Apply local knowledge in adaptation planning: experts

Kathmandu, Aug 11: Experts said that local knowledge needed to be incorporated with scientific knowledge for adaptation planning.

A two-day workshop of policy makers and experts organized on 10^th and 11^th August by HI-AWARE, a research programme on adaptation, water, and resilience in glacier and snowpack dependent river basins of the South Asian region, emphasized on vulnerability and hazard mapping and zoning for disaster-prone areas in Nepal.

HI-AWARE is a research programme of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

HI-AWARE is focused on how people are adapting to climate change processes in the high mountains, midhills, and plains of the Indus, Upper Ganga, Gandaki and Teesta river basins.

ICIMOD organized the workshop in collaboration with Practical Action to share initial results of research in the Gandaki river basin.

During the meeting, researchers worked with policy makers and practitioners to identify and prioritize suitable adaptation measures for communities living in the Gandaki river basin.

The workshop brought together learning from a series of local-level stakeholder engagement events held in Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Chitwan districts of Nepal earlier in the year.

 The workshop stressed on engagement with policy makers and practitioners to ensure research findings are included in planning and policy making process.

“Engaging with policy makers and practitioners is an important way to ensure new research is put to use to improve river basin management in the Hindu Kush Himalayas”, said Eklabya Sharma, Director of Programme Operations at ICIMOD.

The workshop concluded that the meaningful communication with local communities was important, and research findings should be simplified and translated into Nepali for use by local communities in adaptation planning.

“The relationship and linkages between upstream, midstream, and downstream communities in transboundary river basins need to be further studied,” suggested the experts.

 “In rural villages of Nepal, too much and too little water is a major issue, and policy interventions backed by scientific evidence are needed to improve flood and drought management”, said Gehendra Kesari Upadhyay, Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management.

Gopi Khanal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, noted that the HI-AWARE findings would be included in the development of a new strategy for urban resilience.