Media Tool Kit 1: Natural hazards are “naturally occurring physical phenomena” or risk elements inherent in the natural environment; an inevitable part of life on earth

This paper highlights the need in South Asia for basin-wide water allocation plans that include environmental requirements. This paper also describes the application of a basin planning model (i.e., Water Evaluation and Planning model or WEAP) to assess present and alternative water management options which incorporate environmental flows in the Upper Ganges River in India (total area: 87000 km2). The paper summarizes the environmental flow assessment methodology which was conducted through a multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder approach (Building Blocks Methodology or BBM).

CIFOR facilitated 27 communities in the Upper Malinau watershed to develop agreements about their village boundaries and map them through participatory methods. Decentralization reforms created new values of forest resources and uncertainties that increased conflict over local resources. We report on the nature of these conflicts, the stability of agreements and the factors affecting how agreements were reached.

This study identifies and prioritizes subbasins/watersheds in the middle and high mountains of Nepal that are significantly vulnerable to climate change. 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 study is produced by consultants for the Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions in Nepal.