Nepal, located in the south of the Himalayas, bordered on three sides (East,South,West) with India, is a typical mountainous country.Itsmountain area accounts for 83%, and its climate, vegetation, land use, natural disasters and the economy also shows significant characteristic of the mountain. Due to the special natural and geographical characteristics, Nepal, in the context of climate change in Himalayan has become an ideal area for researching many scientific issues such as the mountain environment, disasters, sustainable development and livelihood.

Field investigation in Nepal (by IMHE)

From August 30 to September 3, 2013, a scientists group from Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS (IMHE), led by Prof. Deng Wei, Director of IMHE took five days expedition in Koshi River basin in cooperation with Geography Institute of Tribhuvan University. This expedition focused on land-use types, water resource development, agricultural development and mountain disasters in the basin.

The working group was divided into two groups. The first group travelled along the Sun Koshi river to investigate land use types, water utilization status, and irrigation methods. They travelled via several cities and towns such as Dhulikhel、Panauti、Khurkot、Sindulimarhi、Mirchaiya-Tribenighat、Lahan、Dharan、Hetaunda and visited three typical farmer families to learn more about local farmers’ financial source, income status, demographic composition, grain yield, crop rotation, farm ground rent and so on.

The second group studied the distribution of mountain disasters, agricultural practices and water distribution in Sun Koshi River basin and Tama Koshi river mountainous areas. Investigation team travelled along Dhulikhel-Kodari highway (Nepal highway), Khadichaur-Manthali highways, and Dhulikhel, Dolalghat, Barhabise, Kadari, Khadichaour, Charikot townsto visited two typical debris flows by walking .In addition, they also did a survey about agricultural development, distribution and utilization of water resources along the journey.

This field investigation has not only laid a good working basis for bilateral cooperation projects between Nepal and China,but alsoprovided the first-hand comparative studyinformationabout mountain environment and disasters between Nepal and China.