three major regions, and Equal Access works on the issues that affect all three regions. The regions are the Himalayan Mountain Region, the Hilly region, and the Terai Plain region. The Himalayan Mountains which are largely above 3,000 meters in altitude experience drizzle and very low rainfall while the Hills and Terai Plains which are largely below 2,000 experience heavy downpours and monsoons. Monsoons are the cause of annual flooding, while droughts are commonplace during the winter.
Climate changes are expected to increase the intensity of these seasonal and geographical differences. Temperatures in all regions of Nepal are expected to increase by 1.2 degrees in the lower regions and 3 degrees in at the Himalayan peaks by 2050. Climate change is expected to increase the intensity of monsoons, increase duration and intensity of droughts, and increase rainfall overall. The main immediate risks resulting from climate change and environmental degradation are flash floods, glacier lake outbursts, changes in crop yield type due to changing temperatures, and food scarcity. In the long-term, significant changes in downstream water flows will affect the entire population of Nepal in almost every aspect of their daily lives.
Equal Access uses its popular radio programs, including Saathi Sanga Manka Kura and Naya Nepal, to reach almost two thirds of the youth in Nepal with simple but effective messages about how to care for their communities, especially encouraging the listening clubs to organize to establish local cleanups and awareness programs about adaptation and disaster preparedness.
On June 5th, 2009, Equal Access produced a thirty-minute video that was broadcast on Nepal Television, the largest TV network in Nepal, to connecting and promote the Environment Day on June 5th to challenges facing land conservation in Nepal. The issue-based video on the wetlands, with particular focus on a wetlands area called Koshi Tappu National Reserve, one of the Ramsar sites that identifies wetlands of the world. The video showed the relationship between indigeineous peoples and the resources of the wetlands that surround them and introduced and sensitized viewers to wetlands issues.
For more information on this video, please contact Upendra Aryal at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
