Skip to content

Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research

Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research

Read our Science Bulletin
Project • CRRP2021-04MY-Paudel

Enhancing ecosystem-based adaptation to disaster risk reduction in the Himalayan river basin: Integrating traditional and local knowledge in disaster management plan in Nepal, India and Bangladesh

South Asian countries, Nepal, Bangladesh, and India share the same Himalayan ecosystem and represent one of the world’s most diverse regions in terms of language, culture, religion and geography. The floodplain riverscape of Koshi River Basin (KRB) — from source to sink (e.g., Nepal to Bangladesh via India) is one of the largest river basins of Gangas in the Himalayas encompassing the diverse communities where people have maintained strong links to ecosystem dynamics and developed knowledge, practices, and institutions to accommodate recurrent disturbances and natural ecosystems, yet is also among the most vulnerable area to disasters (e.g., landslides, floods, and sedimentation). It has been acknowledged that integration of ecosystem-based local knowledge strengthens those ecosystems and in doing so enhance community resilience to impacts of climate change and disasters. However, such practices are neither well documented nor integrated into mitigation strategies. The main aim of this project is to identify, explain and develop a ‘proof of concept’ about Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the floodplain riverscape of the Koshi River Basin (KRB) in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. We will systematically document the state of traditional and local ecological knowledge (TLEK) to DRR, and evaluate the extent of resilience provided by TLEK using both empirical and theoretical frameworks.