Class Notes On Agrobiodiversity Conservation and Climate Change 022

Class note provided by Ananta Prakash Subedi, apsubedi@afu.edu.
np
Course: Agrobiodiversity Conservation and Climate Change
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction to biodiveristy ..................................................................................................................... 2
Components of Agriculture biodiversity................................................................................................. 24
Status of Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................. 41
Threats to biodiversity.......................................................................................................................... 57
Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity ............................................................................................... 69
Policies and Laws for Agrobiodiversity conservation .............................................................................. 82
Different on-farm conservation and management practices in Nepal .................................................... 90
Introduction to Climate change and its historical overview .................................................................. 100
Earth's climate system ......................................................................................................................... 110
Food Security and Climate Change....................................................................................................... 126
Adaptation / Mitigation: And Climate change resilience ...................................................................... 136
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Class note provided by Ananta Prakash Subedi, apsubedi@afu.edu.np
Introduction to biodiveristy
Definition
Defined broadly, agriculture includes farming both animals (animal husbandry) and plants (agronomy,
horticulture and forestry in part). Similarly, aquaculture covers the farming of both animals (including
crustaceans, finfish and molluscs) and plants (including seaweeds and freshwater macrophytes).
Agricultural biodiversity includes all components of biological diversity of relevance to food
and agriculture. It includes plants' genetic resources: crops, wild plants harvested and managed for
food, trees on farms, pastures and rangeland species, medicinal plants and ornamental plants of
aesthetic value. When we say we want to save the planet, we use the word "biodiversity" to encompass
this entire concept - which, granted, is a big one. Biodiversity: Life, the world, the variation of life for the
entire globe. Biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species,
the product of four billion years of evolution.
A symposium in 1986, and the follow-up book BioDiversity (Wilson 1986), edited by biologist E. O.
Wilson, carved the way for common acceptance of the word and concept.
And as politicians, scientists, and conservationists became more interested in the state of the planet and
the amazing complexity of life we became quite attached to this new word. And why were we talking so
much about Biodiversity? Simple. The world has begun, relatively recently, to lose species and habitats
at an ever-increasing and alarming rate. Why? Because of us!!! This is often referred to as the 6th
extinction crisis, after the 5 known extinction waves in geological history. Major Five Extinction events
include:
1. Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Event (75% of all species including the dinosaurs) about 75
million years ago.
2. Triassic–Jurassic Extinction Event (60% of all species including most Achosaurs, Therapsids, and
large Amphibians) about 205 million years ago.
3. Permian–Triassic Extinction Event (96% of Aquatic Species including most of the sessile species;
and 70% of land species including most Synapsids) 251 million years ago.
4. Late Devonian Extinction Event (70% of all species including most Brachiopods and Trilobites)
360 million years ago.
5. Ordovician–Silurian Extinction Event (80% of all species, mostly brachiopods, bivalves,
echinoderms, bryozoans, and corals) 450 million years ago.
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Figure: Timeline of mass extinction events. The five named vertical bars indicate mass extinction events.
Black rectangles (drawn to scale) represent global reef gaps and brick-pattern shapes show times of
prolific reef growth (Veron 2008).
What is biodiversity or biological diversity?
- the sum of total of life forms at all levels of organization in biological system.
• Article 2 of the CBD defines “Biological diversity means the variability among living organisms
from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the
ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes biological diversity within species and
ecosystems”.
• “Biodiversity includes assemblages of plant, animals and micro-organisms, their genetic

variability expressed and populations, their habitats, ecosystems and natural areas, the mosaic
of which constitutes the landscape which gives the richness to the natural environment” (Denny,
1997).
Biodiversity is defined as “the intrinsically-inbuilt plus the externally-imposed variability in and among
living organisms existing in terrestrial, marine and other ecosystem at a specific period of time”.
Roughly 1.4 million species are known to science, but because many species are undescribed, an
estimated 10-30 million species likely exists on earth.
Of the tens of millions of species believed to be on Earth, scientists have only given names to
about 1.5 million of them, and even fewer of the species have been studied in depth.
Currently about 1.9 million species are known, but this is thought to be a significant
underestimate of the total number of species.
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Between 1.4 and 1.8 million species have already been scientifically identified.
Levels of Biodiversity
Biodiversity is usually considered at three hierarchical levels i.e.
Genetic, Species and Community and Ecosystem levels.
Biodiversity, therefore, is commonly considered at three different levels:
1. Within species (intraspecific) diversity; usually measured in terms of genetic differences

between individuals or populations.
2. Species (interspecific) diversity, measured as a combination of number and evenness of

abundance of species.
3. Community or ecosystem diversity, measured as the number of different species assemblages.
1. Genetic diversity
Genetic diversity is the sum total of genetic information, contained in the genes of individuals of
plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit the earth.
It is needed by any species in order to maintain reproductive vitality, resistance to disease and
the ability to adapt to changing conditions.
It enables a population to adapt to its environment and to respond to natural selection.
The amount of genetic variation is the basis of speciation.
Genetic diversity within a species often increases with environmental variability.
Such genetic variability has made it possible to produce new breed of crops plants and
domestic animals, and in the world allowed species to adapt to changing conditions.
2. Species diversity:
• A group of organisms genetically so similar, that they can interbreed and produce fertile
offsprings is called a species.
• The species diversity is usually measured in terms of the total number of species within discrete
geographical boundaries.
3. Community-level diversity:
• It is defined by the species that occupy a particular locality and the interactions between them.
• It represents the collective response of species to different environmental conditions.
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• Biological communities such as deserts, grasslands, wetlands, and forest support the continuity
of proper ecosystem functioning by providing ecological beneficial services to people.
Species diversity
“Species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively
isolated from other such groups” (Mayr 1963)
• Species are distinct units of diversity each playing a specific role in the ecosystem.
• In nature, the number and kind of species, as well as the number of individuals per species vary,
leading to greater diversity.
The different sample areas showing species richness (sample area 1), Species evenness (sample area 2)
and diversity due to taxonomically unrelated species (sample area 3)
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Figure: Diversity of Butterfly
Community and ecosystem diversity
Diversity at the level of community and ecosystem exists along 3 levels. It could be within-community
diversity (alpha diversity), between-communities diversity (beta diversity) or diversity of the habitats
over the total landscape or geographical area (gamma diversity).
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Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Diversity
Whittaker (1972) described three terms for measuring biodiversity over spatial scales: alpha, beta, and
gamma diversity.
• Alpha Diversity refers to the diversity within a particular area or ecosystem, and is usually
expressed by the number of species (i.e., species richness) in that ecosystem.
• Beta diversity: a comparison of diversity between ecosystems, usually measured as the amount
of species change between the ecosystems .
• Gamma diversity: a measure of the overall diversity within a large region. Geographic-scale
species diversity according to Hunter (2002:448)
Alpha, beta and gamma diversity for hypothetical species of birds (A-N) in three different ecosystems.
This example is based on the hypothetical example given by Meffe et al. (2002).
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• It is a hypothetical example where we are monitoring the effect that British farming practices
have on the diversity of native birds in a particular region of the country. We are comparing
species diversity within different ecosystems, such as an undisturbed deciduous wood, a well-
established hedgerow bordering a small pasture, and a large arable field. We can walk a transect
in each of these three ecosystems and count the number of species we see; this gives us the
alpha diversity for each ecosystem.
• If we examine the change in species diversity between these ecosystems then we are measuring
the beta diversity. We are counting the total number of species that are unique to each of the
ecosystems being compared. For example, the beta diversity between the woodland and the
hedgerow habitats is 7 (representing the 5 species found in the woodland but not the
hedgerow, plus the 2 species found in the hedgerow but not the woodland).
– Beta diversity: a comparison of diversity between ecosystems, usually measured as the

change in species diversity between these ecosystems.
• The total number of species for the three ecosystems 14, which represent the gamma diversity.
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The values of biological diversity
• The value of biodiversity depends on how it is defined.
• But it is difficult to define, and is often impossible to estimate.
• Biodiversity rarely have a money price in local and international markets, however, its economic
value is wide-ranging and significant.
• It provide the basis for life on earth, including that of humans.
• Human society depend on biological diversity for almost all the food supply, half of its
medicines, much of its clothing and in some region virtually all of its fuel and building material
and as well as, of course, an important part of its mental and spiritual welfare.
• Ecological services
Benefits of Biodiversity
• Ecological benefits/services (Indirect use value) – Biodiversity supplies the buffering capacity
and stability to life on the planet by maintaining the interactive dynamics of the ecosystems of
the world.
• Economical benefits –
a) Food value – providing food to the human population on this earth for thousands of years.
In the process of development of human civilization, man has unfolded many plant and animal
life forms which are directly or indirectly helpful for him in solving his food problem.
Due to the scientific advancement many new taxa have been discovered which are high yielding.
b) Commercial value –timber which is a major component of material used for providing shelter
to man.
Natural fibers like cotton and silk are still used for clothing by human population.
c) Medicinal value –Medicines, drugs and pharmaceuticals. Many plant genetic resources are
used from derivation of basic drugs. These plant resources vary from actinomycetes and fungi to large
trees.
Traditional knowledge of indigenous people still keeps an edge over the scientific knowledge in
this field.
This benefit of biodiversity is still unexplored as the scientists could assess a small fraction of
biodiversity for their potential for medicine and agriculture.
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• Aesthetic value – Man has always been fascinated by the natural beauty and nature has inspired
him resulting in development of his moral and ethical values.
This intrinsic value of plants and animals are independent of their economic and commercial
value. Wonderful plants and animals of this planet not only reflect their aesthetic value but they can
make us think of the creator. This opens doors for spiritually which envisages to live in harmony with the
nature.
Why is Biodiversity Important?
Values are Subjective: Perspectives and Scales
The Value of Biodiversity
• Intrinsic/inherent value
• Extrinsic/utilitarian/
Instrumental value
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Intrinsic/inherent value
• The value of something independent of its value to anyone or anything else
• A philosophical concept
Categorizing Values
Direct Use Indirect Use Value Non-Use Values

Value(Goods) (Services)
Food, medicine, Atmospheric and Potential (or Option) Future value either as a
building material, fiber, climate regulation, Value good or service
fuel pollination, nutrient
recycling
Cultural, Spiritual and Existence Value Value of knowing

Aesthetic something exists
Bequest Value Value of knowing that

something will be there
for future generations
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Direct Use Value: Goods
• Food
• Building Materials
• Fuel
• Paper Products
• Fiber (clothing, textiles)
• Industrial products (waxes, rubber, oils)
• Medicine
Food
• Today, most people rely on ~20 types of plants, and only 3 to 4 are staple crops.
• Diversity is critical for developing new strains and breeds, i.e. that suit a particular environment
or are resistant to pests or disease and as a source of new crops
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Building Materials, Paper Products, and Fuel
Fiber
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Industrial Products
Medicine
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• About 80% of the people in developing countries use plants as a primary source of medicine.
• 57% of the 150 most-prescribed drugs have their origins in biodiversity
Traditional Medicine: Basis of Many Drugs
Indirect Use Values: Services
• Regulating global processes, such as atmosphere and climate
• Soil and water conservation
• Nutrient cycling
• Pollination and seed dispersal
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• Control of agricultural pests
• Genetic library
• Inspiration and information
• Scientific and educational
• Tourism and recreation
• Cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic
• Community Resilience
• Strategic
Global Processes: Atmospheric Regulation
• Photosynthetic biodiversity created an oxygenated atmosphere, and also has the potential to
moderate the rising amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide linked to global climate change
Global Processes: Climate Regulation
• Forests and other vegetation modify climate: by affecting sun reflectance, water vapor release,
wind patterns and moisture loss. Forests help maintain a humid environment, for example, half
of all rainfall in Amazon basin is produced locally from forest-atmosphere cycle
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Soil and Water Conservation
• Filters excess nutrients and traps sediments that would otherwise impact neighboring marine
and aquatic areas
Other services:
• Minimizes damage from waves and floods
• Serves as a nursery for juvenile commercial fish
• Provides habitat for many birds, fish, and shellfish
• Example: Coastal wetlands and mangroves
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Nutrient Cycling
• Biodiversity is critical to nutrient cycling and soil renewal
• Decomposers such as algae, fungi, and bacteria
Pollination and Seed Dispersal
• Many flowering plants depend on animals for pollination to produce food.
• 30% of human crops depend on free services of pollinators; replacement value estimated
billions of dollars/year in US alone
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Source of Inspiration or Information
• Biomimicry
• Applied Biology
• Medical Models
• Education and Scientific Research
Medical Models
Hibernating bears may improve the treatment of:
– trauma patients, kidney disease and osteoporosis
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Spiritual and Cultural Values
• The survival of natural areas and species are important to different cultures around the world.
• Thousands of cultural groups in the world, each have distinct traditions and knowledge for
relating to natural world
Aesthetic Value
Ecological Value: Does Diversity Make Communities More Resilient?
• Resilient ecosystems are characterized by:
– Constancy (Lack of fluctuation)
– Inertia (Resistance to perturbation)
– Renewal (Ability to repair damage)
• Not all species are critical to an ecosystems function; many fill redundant roles; basis for
community resilience and integrity
• If too many species or keystone species are lost, eventually it leads to the failure of ecosystem
function
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Kelp Forest Food Webs
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Non-Use or Passive Values
• Existence value
• Bequest value
• Potential or Option value
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Components of Agriculture biodiversity

WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY?
The full range of variety and variability within and among living organisms and the ecological complexes
in which they occur is called biodiversity.
It encompasses:
• Ecosystem or community diversity

• Species diversity
• Genetic diversity
CURRENT STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY
Approximately 250,000 to 300,000 are edible plant species. Animals provide 30% of human
requirements for food and agriculture. More than 20,000 species are used for medicinal purposes
Of the world’s 5,490 mammals, 78 are extinct or extinct in the wild, 188 critically endangered
540 endangered and, 492 are vulnerable.
IMPORTANCE OF AGROBIODIVERSITY
Essential role for providing food security:
Cereals
Pulses
Vegetables
Fruits
Spices
Medicines
CHALLENGES TO BIODIVERSITY
Human population growth
Pollution and diseases
Habitat loss and degradation
Introduction of invasive alien species
Over-exploitation of natural resources
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Global climate change
Energy crisis
International trade of game species
BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS
Source: http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/bonn/Biodiv_mapping/phytodiv.htm
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HUMAN POPULATION IN BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS
Source: Cincotta, R.P., J. Wisnewski and R. Engelman. 1999. Human population in the biodiversity
hotspots, Nature, 404: 990-992
WE ARE LOSING BIODIVERSITY AT ACCELERATED RATE!
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CLIMATE CHANGE AND BIODIVERSITY
Source: Thuiller, W. 2007. Biodiversity: Climate change and the ecologist. Nature, 448: 550-552.
COMPONENTS OF AGROBIODIVERSITY
Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5609e/y5609e01.htm
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HUMAN DEPENDENCE ON BIODIVERSITY
75% of the world’s food generated from only 12 plant and 5 animal species, only three crops (rice,
maize and wheat) contribute ~ 60% of calories and proteins obtained by humans from plants
Source: Fao, 1999
What is agricultural biodiversity?
It includes all components of biological diversity of relevance to food and agriculture:
the variety and variability of plants, animals and micro-organisms at genetic, species and ecosystem
level which are necessary to sustain key functions in the agro-ecosystem, its structures and processes.
Local knowledge and cultural diversity can be considered an essential part of agrobiodiversity
as it is the human activity of agriculture which conserves this biodiversity.
Importance (value) of biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems
In agricultural systems biodiversity is important
1. for the production of food, fibre, fuel, fodder...(goods)
2. to conserve the ecological foundations to sustain life (life support function)
3. to allow adaptation to changing situations
4. and to sustain rural peoples’ livelihoods (sustainable agriculture – food security, income,
employment,...)
Specificity: it has been developed through human intervention over generations and it requires human
management to sustain it.
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Agicultural Biodiversity is complex
Need to address all components of agrobiodiversity
• Habitat diversity (mosaic of land uses varies with soil and terrain, hedges, borders, trees in the
landscape; farm type)
• Inter-species diversity (plant, animal and microbial; very important for agrobiodiversity) genetic
resources, unique traits –resistance to drought, cold, disease, rooting, aspect, taste, storage, etc.
• Harvested species and Associated species (pollinators, beneficial/harmful predators, soil organisms
– health/ disease,…) as well as
• Cultural diversity (type of farmer and farm; regulations; common property resources/ownership)
and to understand implication of agrobiodiversity on ecosystem functions/processes and the
services provided
What is Agricultural Biodiversity?
Agricultural biodiversity is a broad term that includes all components of biological diversity of relevance
to food and agriculture, and all components of biological diversity that constitute the agricultural
ecosystems, also named agro-ecosystems: the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-
organisms, at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels, which are necessary to sustain key functions of
the agro-ecosystem, its structure and processes. Agricultural biodiversity is the outcome of the
interactions among genetic resources, the environment and the management systems and practices
used by farmers. This is the result of both natural selection and human inventive developed over
millennia.
The following dimensions of agricultural biodiversity can be identified:
• Genetic resources for food and agriculture
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• Components of biodiversity that support ecosystem services upon which agriculture is based
• Abiotic factors
• Socio-economic and cultural dimensions
1) Genetic resources for food and agriculture
Plant genetic resources, including crops, wild plants harvested and managed for food, trees on farms,
pasture and rangeland species, animal genetic resources, including domesticated animals, wild animals
hunted for food, wild and farmed fish and other aquatic organisms, microbial and fungal genetic
resources.
2. Components of biodiversity that support ecosystem services upon which agriculture is based
These include a diverse range of organisms that contribute, at various scales to, nutrient cycling, pest
and disease regulation, pollination, pollution and sediment regulation, maintenance of the hydrological
cycle, erosion control, and climate regulation and carbon sequestration.
3. Abiotic factors
Local climatic and chemical factors and the physical structure and functioning of ecosystems, which have
a determining effect on agricultural biodiversity.
4. Socio-economic and cultural dimensions
Agricultural biodiversity is largely shaped and maintained by human activities and management
practices, and a large number of people depend on agricultural biodiversity for sustainable livelihoods.
These dimensions include traditional and local knowledge of agricultural biodiversity, cultural factors
and participatory processes, as well as tourism associated with agricultural landscapes.
Who are managing and why ?
Primarily farmers are managing the agrobiodiverisity because of numerous ecosystem services its
providing.
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ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: FUNCTIONS (biodiversity related examples)
Food production The portion of gross primary production extractable as raw food. or for processing for
food (Game, crops, nuts, fruits by hunting, gathering, subsistence or commercial farming)
Raw materials The portion of gross primary production extractable as raw material (Production of
wood, energy/fuel, fodder, ..)
Genetic resources Sources of unique biological materials and products. (Plant varieties, animal races,
medicinal extracts, products for materials science, genes for resistance to plant pathogens/crop pests,
ornamental species, pets,
Climate and Gas Regulation: of global temperature, precipitation, other biologically mediated climatic
processes at global/local levels (GHG); of atmospheric chemical composition (CO2/O2 balance, C
sequestration, CO3 for UVB protection)
Resilience/Disturbance Regulation: ecosystem response to environmental fluctuation, mainly

controlled by vegetation structure (storm protection, flood control, drought recovery, other aspects of
habitat response).
Water Regulation and Supply: of hydrological flow/regimes; water retention, storage, provisioning in
the watershed: (Infiltration, soil water retention determined by vegetation cover/structure; water
supply in aquifers, surface water bodies; availability for consumption, irrigated agriculture, industry,
transport)
Erosion control and Sediment retention: prevent loss of soil by wind, rain impact, runoff; storage of silt
in ecosystem, in lakes and wetlands.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: FUNCTIONS (biodiversity related examples) 2
Soil formation Processes of weathering of rock; soil build up (Accumulation of organic material
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Nutrient cycling: storage, cycling, processing, input of nutrients (N fixation, nutrient cycles - N,P et al,
breakdown of organic materials to soil OM- humus)
Waste Detoxification recovery of mobile nutrients, removal /break down of excess or toxic nutrients/
compounds, pollutions control (detoxification by soil organisms).
Pollination Movement of floral gametes. (Supply of pollinators for the reproduction of plant
populations- insects, bats, birds)
Biological control Trophic (food web) dynamic regulations of populations (pest-predator interactions
e.g. IPM, control of disease transmissions)
Refugia habitat for local/ transient populations (Nurseries, habitat for migratory species, for locally
harvested species, over wintering grounds
Recreation Providing opportunities (eco-tourism, outdoor recreational activities –hunting, fishing,

birdwatching)
Cultural Providing opportunities for non-commercial uses (Aesthetic, artistic, educational, spiritual,
and/or scientific values of ecosystems).
History of agriculture (Is breaking down into four ages):
1) Paleolithic or stone age:
Age:-It is the earliest and longest period of human history. Early man spent about one million years
Farming:- does not exist
Source of livelihoods:- hunting and gathering
Tools used:- hard stones and rough implements
2)Mesolithic or middle stone age
Age: Between 12,000 and 6,00O BC
Farming : Exist but primitives farming. Gradual shifting from food gathering to food production
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Tool: Spear, bow and fishing net
3) Neolithic new stone age
Age: about 6,000 BC
Farming: By trial and error, early man identified those plants of greater value to him and saved for
subsequent planting
Tool: Polished stone
4) Bronze age
Age: 3000 BC
Farming: Development of crop production
Tool: Appearance of plough, replacement of the man-drawn (i.e. hoes. even though our traditional
farmers still use hoes). By ox-drawn
DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN AGRICULTURE
Modern agriculture started in England in 18th century. Precisely in 1701, Jethro Tull invented grain drill
horse- Hoeing
1577- 1644 - Van Helmon investigated on the phenomenon of soil fertility and plant growth. He
concluded water is the sole nutrient for plant.
1699 – John Woodward experimented with several types of water with varying degree of impurities. He
reported that the growth rate was directly related to increase quantity of impurity. He concluded that
that plant are not made up of water alone but some other terrestrial material.
1775- Joseph Priestly reported that the respiration of plant and animal has reverse effects on the
atmospheric air. (i.e. animal breath out CO2 while plant release O2 during respiration). He concluded
that plant keeps atmosphere wholesome and pure.
1779- Jan Ingen - Housz ‘ contribution to knowledge is that plant purify in light or during day While
pollution take place in night or darkness.
1782- Theodure d’ Saussure gave an explicit explanation of plant respiration. Absorption of O2 and
releasing of CO2 take place during the day or light whereas absorption of O2 and releasing of CO2 occur
in the night or darkness. He also established the essentiality of nutrient elements
1840- Liebiy established the law of minimum. This law stated that if one crop nutrient is missing or
deficient, plant growth will be poor, even if the other elements are abundant. This law is still valid today.
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Relationship between Agriculture and other Sciences
Engineering greatly facilitated the development of farm tools, implements, farm powers etc. which
reduces physical exertion and drudgery in agriculture and encourage large scale farming Chemistry-
understanding of plant nutrient requirement and the production of fertilizer.
Botany and physiology- knowledge of forms and functions in crop production
Biochemistry and toxicology – chemical control of weeds thus modern day agriculture is an embodiment
of all aspect of sciences and technology
Center of Origin of Selected crops:
Vavilov’s Centers of Origin – First Indicated by Vavilov to be a Center of Plant Domestication.
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N.I. Vavilov was the foremost plant geographer of his time and took part in over 100 collecting missions
to 64 countries. He scoured five continents in the 1920s and 1930s for wild and cultivated corn, potato
tubers, grains, beans, fodder, fruits and vegetable seeds. The Vavilov Institute became the world's
largest crop research institute under Vavilov's leadership. Vavilov even organized an office in New York
City during the 1920s. Russian immigrants in the United States collected seeds and sent them to the
office, and the seeds were then shipped back to Russia.
Classification of the cultivated species and its relatives
Plant breeders may not be able to use strict taxonomists classification schemes. They just don’t always
make a lot of sense. For example, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower are grossly different
morphologically but they are in the same species in a biological sense--i.e., they can be crossed and the
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hybrids are fertile. Many breeders have adopted Harlan and deWet’s more informal and intuitive
classifications as to what constitutes useful groupings based on practical experience.
Harlan and deWet’s Gene Pool System
• Informal genetic perspective

• Primary gene pool: Biological species
• Secondary gene pool : Allele transfer a struggle
• Tertiary gene pool: Outer limit of potential genetic reach.
Sources of Information for the Plant Breeder
The in-depth compilations published in the United States Department of Agriculture Yearbooks of 1936
and 1937 provide a valuable starting point for many species. Species monographs published by The
American Society of Agronomy and similar organizations eg. Wheat and Wheat Improvement. Pedigrees
and methodologies utilized in cultivar development in a diverse range of species can be found in
Registration articles in the Journal of Plant Registrations.
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Center of origin of cultivated crops
Center of origin is the region of the world where a crop is believed to have originated. Center of
diversity:- is the region of the world where the greatest variability in crop species is believed to have
occurred. It can also be referred to as center of origin. Primary center:- where the crop is believed to
have been first cultivated or domesticated. Secondary center:- These are area of diversity to which plant
have migrated from a primary centers.
Countries or regions of crops origin
1. Southwest Asia:-Barley, carrot, date palm, grapes, melon & wheat.
2. Mediterranean:- alfalafa, cabbage, clover, hops, lettuce & Olive.
3. Ethiopia:- barley, castor, coffee (arabica), finger millet, walnut, okra & sorghum.
4. Central Asia:- apples, foxtail millet & hem.
5. South East Asia:- bamboo, banana, chinese yam, citrus, Coconut & sugar cane.
6. Indo-Burmese:-cocoyam, cotton, garden egg, jute, mango, pigeon pea & rice.
7. Chinese:- onions orange, small bamboo & soybean.
8. West central Africa:- banboo, ground nut, coffee (robusta), kola., cowpea, sorghum, oil palm, red rice
& yam.
9. Central America and Mexico:- Guava, kidney bean, maize, red pepper, sisal & cotton.
10. Ecuador and Peru:- Avocado pear, potato, paw-paw, cotton, sweet potato tobacco & tomato
11. Brazil and Paraguay:- cashew, cassava, cocoa, Ground nut, pine apple & rubber.
Important of origin of crops
• Breeders used it to identify diverse forms of the species with useful traits or characters for crop
improvement.
• Used by crop protectionist in designing biological control e.g. cassava meal bug
Center of Origin
Vavilov considered that “as a rule the primary foci of crop origins were in mountainous regions,
characterized by the presence of dominant alleles.” In his work entitled The Phytogeographical Basis for
Plant Breeding (Vavilov 1935) he summarizes and pulls together all his previous work on centers of
origin and diversity. In this he recognizes eight primary centers
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The Chinese Center - in which he recognizes 138 distinct species of which probably the earlier and most
important were cereals, buckwheats and legumes
The Indian Center (including the entire subcontinent) - based originally on rice, millets and legumes,
with a total of 117 species
The Inner Asiatic Center (Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.) - with wheats, rye and many herbaceous legumes,
as well as seed-sown root crops and fruits, some 42 species
Asia Minor (including Transcaucasia, Iran and Turkmenistan) - with more wheats, rye, oats, seed and
forage legumes, fruits, etc., some 83 species.
The Mediterranean Center - of more limited importance than the others to the east, but including
wheats, barleys, forage plants, vegetables and fruits -especially also spices and ethereal oil plants, some
84 species.
The Abyssinian (now Ethiopian) Center - of lesser importance, mostly a refuge of crops from other
regions, especially wheats and barleys, local grains, spices, etc., some 38 species.
The South Mexican and Central American Center - important for maize, Phaseolus and Cucurbitaceous
species, with spices, fruits and fibre plants, some 49 species.
South America Andes region (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador) - important for potatoes, other root crops, grain
crops of the Andes, vegetables, spices and fruits, as well as drugs (cocaine, quinine, tobacco, etc.), some
45 species
The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov
Vavilov recognized the importance of Darwin, Mendel, became protégé of Bateson, father of Genetics.
Knew Russians were far behind American, European counterparts, wanted to improve Russian
agriculture by applying the science of genetics to plant varieties.
Timeline
1920 – went to Petrograd to take over Bureau of Applied Botany
1921-22 – terrible famine in Russia
1923 – went to USA, Europe, met with breeders, geneticists and acquired seed:
6224 packets, 2 tons native corn, 66 boxes from Luther Burbank, 20,000 seeds from Europe
1924 -Began his collection trips: Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Northern Africa, Tailed by spies working for
dictator, Incredibly persuasive and lucky
Trouble Brewing
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Trofim Lysenko: so called barefoot scientist, rejected academic learning, believed in acquired
characteristics induced by the environment, Completely opposed to everything Vavilov believed in
When Stalin came to power in 1924, Lysenko was “the man”.
1930-Lysenko put in charge of all soviet agriculture
1940 – Vavilov imprisoned
1943 – Dies of malnutrition
1964 – USSR rejects Lysenkoism
1965 – USSR establishes Vavilov award
From the book The Murder of..
The message was clear. Here was a shining example of socialist agriculture..practical peasant
unencumbered by academic theory
But no one could have told at this stage that this simple peasant propagator of peas would become a
monster, willing to falsify scientific experiments to satisfy his political masters, viciously attacking his
colleagues, watching them publicly harassed, imprisoned even executed and playing the lead villain in
the Soviet Union’s attack on biological science.
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Status of Biodiversity
Points to be considered
• Many key components of biodiversity for food and agriculture (BFA) at genetic, species and
ecosystem levels are in decline.
• Evidence suggests that the proportion of animal breeds at risk of extinction is increasing, and
that –for some species and in some areas – crop diversity in farmers’ fields is decreasing and
threats to diversity are increasing. Nearly a third of fish stocks are overfished and a third of
freshwater fish species assessed are classed as threatened.
• Countries report that many species that contribute to vital ecosystem services, including
pollinators, natural enemies of pests, soil organisms, and wild food species, are in decline as a
consequence of the destruction and degradation of habitats, overexploitation, pollution and
other threats.
• Forests, rangelands, mangroves, seagrasses, coral reefs and wetlands in general – key
ecosystems that deliver many essential services to food and agriculture, including supply of
freshwater, protection against storms, floods and other hazards, carbon sequestration and
provision of habitat for countless species – are declining rapidly.
Around the world:
While more than 6 000 plant species have been cultivated for food, fewer than 200 make substantial
contributions to global food output, with only nine accounting for 66 percent of total crop production.
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Although it is not possible to make definitive statements about global trends in the erosion of on-farm
crop diversity, evidence suggests that, overall, the diversity present in farmers’ fields has declined and
that threats to diversity are getting stronger.
The world’s livestock production is based on about 40 animal species, with only a handful providing the
vast majority of global output of meat, milk and eggs. As of 2018, 7 745 out of 8 803 reported livestock
breeds are classed as local (i.e. reported to occur in one country only); 594 of these breeds are extinct.
Among extant local breeds, 26 percent are classed as being at risk of extinction, 7 percent as not at risk
and 67 percent as being of unknown risk status.
The number of trees species in the world is estimated to be about 60 000. Globally, more than 700
species are now included in tree-breeding programmes. There is no systematic global monitoring system
in place for intraspecific diversity in tree species.
Countries report the farming of 694 aquatic species and other taxonomic groups. In 2016, global capture
fisheries harvested over 1 800 species of aquatic animal and plants. Within these thousands of species
there are numerous genetically distinct stocks and phenotypes. As of 2015, 33 percent of fish stocks
were estimated to be overfished, 60 percent to be maximally sustainably fished and 7 percent to be
underfished.
Going through Nepal
Biodiversity underpins livelihoods of people and supports national economy of Nepal, a country located
in the Himalayas. It plays a crucial role in securing our current and future lives.
Nepal as a contracting party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is committed for making a
significant reduction in the rate of loss of biodiversity through conservation of biodiversity, sustainable
use of biodiversity components, and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the utilization of
genetic resources (UN 1992). The CBD was ratified by Nepalese parliament on November 23, 1993, and
enforced in Nepal since February 21, 1994.
NBSAP adoption and its overview
The Nepal National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2014-2020 (NBSAP) was developed in 2014
following the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.
The overall goal of the NBSAP is to significantly enhance the integrity of Nepal’s ecological systems by
2020, thereby contributing to human well-being and sustainable development of the country.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its linkages with Aichi Biodiversity Targets (ABTs)
Nepal, as a signatory to the UN, has endorsed the United States 2030 Agenda and Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) as a part of the global initiative to be achieved its goals by 2030 (NPC 2017).
The foundation for the SDGs has been set by the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs).
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The SDGs contain goal-wise quantitative indicators; some explicitly deal with conservation and
sustainable use of various ecosystems and biodiversity including access to genetic resources and benefit
sharing.
The SDGs and its linkages with Aichi targets based on the relevancy, biodiversity status, gaps and
projections have also been analyzed as part of the guiding principles to the 6th NR preparation.
Linkages of NBSAP thematic areas (7) and ABTs
Thematic Areas Relevant ABTs Implementing Agencies
Agrobiodiversity 1 Biodiversity MoALD I/NGOs, Local

Awareness Communities, Private
NARC Sectors, Universities
2. Biodiversity
Mainstreaming
3. Perverse Incentives
4. Sustainable Resourse
Management
5. Genetic Diversity
6. Traditional
Knowledge
7. Science and
Research
8. Resource
Mobilization
Need to go through NSAB and other documents for; Policy regarding biodiversity, status and trends and
future targets.
Biodiversity status of Nepal
Nepal is a part of the world’s biodiversity hotspot and ranks the 49th in the world for biodiversity.
Among 24,300 total species in the country, 28% are agricultural genetic resources (AGRs), termed as
agrobiodiversity. Agrobiodiversity has six components (crops, forages, livestock, aquatic, insects and
microorganisms) and four sub-components (domesticated, semi-domesticated, wild relatives and wild
edible) in Nepal. The species richness of agricultural fauna (3,785 species) is higher than agricultural
43
flora (2,833 species). The number of agricultural species is the highest in insect component (3,500),
followed by crop component (1,026 species) and microorganism component (800 species). Species
richness of livestock component is the least among six components of agrobiodiversity.
Among 700 medicinal plant species, 120 native species are under cultivation and 60 species are exotic
(Sharma 2007). Existing crop genotypes are landraces, modern, released, registered, de-notified, hybrid,
inbred, open pollinated variety (OPV), exotic, native, bulk, mixture, partial hybrid, breeding line, mutant,
organ transplant organism (OTO), multiline, near isogenic line (NIL), double haploid (DH), synthetic,
clonal, and genetically modified organism (GMO).
However, in other agrobiodiversity components, there is very low intra-specific diversity (different
genotypes). Forage species and rangeland are found from 60 m to 5000m (Abington 1992). There are
total of 510 forage species including 50 exotic.
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Livestock is reared at an altitude range of 60 m to 5,000 m (Abington 1992). Among the 35 agricultural
animal species, 17 are domesticated which consist of 13 native and four exotic livestock species. Aquatic
agricultural genetic resources (aquatic agrobiodiversity) include aquatic plants and animal species. There
are 17 aquatic agricultural plant species and 250 aquatic agricultural animal species.
Insect genetic resources include beneficial insects that have been used in biological control, pollination
or industrial purposes such as predators and parasitoids, and economic insect eg honeybees, stingless
bees and lac insects. The number of native insect species is 10004, of which 3500 are estimated as
beneficial and economic insect species (Thapa 1997, MoFSC 2014). Among the 3,754 microbial species,
800 are reported to be beneficial and economic species. There are very limited studies on the diversity
of microorganisms at species and strain levels. Twenty four species including 16 mushroom species are
under cultivation. Eight cultivated microbial species are reported to be exotic.
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About forty-four different methods for the management of all kinds of AGRs have been developed and
adopted in Nepal.
The main methods are seed bank for orthodox crops and field genebank for recalcitrant and vegetatively
propagated crops, aqua pond genebank for aquatic agricultural animal and plant species, livestock farm
genebank for livestock. For insects, mass rearing chamber or automated room can be considered as a
method of ex-situ conservation, from where users can get beneficial organisms, usually predators and
parasitoids upon formal request. Like insects, pure culture has been widely used to conserve and
maintain microbes. At the on-farm level, community seed bank (CSB) and community field genebank
(CFGB) are the main methods, which are systems of conservation and utilization of local genetic
resources, operated at local levels and run by the community. Among 144 community seed banks in
Nepal, 40 are active, six are passive (dormant), 95 are transmuted (transformed) and three are collapsed
(Joshi et al 2018). Conservation methods and approaches are seed bank, tissue bank, field genebank,
community seed bank, community field genebank for crops and forages species; aqua pond genebank
and restocking for aquatic agricultural animal and plant species; cryobank and livestock farm genebank
for livestock; insect genebank and insect field genebank for insect species, and microbial genebank and
microbial field genebank for microorganisms.
There are many other such methods and approaches listed .
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Box 1. Additional process, methods, actions and good practices used for conservation and sustainable
utilization of AGRs
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Within the country, a total of 18,765 accessions of AGRs have been conserved in 17 different kinds of
banks (Joshi et al 2017a, Genebank 2018). A total of 264 agricultural species (ie 4%) are conserved in
different banks. The highest number of conserved species and accessions are of orthodox crops.
Conservation of lower plant species, aquatic plants, insects and microorganisms are very low in number.
Two tissue banks have conserved 120 accessions of three species (potato, sweet potato and large
cardamom). There are 15 field genebanks across the country and 650 accessions of 30 crops are being
maintained. DNA bank has maintained 550 accessions of 10 species (rice, cardamom, sugarcane,
chayote, pea, garlic, broad leaf mustard, wheat, mango and maize). Thirty accessions of 9 forage species
are conserved in Seed Bank. More than 50 species are conserved in different field genebank (Khumal,
Bandipur, Lumle and Pakhribas Forage Field Genebank).
The global genepool is created only of crops and forages species. Safety mechanism has been adopted
only in crops and forages species through storing safety backup of 2,045 accessions of eight crops in
seven different CGIAR’s banks and safety duplicate of 69 accessions of barley in World Seed Vault,
Koreas. A total of 24,683 accessions of Nepalese crops, forages and microbes have been conserved in
different international and foreign genebanks. Two global databases have maintained 19,200 Nepalese
accessions
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49
50
51
52
53
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An experiment to understand status of biodiversity in a locality
4-cell analysis
This 4-cell analysis (the four squares in a quadrant) helps us understand our agricultural diversity:
whether crop varieties are abundant or rare, localized or widespread, or perhaps becoming endangered.
We can add a fifth small square in the middle of the matrix to identify crops that have disappeared from
the community. It then becomes the 5-cell analysis. Other communities use a “biodiversity wheel” with
four spokes to create four quarters similar to the squares of the quadrant. In this case, there is a small
circle in the middle of the wheel where farmers can record crops that have disappeared from the
community. We can repeat this exercise for each of the main crop varieties in the community (for
example, all the maize varieties) and ask about their relative presence.
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Figure: 4 Cell analysis in a figure
With a system using the 4-cell analysis put in place at district or country level, a simple indicator to
measure on-farm diversity could be:
Trends (increasing, decreasing or unchanged) in: area, number of household growers or varietal diversity
over the past five years. Crops falling into cell D may be at risk. Those in call E may be recovered from
neighboring communities or gene banks.
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Threats to biodiversity
Biodiversity threats
• Introduced Species
• Eutrophication
• Overexploitation
• Destruction of Habitat
• Acid Precipitation
• Fragmentation of Habitat
• Biological Magnification
• Disruption of Habitat
• Mayurs were hunted because their feathers were used for ornamental or decoration purpose in
Tharu culture.
• Factories create pollution that harms the habitats around them
• The pH of Fewa lake was lowered and therefore many fish could not survive.
• Construction workers are bulldozing trees and compacting the ground to build a subdivision
• Heavy metals used in construction enter the water/ the food web
• River-run off containing fertilizer enters ocean and causes an increase in nutrient availability
Understanding the drivers of stress (threats) and the vulnerability they cause to biodiversity?
• Stresses indicate a major negative impact on ecosystems
• Important to understand the cause-effect-chain behind the stress in order to tackle the stresses’
drivers
• Ideally threats and their drivers need to be managed and changed in order to reduce or
eliminate the biodiversity objects’ stresses and thus strengthen the ecosystem
How do we understand the drivers of stress (threats)?
• Threats can be anthropogenic-induced or natural processes that cause stresses
• Today’s severe stresses in ecosystems are mostly derived from the hand of man
• Direct and indirect stresses (e.g. resulting from human-induced climate change)
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• Indirectly caused stresses (e.g. resulting from human-induced climate change) are influencing
the greatest change in natural systems (often unintentionally with wide effects; invisible at first)
• Important: differentiate between stress and threat - although theory seems to be

comprehensible, in practice it is more difficult
How do we understand the drivers of stress (threats)?
• A threat is a human-induced forcing factor, a direct or indirect impact that will eventually induce
a symptom or response (stress) in a conservation object
• Stresses alter the object’s physical, chemical or behavioural state
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Classification of direct threats (taken from the IUCN-CMP Unified Classifications of Direct Threats,
Salafsky et al., 2008)
• Residential and commercial development: human settlements or other non-agricultural land

uses with a substantial footprint.
• Agriculture and aquaculture: threats from farming and ranching as a result of agricultural
expansion and intensification, including silviculture, mariculture, and aquaculture
• Energy production and mining: threats from the production of non-biological resources.
• Transportation and service corridors: threats from long, narrow transport corridors and the
vehicles that use them, including associated wildlife mortality
• Biological resource use: threats from the consumptive use of “wild” biological resources,
including deliberate and unintentional harvesting effects; also the persecution or control of
specific species.
• Human intrusion and disturbance: threats from human activities that alter, destroy and disturb
habitats and species associated with non-consumptive uses of biological resources.
• Natural system modifications: threats from actions that convert or degrade habitat in order to
“manage” natural or semi-natural systems, often to improve human welfare.
• Invasive and other problematic species and genes: threats from non-native and native plants,
animals, pathogens/microbes, or genetic materials that have or are predicted to have harmful
effects on biodiversity following their introduction, spread and/or increase in abundance.
• Pollution: threats from the introduction of exotic and/or excess materials or energy from point
and non-point sources.
• Geological events: threats from geological events.
• Climate change and severe weather: long-term climatic changes that may be linked to global
warming and other severe climatic or weather events outside the natural range of variation that
could wipe out a vulnerable species or habitat.
Guiding questions for the identification of direct threats:
Which human activities are negatively affecting the viability of the different biodiversity objects?
Which other processes are degrading the functionality of the biodiversity objects by causing
stresses?
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The earth’s biological diversity is crucial to the continued vitality of agriculture, medicine and
perhaps even to the life on earth’s itself. Yet, human activities are pushing many thousands of plant
and animal species into extinction. Two of any three species is estimated to be in decline
Three major level of biodiversity threats
• the threat of ecosystems loss,
• the threat of species loss, and
• the threat of loss of genetic resources.
The threats of ecosystems loss
• Loss of ecosystems can be a result of direct or indirect impacts.
• Direct causes include the conversion of the natural environment (forest, grassland, wetland, hill
country, or mountain) to agriculture, horticulture, plantation forest, residential or industrial
development, roads, and other infrastructure developments.
• The greatest threat comes from the need of subsistence farmers to extend their agricultural
activity, and the perception that this is best achieved through the conversion of forests and
other “virgin” lands.
(i) Habitat Loss and Deforestation
• Nepal has approximately 4,268,000 hectares of forest (29% of the country‟s total land area),
and 1,562,000 hectares of scrubland (10.6% of total land area).
• The statistics reveal that forest area decreased at an annual rate of 1.7% whereas forest and
shrubland together decreased at an annual rate of 0.5%.
(ii) Threats to rangeland biodiversity
• Most rangeland ecosystems located in arid regions and high mountain pastures are relatively
susceptible to degradation because they are less resilient to disruptions than subtropical
ecosystems.
• Moderately degraded rangelands can usually be restored over time through integrated
management systems.
• Severely degraded rangelands may require both investment and improved techniques to make
them economically viable and ecologically restored.
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(iii)Threats to protected areas
There are many conflicts and threats that affect the entire Protected Areas System in Nepal. A
few examples are as follows:
• Grazing
• Poaching
• Illegal timber harvesting etc.
(iv) Threats to wetland biodiversity
• Wetland biodiversity is under threat from encroachment of wetland habitat, unsustainable

harvesting of wetland resources, industrial pollution, agricultural runoff, siltation, and the
introduction of exotic and invasive species into wetland ecosystems.
• Unsustainable practices include over-fishing and the indiscriminate use of poison and dynamite
to kill fish. Poaching is a major threat to crocodiles, particularly the gharial and mugger
crocodiles found in the Kali Gandaki River and in the major tributaries of the Narayani River.
(v)Threats to mountain biodiversity
• Poverty, ecological fragility, and instability of high mountain environments, deforestation, poor
management of natural resources, and inappropriate farming practices are the primary threats
to mountain biodiversity.
• The cumulative impacts of these threats result in accelerated soil erosion, catchment
degradation, and loss of biodiversity.
• One of the greatest threats facing Himalayan flora and fauna is over-exploitation and poaching
for trade.
• Of the many species threatened with extinction, three wildlife species (Himalayan black bear,
Selenarctos thibetanus, Brown bear, Ursus arctos, and the Himalayan musk deer, Moschus
chrysogster) are poached for certain organs that fetch enormous amounts of money through
illegal international trade.
The threat of species loss
(i) Over-exploitation of biological resources
• A majority of Nepalese people depend largely on forest resources for their subsistence. They use
forest products for fuel materials, timber, shelter, medicine, food, and fodder. Over 75% of the
energy resources and over 40% of fodder needs are met through forest resources. A threat to
these biological resources is also a threat to the social and economic well being of these people.
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(ii) Threats to forest biodiversity
Despite the conservation benefit provided by the PAs network, biodiversity loss in Nepal continues
unabated. The most alarm that if Nepal were to lose its remaining humid tropical forests, an estimated
ten species of highly valuable timber trees, six species of fibre trees, six species of edible fruit trees, four
species of medicinal herbs and fifty species of other trees and shrubs would be lost forever. In addition,
the habitats for 200 species of birds, ten species of mammals and twenty species of reptiles and
amphibians would be severely affected. Threats to endangered plants and animals are increasing due to
the high commercial values in local and international markets for specific plants and animal parts. In
Nepal, 56 mammal, 226 bird, 25 reptile, nine amphibian, 35 fish, and 142 butterfly species are
threatened with extinction locally.
(iii) Threats to Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)
The most critical threats to all NTFPs are deforestation, habitat degradation, and unsustainable
harvesting. The most common NTFPs that are traded on a large scale (over 100 tones/year) are Pine
resin (khoto), Sal seed, Kutch, Ritha, Timur, Dalchini and Tejpat, Sabai grass (or Babiyo), Lokta, Satawari
(or Kurilo), Chirayito, Jatamansi, Padamchal, and Sugandhkokila. The collection and trade of these
valuable natural resources has generated considerable employment opportunities in remote areas
where the majority of people are poor. Trade in NTFPs and medicinal plants are the basis of the
livelihoods of a large number of rural people, and their collection is likely to continue for a long time to
come. Unsustainable harvesting has reduced the quantity and quality of many NTFPs in the wild.
The threat of loss of agrobiodiversity and genetic resources
The agricultural genetic resources of Nepal are in a state of depletion. This is primarily due to the
destruction of
– natural habitat,
– over-grazing,
– land fragmentation,
– commercialization of agriculture and the extension of high-yielding crop varieties,
– indiscriminate use of pesticides, population growth and urbanization,
– changes in farmers’ priorities, and
– lack of awareness among policy makers and planners about the importance of agro
biodiversity.
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Key reasons for the erosion of rice landraces are:
(i) changes in suitable habitats;
(ii) under-valuing of landraces and no institutional support for their conservation;
(iii) government policy of extending modern varieties for increasing total biological return;
(iv) lack of promotional activities for landraces; and
(v) failure of research systems to improve upon the existing landraces.
As with crop diversity, the biggest threat to livestock diversity is the decline and degradation of
traditional farming systems. Under current policies and economic pressures, it is impossible for ordinary
farmers to conserve or preserve traditional breeds, strains, and populations of domesticated animals.
Causes of biodiversity degradation
More long-term, sustainable benefits will be obtained by addressing both the immediate and
root causes of the problems.
Socio-Economic Causes
• Nepal is one of the least developed countries of the world.
• With an estimated annual per capita income of US$ 1,071, open natural resources such as land
and forests are the main sources of livelihood for a large proportion of the population.
• Poor people have no choice but to engage in unsustainable uses of natural resources, and Nepal
is no exception.
• Until the late 1980s, the forests of Nepal were considered as a major source of revenue, and
people used to say Hariyo Ban Nepal Ko Dhan, or „the green forests of Nepal are her wealth.
• With the growing population, more trees were cut to export logs to India for foreign exchange
and more forests were cleared to increase land for food production, which also provided
employment.
Natural Causes
• Landslides in the hilly regions not only damage the landscape but often cause loss of life and
property. Seventy-five percent of the landslides in Nepal occur naturally (MOPE 1998).
Landslides mainly occur during the monsoon (June-September) when the topsoil gets soaked
with rainwater. Hill roads are very susceptible to landslides, and according to one estimate,
about 400-700m3 of landslides per square kilometre occur on hill roads every year.
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• Topsoil erosion has been one of the factors contributing to declining plant productivity. Soil
erosion is caused by natural as well as anthropogenic actions.. Every year, 1-2mm of fertile
topsoil is lost throughout Nepal, leading to desertification and low productivity.
Anthropogenic Causes
(i) Pollution
• Toxic substances and other pollutants affect biodiversity at the ecosystem level by disturbing
vital ecological processes and modifying the species composition of plant and animal
communities. Air pollutants pose a serious threat to many birds and mammals. In the last two
decades, the Mid-hills in general and Kathmandu in particular have witnessed increased
numbers of mosquitoes and other insects mainly as a result of pollution.
(ii) Fire
• In several habitats, fire plays a critical role in the health of ecosystems and in maintaining their
biological diversity. Forest fires in Nepal are perhaps less severe than in other countries, but are
still capable of doing considerable damage, especially to young plantations (Jackson 1994)
(iii) Overgrazing
Uncontrolled overgrazing by livestock directly affects the species composition and productivity
of the grassland vegetation. Overgrazing by domestic and wild animals may arrest succession or even
reverse it. Overgrazing also causes changes in the diversity of the fauna.
(iv) Introduction of alien species
Some species have disappeared from Nepal over the past years. However, the total number of
species has increased due to the deliberate or accidental introduction of exotic species. Immigration of
species is also rising with increased human movement.
(v) Illegal trade and hunting
Control of illegal trade in plant and animal species, their parts or products, is a world-wide
concern these days. The illegal trade is directly correlated with demographic factors, potentials for
profit, and lack of adequate resources for law enforcement. Reports of illegal hunting from some parts
of Nepal are common. Poaching of wildlife and illegal collection of rare, threatened and endangered
plant species has always been a serious problem in and outside PAs in Nepal.
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The major threats facing biodiversity are:
Over-exploitation of both plants and animals
e.g. hunting of elephants and rhinos, Yarshagumbha and other medicinal plants being harvested from
wild)
Pollution of rivers (e.g case of Bagmati river)
Climate change (the GHGs effect and
destruction of the ozone layer)
Invasive species
Destruction of natural habitats
Deforestation
Overgrazing
Replacement of traditional varieties with HYVs
Natural disasters
Civil unrest and instability
Erosion of culture and indigenous knowledge
Threat factor identified from protected area officers
Illegal killing of wildlife for their bush meat
Human–wildlife conflicts.
Large mammal poaching for international trade
Human encroachment
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Loss, conversion and degradation of wildlife
migration and dispersal corridors important
Over-exploitation of natural resources (water, plant resources and minerals)
Agricultural expansion and other incompatible land use changes to biodiversity requirements.
Pollutants from external sources of a protected area that harm biodiversity directly or indirectly.
Negative tourism impacts to the welfare of biodiversity and their habitats.
Fencing entirely or in part of a protected area and their interference in wildlife movements
Climate as a major driver on biodiversity
Human driven climate change is now widely acknowledge to be a reality with impacts discernible for a
large number of sectors. One of the most vulnerable sectors is biodiversity; which is already under
pressure from a wide range of existing stressors. Climate change present an additional challenge on top
of and interacting with existing stressors. Climate change threatens species and ecosystems to migrate
to a more suitable habitat. These more suitable habitats are not guaranteed, and neither are routes to
get there. Therefore, climate change poses a threat to the future extinction of several species
Over-hunting
• Significant cause of extinction, and cause of many more to become endangered
• Sport hunting is not detrimental, as it is moderated
• There is big business associated with hunting (e.g., rhino horns can go from $50,000 - $100,000)
Invasion of non-native species
• A single species invasion can cause other native species to become extinct
• E.g., Introduction of invasive plant like Mikania micrantha in our forest put much more plant
diversity and even faunas at risk
Habitat loss/degradation/deforestation
• Living things have specific habitat needs. If they don’t get what they need, they suffer and
eventually become extinct
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• Humans have contributed to the loss of several habitats through deforestation
• There is an estimated loss of 2% of tropical rain forests every year
Pollution
• Not usually a large threat to extinction of species, but it can be for smaller, isolated populations
• E.g., In the past population of fish was decreased due to pollution from Bhrikuti Paper mills in
Narayani river
Monoculture
• Farmers world wide are planting high yielding varieties and doing monoculture rather than
planting diversity of crops and diversity within the species as well.
• Lots of the varieties are already extinct and many more are in risk.
Genetic Modification
• While FAO records show that governments’ most cited reason for biodiversity loss is variety and
breed replacement on the farm, a further threat is presented by the adoption of genetic
engineering in industrialised agricultural systems. During the six-year period 1996 to 2001, the
global area under GM crops increased more than thirty-fold, from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to
52.6 million hectares in 2001. The seven principal GM crops grown in 1998 were (in descending
order of area) soybean, maize, cotton, canola (rapeseed), potato, squash, and papaya. GM crops
have reached the field trial or commercial scale in over 40 countries, including those with high
proportions of their populations dependent upon agricultural biodiversity, such as Nicaragua,
Honduras, Swaziland and Vietnam.
• Genetic modification is a threat to both the genetic integrity of agricultural biodiversity and its
ownership. The resultant location of an inserted gene, the impact of modification on the
structure of the genome and the impact and location of promoters is unknown in most cases
and could have long-term deleterious effects. It is not just that the new genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) may produce unexpected proteins that could cause allergies in humans, nor
that they may behave in an erratic and unexpected way, it is also that the impacts they may
have on other living organisms and the environment are unpredictable.
• A concern is that the process of modification so alters the arrangement of genetic material in
the nucleus – it “scrambles the genome” – that the GMO will behave very differently from other
species that have been developed through normal sexual reproduction. The resultant gene
constructs could then spread through the biosphere by way of horizontal gene transfer, through
seeds, pollen, soil micro-organisms and so on, with unknown consequences. The focus on
genetic engineering in agricultural research and development skews resource allocations away
from the more sustainable option of agro ecology.
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Genetic Modification
• Due to the practice of cultivation GM soya, indigenous varieties of Soya is in risk of extinction in
US and Canada.
• Introduction of GM cotton in India causes risk to indigenous cotton varieties at risk
Restriction to genetic diversity
• The insertion of patented genes into plants and animals, using genetic engineering technologies,
transfers ownership of those plants and animals to the gene’s patent holders. As these genes
spread through the agro-ecosystem, so ownership of agricultural genetic resources will be
further concentrated.
• Agricultural biodiversity and its component genetic resources for food and agriculture are
therefore under threat from privatisation through patents and other intellectual property rights.
This results in moving knowledge and genetic resources from the informal sector into the formal
sector, and from public domain to private ownership, reducing benefits for the originators of
that knowledge. These are usually people and communities in the informal sector. Agricultural
biodiversity was developed through the free exchange of seeds and other genetic resources and
is better conserved and utilised through common access arrangements and the realisation of
community, farmers’ and traditional rights.
What can we do?
• Choose local, healthy and sustainably produced foods
• Plant a tree, do not eat/use endangered species, re-use things, promote local varieties, avoid
pesticides and use composting at home
• Share your ideas with others!
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Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity
Why conservation?
The many potential benefits of agricultural biodiversity to sustainable food systems are often not
realized because of poor conservation, lack of information or restrictive policies. Successful conservation
takes an integrated approach that safeguards genetic diversity in places it has evolved, backs it up in ex
situ facilities for posterity, and makes it readily accessible and available for use. Only 12 crops and five
animal species provide 75% of the world’s food. Yet there are thousands of neglected animal and plant
species, breeds and varieties with potential uses for humans, representing one of the most poorly
utilized and underappreciated food resources we have. These species must be conserved and used.
Use of biodiversity by smallholder farmers
Smallholder farming communities can significantly improve their livelihood and nutrition, and ensure
more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems through the improved use of biodiversity.
Conservation and availability of plant diversity
We can improve the availability of plant genetic resources significantly through conservation,
information management and a supporting policy environment. Conserving plant diversity where it is
found on farms and in the wild, and improving the availability of plant genetic resources so that the
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global community can use it to provide sustainable farming solutions.
What are we trying to achieve?
Agricultural biodiversity of importance to smallholder farmers (in particular Crop Landraces, Neglected
and Underutilised Species and their Crop Wild Relatives) is prioritised, better valued, better
understood and better conserved on farm and in the wild, in the most cost effective way. And that they
are accessible and available for use.
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First, we need to know what we have; in gene banks, in farmers fields, genetic characterization; we need
to know what farmers need; locally adapted, nutritionally, various uses and farmers knowledge. We
need participatory approaches to ensure use of traditional varieties and we need to have strong
documentation of their values
Risk status classification of livestock breeds
Extinct: a breed in which there are no breeding males or breeding females remaining. Genetic material
that would allow recreation of the breed may, however, have been cryo conserved. In reality, extinction
may be realized well before the loss of the last animal or genetic material.
Critical: a breed in which the total number of breeding females is less than or equal to 100 or the total
number of breeding males is less than or equal to five; or the overall population size is less than or equal
to 120 and decreasing and the percentage of females being bred to males of the same breed is below
80%; and which is not classified as extinct.
Critical-maintained: a breed that meets the criteria for inclusion in the critical category, but for which
active conservation programmes are in place or populations are maintained by commercial companies
or research institutions.
Endangered: a breed in which the total number of breeding females is greater than 100 and less than or
equal to 1,000 or the total number of breeding males is less than or equal to 20 and greater than 5; or
the overall population size is greater than 80 and less than 100 and increasing and the percentage of
females being bred to males of the same breed is above 80%; or the overall population size is greater
than 1,000 and less than or equal to 1,200 and decreasing and the percentage of females being bred to
males of the same breed is below 80%; and which is not classified as extinct, critical or critical-
maintained.
Endangered-maintained: a breed that meets the criteria for inclusion in the endangered category, but
for which active conservation programmes are in place or populations are maintained by commercial
companies or research institutions.
At risk: a breed classified as either critical, critical – maintained, endangered or endangered-maintained

measurement.
Four distinct approaches applied for the conservation of AGRs
In situ e.g. Protected areas, Ramsaar sites, community forest.
Ex situ e.g. Gene bank, botanical garden
On- farm e.g. farmers field, community seed bank
Breeding e.g. participatory breeding approaches
Distinction between ex situ, on-farm and in situ conservation realms
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Ex situ conservation In situ conservation in cultivated and wild

habitats
Ex situ conservation is the conservation of In situ conservation is the conservation of

components of biological diversity outside their ecosystems and natural habitats and the
natural habitats. maintenance and recovery of viable populations
of species in their natural surroundings and, in the
case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the
surroundings where they have developed their
distinctive properties.
On-farm conservation in agricultural production In situ conservation in wild ecosystems and

systems natural habitats
On-farm conservation is a dynamic form of crop In situ conservation is often used to refer to
and animal genetic diversity population conservation of wild ecosystems and natural
management in farmers’ fields, which allows the habitats and the maintenance and recovery of
processes of evolution under natural and human viable populations of species in their natural
selection to continue. surroundings.
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Fig: Conservation of agro-biodiversity for maintaining sustainable food systems
Central concepts
In situ conservation ensures continuing evolution and adaptation to changing conditions, on farms and in
the wild, for crops, trees and crop wild relatives; but knowledge and implementation of these practices
falls short of what is needed.
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1. Potential of molecular methods for assessing useful diversity patterns and supporting
conservation decision making is insufficiently known.
2. Conservation of crops and other useful plant species on smallholder farms yields direct and
indirect benefits
3. In situ conservation, in the wild, of crop wild relatives and trees requires new management
practices, monitoring methods and policies as well as local, national and international
collaboration
In situ conservation sensu strict v/s on farm conservation; Two distinctive approaches which requires
two distinctive solutions
In situ conservation of crop wild relatives
• To support and enable effective and efficient local, national and global in situ conservation and
use strategies of targeted crop wild relatives to be implemented in priority sites through the
participatory involvement and strengthening of local institutions and stakeholders.
On-farm management of agricultural biodiversity
• To gain a better understanding of the interactions between genetic and crop diversity on-farm,
in household diets and of diversity in markets so as to support sustainable food production and
ecosystem service provision, as well as improved food security, dietary diversity (nutrition and
health), income generation and poverty alleviation.
Economics of agricultural biodiversity conservation
• To identify, develop and test global public good valuation methods, economic decision-support
tools and incentive mechanisms for improving the in situ conservation of CWRs and the on-farm
management of agrobiodiversity.
In situ conservation
When the purpose of conservation is the continued evolution of novel traits for breeding, conservation
in the wild and on farm (i.e. in situ) is a strategic choice. In situ conservation refers to the maintenance
and recovery of viable populations in their natural surroundings where they have evolved as a result of
natural selection. Where the species and their genetic diversity are declining due to a number of threats,
mostly as a result of human actions, in situ conservation involves the recovery of populations through
active conservation actions or, in the case of whole ecosystems, it involves taking restoration measures.
In situ conservation complements ex situ and on-farm conservation by preserving both the population
and the evolutionary processes that enable the population to adapt by allowing them to evolve in their
natural state or within their normal range. The wild relatives of crops and animals serve as a large
repository of genetic diversity of value for crop and animal improvement, which can be used to
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strengthen the sustainability of food systems. They are potential sources of traits beneficial to crops and
domesticated animals, such as pest or disease resistance, yield improvement, better taste or stability.
For example, in the 1970s, the US maize crop was severely threatened by corn blight, which destroyed
almost US$1,000 million worth of maize and reduced yields by as much as 50% in 1978.
The problem was resolved through the use of blight-resistant genes from wild varieties of Mexican
maize. The key elements that need to be in place to make in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity
effective and sustainable are:
• Strategies and management plans or action plans for the in situ conservation and
sustainable use of genetic resources
• Genetic reserves
• Conservation activities
• Policy and enabling environment
• Effective information systems.
Ex situ conservation
Ex situ conservation is literally the off-site conservation of species, populations and varieties. It is defined
as the “conservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats”. Ex situ
conservation occurs when individuals of a species are maintained in artificial conditions outside the
selection pressures of their natural habitat. Ex situ conservation is important at different levels. First,
many natural habitats, including traditional agroecosystems, in which most cultivated diversity is grown,
are threatened.
In these cases, ex situ conservation is an efficient and quick means to prevent this often unique diversity
from disappearing. Second, ex situ conservation greatly facilitates access to diversity for a wide range of
uses, including direct use and research. Third, ex situ conservation can be a source of materials for
various uses such as breeding materials for breeders or restoration of lost diversity in its natural habitat
or on farm. In the context of sustainable food systems, ex situ conservation can contribute to sustainable
production systems and nutritious diets by providing breeding materials for uses such as saline-, pest- or
drought-tolerance, or which need lower synthetic inputs, or have high nutrient content. Ex situ
conservation can make varieties and species that already have those traits easily available. Typically the
choice of the type of conservation method depends on the biology of the species to be conserved and
on the facilities available for storage. These include seedbanks (for seeds), field genebanks (for live
plants), in vitro genebanks (for plant and animal tissues and cells), pollen banks, DNA banks and
cryobanks for ultra-long preservation.
Seedbanks, which consist of conserving dried seeds at low temperatures, are commonly used, as the
samples stored can be easily handled, require low maintenance and frequently remain viable for
decades. However, not all types of seeds can be conserved in seedbanks. Some species produce seeds
that are sterile (like the cultivated banana), or produce seeds that cannot be dried and stored at low
temperature (recalcitrant species, for example tropical fruits such as mangosteen, rambutan, mango and
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cacao). Other species are clonally propagated because they are grown for their roots and tubers (e.g.
yams, potato, cassava and aroids) or propagated to maintain specific gene combinations (e.g. vine, citrus
species or banana). Conservation options for these crops are to grow them out in field genebanks or
preserve them as tissue culture, embryo or cell suspensions grown in test tubes (in vitro). Field genebanks
are easy to set up, but are space and time consuming, as they need to be regularly replanted, and are
very vulnerable as the germplasm is exposed to changing climatic conditions, pest and diseases, floods
and droughts.In vitro conservation is more secure at least for medium-term storage. Cryopreservation
(i.e. the storage of tissue, embryo and cell-suspensions above or in liquid nitrogen) is preferable for
longer-term storage, but requires highly specialized expertise and equipment.
On-farm conservation
Where the main purpose of conservation is that communities should continue to benefit from the use of
crop and animal biodiversity, one strategic approach is on-farm conservation. On-farm conservation is
the result of networks of farmers doing different things over large areas – i.e. each engaged in their own
livelihood and risk management strategies, and adapting crops to their own niche environments – with
the unplanned end result across a region or country that a wide range of diversity is conserved. It is a
highly dynamic form of crop and animal population management, which allows the processes of both
natural and human selection to continue to act in the production system, thereby contributing to
ecosystem services and the autonomy that farmers have over crop and animal genetic resources.
An analysis of different conservation approaches for animal genetic resources concluded that the most
rational strategy for conserving livestock breeds was to ensure that they remain a functioning part of
the farm production system. Such processes help to maintain crop and animal evolution in farmers’
fields, home gardens and landscapes. This conservation approach is valued for evolving new portfolios
of adaptive traits and, therefore, enhancing farmers’ capacity to cope with adversity, resulting from the
consequences of socioeconomic and market forces and climate change. This conservation approach also
covers aspects of genetic resources which cannot be protected in genebanks, such as local knowledge
and ecosystem interactions and, in fact, the processes that underpin this dynamic conservation of
genetic diversity.
Agricultural biodiversity assessment on farm
To gain a better understanding of the interactions between genetic and crop diversity on-farm, in
household diets and of diversity in markets so as to support sustainable food production and ecosystem
service provision, as well as improved food security, dietary diversity (nutrition and health), income
generation and poverty alleviation.
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Constraints to conserve and use traditional crop varieties:
1. Local crop genetic diversity does not exist or is not in sufficient quantities within the production
systems
Local crop genetic diversity does not exist within the production system ecosystems
Local crop genetic diversity exists but at insufficient quantities
i. Insufficient materials available
ii. Lack of capacity to multiply materials
2. Local crop genetic diversity is not accessible to farmers
Farmers lack resources to acquire the materials. Crop genetic diversity is not accessible due to social
constraints i. Pressure from formal sector deters accessibility ii. Lack of social ties to access diversity.
Seed flow systems lack the capacity to change or provide large enough sample sizes to ensure
adaptation and evolution. Policies and institutions constrain seed flow.
3. Farmers do not value and use local crop genetic resources
Farmers do not perceive the local crop genetic materials as competitive i. Information on the
value/benefit exists but not available or accessed ii. Information on the value/benefit of the materials
does not exist. The materials have poor agronomic, ecological and/or quality performance or cultural
acceptability i. The material has low agronomic performance ii. The material is not adapted to abiotic
conditions iii. The material is not adapted to biotic pressures iv. The quality of the material is poor v. The
material is not culturally acceptable. Management of the materials can be improved i. Seed cleaning and
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storage is a constraint ii. Materials are not managed as diverse sets of varieties. Policies inhibit the use
of farmer-led materials and management methods.
4. Farmers do not benefit from the use of local crop genetic diversity
Insufficient market benefits from the materials
i. Low market value
ii. Low market demand
iii. Lack of technology to process diverse materials
iv. Lack of trust among market chain actors
Insufcient non-market benets from the materials
i. Social-cultural benets not valued
ii. Substitution for inputs (fertilizer, pesticide) not valued
iii. Ecosystem service benets of the materials not valued
iv. Farmers’ rights not valued
v. Lack of social responsibility
Weak local institutions and farmer/community leadership
i. Lack of collective action
ii. Lack of farmer/community leadership
iii. Lack of support to local institutions
In situ conservation methodologies
• Prioritization of hotspot areas for in situ conservation of targeted crops
• Threat assessment- determining status and trends
• Development of Red list system for cultivated plants
• Creation of genetic reserves for wild relatives within protected areas and outside protected
areas-
National Strategic Plan on in situ conservation of crop diversity
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• An integrated approach that brings together work on different stakeholders working on crop
diversity
• Multi-discriplinary approach that combine research on genetic, biological, agronomical, socio-

cultural, market and economic aspects.
• Development of national plans focusing on NUS, landraces and CWR
Assessment of the status and trends- indicators: Bridging agriculture and Conservation
• Create a visionary global and multiyear initiative to link biodiversity conservation and
agricultural production in the fight of poverty
• Forge a deep debate in conservation and agriculture agenda
• Synthesize scientific evidence for conservation and sustainable food production
• Lead a cutting edge research programme
• Offer new knowledge ad tools to conservation and development actors
• Develop practical partnership with farming and conservation community
Different on-farm conservation activities
Community Seed Banks
Community seed banks are one approach in developing countries, particularly in South Asia and Africa,
to conserve and manage agricultural biodiversity at the community level.
• Community seed banks tend to be small-scale local institutions, which store seed on a short-
term basis, serving individual communities or several communities in surrounding villages. These
community seed banks are relatively inexpensive, usually employing simple, low-cost storage
technologies.
• The people managing the seed banks carry out deposit of seeds, replication, storage,
distribution, germination quality testing and variety selection. Community seed banks provide
options for conservation and use of neglected and underutilized crops that are not commonly
undertaken by national and international gene banks.
• A community seed bank is a local organization whose core functions are to maintain, safeguard,
and exchange local and farmer-preferred seeds for local use.
• It is managed collectively by women and men farmers from the community who care about
seeds, often but not always with the support of an organization working in agriculture.
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It usually performs the following three functions:
1. Conserve local varieties and restore varieties that have disappeared from the community.
2. Provide access to good quality seeds and make them readily available at a low cost to farmers
who are interested in or in need of seed.
3. Serve as a platform for community development.
In Nepal, a total of 115 community seedbanks have been reported. Detailed data are available for 21 of
these. These 21 community seedbanks were conserving 908 varieties of 62 crop species as of 2016.
From 2011 to 2016, a total of 18,136 farmers gained access to the local and modern varieties conserved
in these seedbanks. About 43% of poor and 45% of medium-income farmers have received seeds from
these community seedbanks. In 2015, 10t of local varieties and approximately 125t of modern varieties
and varieties bred through participatory methods were produced by these community seedbanks. Sixty
percent of the seed produced is marketed by local seed retailers and local extension agents to meet
local needs. Total income generated by seed sale for six seedbanks (US$34,635 in 2015) is used to
safeguard local crop diversity and support the day-to-day management of community seedbanks. Nepal
is now piloting access and benefit-sharing mechanisms at the community level through community
seedbanks as a practical way of implementing farmers’ rights.
Payments for Agrobiodiversity Conservation Services (PACS)
PACS schemes have been tested since 2009 on plant genetic resources in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, India,
Nepal and Guatemala; on animal genetic resources in Slovenia and on crop wild relatives in Zambia.
PACS schemes involve landscape-wide competitive tenders inviting communities to cultivate a priority
portfolio of crop species and varieties and to name their conditions for doing so. Efficiency and social
equity are the criteria used to select the communities which offer the best bids. At the end of the
agricultural season, if cultivation has proceeded according to the contract, in-kind rewards – e.g.
agricultural inputs and machinery, school building and materials – are given to the community groups.
Participating groups define the conditions for their participation (i.e. which priority species or varieties
to cultivate, what level of reward is needed and which women and men farmers will participate), and
how to share the rewards amongst themselves and other community members. By creating a low-risk
environment for farmers to experiment in, farmers are able to explore whether the threatened crop
species or varieties benefit their families sufficiently to keep cultivating them even in the absence of
future incentives.
Participatory plant breeding
It empowers farmers to set breeding goals using local crop diversity, also demonstrates a successful
method to provide benefits to farmers from their existing agricultural biodiversity. One example is that
of making an aromatic rice landrace competitive by selection from 338 populations of a landrace called
Jethobudho. Together with the local community, researchers improved milling recovery (by 5%),
tolerance to being flattened by wind and rain, consistent and aromatic cooking quality, and resistance to
diseases.
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Consumers are willing to pay a relatively high price because of its special cooking quality measured by
grain expansion, taste and aroma, which are not available with other high quality types, such as Basmati.
Once this variety was released, seed companies started marketing it in other parts of the country, which
supported its conservation. Lots of ex situ conservation are being done. Problem is its less being utilized.
If we could know what is the status of ex situ conservation, what are their characteristics then we could
utilize for re-cultivation or for breeding purposes as well.
Concluding thoughts
Diversity is critical for sustainable agricultural production and food security. Understanding extent,
distribution and functions of genetic diversity for enhancing better use. Global monitoring system is
needed to track the trends in crop genetic diversity- national inputs. Holistic approach to conservation is
needed. Enhanced use is as important as conservation—through use comes sustainability; conservation
should not be undermined.
A healthy conservation system will ensure that the raw materials necessary for sustaining our food
system will always be available for agricultural improvements.
CBM platform: Participatory learning for understanding local crop diversity and associated traditional
knowledge
Figure: Rice diversity in Begnas village, Nepal
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Policies and Laws for Agrobiodiversity conservation

Policies and Laws
Developments in international and national law and policy over the last two decades have changed the
working environment for those in charge of managing and making decisions about genetic resources,
including those held on-farm by farming communities. What are the important policies and how the
process might enable a participatory conservation approach, bottom-up approach for supporting the
conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity on-farm ??
The policy development process
At the national level, policy-makers balance objectives that may at times be contradictory. The goal is to
make recommendations for policy reform and/or promulgation based on sound field data and
consideration of stakeholders’ needs and capabilities, and developed (and eventually tested) in a
participatory way. This process will ameliorate the problem of potentially conflicting objectives, or at
least make the trade-offs more explicit for national policy-makers.
Policy development : a multi-step process
The first step is to identify the goal to be achieved or the problem to be solved.
The second step is to identify indicators to measure how well a law or policy serves its intended aim.
The third step is to compile accurate information on the situational (scientific, technical, socio-
economic, policy, legal and institutional) factors at work, to provide a meaningful foundation for policy
recommendations.
The fourth step is to assess the current and potential impact of the identified situational factors on the
intended goal or solution.
How conservation policy works:
(1) Include protection of agricultural genetic resources in the management of conservation areas;
(2) Develop market tools to increase the value of landraces with particularly high intrinsic economic
value:
(a) Encourage local creation of consumer-recognition intellectual property such as geographical

indications and trademarks; and
(b) Support the creation of niche markets were these products can be sold;
(3) Strengthen the informal seed exchange system and encourage activities like PPB that will enrich the
available selection;
(4) Provide a legal status for landraces that will enable their protection; and
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(5) Introduce legislation for access and benefit sharing that will protect farmers’ rights.
Situational Analysis at Policy level
Institutional Situational Analysis
Figure: Different organizations involved in AGRs conservations
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International policies and laws on Agro-biodiversity conservation
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• Signed at the Rio “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 5 June 1992 and come into force in
1993
• Most important convention on biodiversity
• Conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of component of biodiversity, and equitable
sharing of benefits from genetic resources
• After adoption of CBD, GoN has achieved praiseworthy progress on biodiversity conservation
ITPGRFA 2001
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resource for Food and Agriculture 2001
• Legal framework approved by FAO

• Nepal acceded on October 2009
• For the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture
and the fair and equitable sharing of benefit arising out of their use
• Farmers right and contribution on plant and Agriculture Genetic Resources conservation
• Establishment of National Gene Bank in Nepal in 2010 under CBD and ITPGRFA
Why we need policy regarding plant genetic resources ?
Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are human-made and not merely found in nature; There
is a global interdependence with respect to these resources: no country is self-sufficient but rather
depends on the supply of resources from other countries; It is generally difficult or impossible to trace
the origin of a given germplasm, which results from the combination of genes coming from different
countries/regions; there are already practices with respect to the exchange of germplasm, which are
generally observed by the public and private sectors.
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Global Action of Plan 1997 and Second GAP 2011
• Nepal is a party of Global Action of Plan developed at International Technical Conference on

Plant Genetic Resources (PGRs) under UNFAO held at Leipzig, Germany, 1996
• The global partnership for agro-biodiversity management and proper utilization
• For plant genetic resources for food and agriculture
• Promote cost efficient and effective global efforts to conserve AGRs for food and agriculture
International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, 1991
• Establishment of International Union for Protection on New Varieties of Plants

• To provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protection, with the aim of
encouraging the development of new varieties of plants, for the benefit of society
• Protection of plant varieties through Patent Right and Plant Breeder’s right
Protocols
Cartagen Protocol, 2000
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An international framework on biosafety that primarily deals with rules and regulations related to safe
handling of genetically modified (GM) technologies
Concerned with potential adverse effects of GM crops on agro-biodiversity and environment
Focus on import and export
Nagoya Protocol, 2010
An international agreement which aims at sharing benefit from the utilization of genetic resources in a
fair and equitable way
It is based on ABS: Access and Benefit Sharing with regard to genetic resources of nature
National policies and laws on Agro-biodiversity conservation

Agrobiodiversity Policy 2007; revised 2014
Vision: conserve and utilization of agriculture genetic resources/ materials and associated traditional
knowledge
The policy recognizes agro-biodiversity as integral part of biodiversity
Objective: enhance agriculture growth and ensure food security by conserving, promoting, and
sustainable use of agro-biodiversity
NBSAP (2014-2020)
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2014 was prepared by MoFSC
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The NBSAP provides a guiding framework for the management of Nepal’s biodiversity
The formulation of strategies and actions are focused around six thematic areas, including agriculture
Agri-development Policies
This includes Agriculture Development Strategy (2015-2035), National Agriculture Policy 2004, and
Agribusiness Policy 2006
These have focused on sustainable and commercial agriculture with conservation of agro-biodiversity
Seed Sector Policy and legislations
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Nepal has several policies and legislation on seed sectors: National Seed Vision (2013); Seed Policy
(1999); Seed Act (1988) revised 2008; Seed Regulation (2013)
Seed Act and Seed Regulation mention the provision of plant breeder’s right on new variety and
ownership
Seed vision has the provision of conservation and use of crop varieties by farmers and their right
How policies brings changes ??
Along with other factors, Agrobiodiversity is impacted by international and national laws. These include
seed laws aimed at ensuring the identity and quality of plant propagating materials and regulating their
production, use and marketing. These laws often impose strict rules on the use, management and
exchange of seed varieties, rules which are not compatible with the practices of local seed systems, and
which stifle the development of such “local seed systems.” The latter tend to be more adapted to
specific local and environmental conditions than commercial seed systems.
Some countries like Brazil have tried to address this challenge in their seed law by making legal
provisions that exempt “local, traditional and creole seeds” from official registration, and allows for
them to be included in publicly funded seed programs. Even though there is need for clarity as to what
can be classified as local, traditional or creole seeds, such provisions within the Brazilian law are a step in
the right direction, as they support the local seed production systems and ensure that they are not
locked out by the formal systems that benefit large-scale industrial seed systems. Intellectual property
(IP) rights over plant varieties can also have direct impacts on agrobiodiversity. IP laws that make the
reuse of seed illegal, could create obstacles for the accessibility to knowledge and technologies by
resource poor farmers in developing countries like Nepal. The possible use of open source legal systems
to encourage sharing and discourage exclusion. The main principles of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD), Nagoya Protocol, and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture, which recognize farmers´ rights. Ultimately, the responsibility to uphold farmers’ rights rests
with individual countries. Countries could adopt an ‘ownership approach’ based on access and benefit-
sharing laws governed by the CBD principles, or a ‘stewardship approach’ that recognizes collective
rights. Public policies in Brazil that have benefitted small-scale farmers, who are the main food
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producers in the country. The government supports small-scale farmers by buying agrifood products
directly from family farmers to distribute to community kitchens, popular restaurants, schools, hospitals,
and others.
Conclusion
Any effort to develop policy and law to support the on-farm, in-situ and ex-situ conservation and use of
PGRFA will benefit from information and data already available that assess the situation in the country
concerned. A truly ‘ground-up’ approach relates to the physical, socio-economic and cultural conditions
of the affected localities required. A difficulty facing policy development in this area is the complex
range of factors that affect the conservation and use of genetic diversity in farmer’s fields. This is why
the monitoring component is so critical – there can be unintended or unanticipated consequences to
even a well-thought through policy.
Reference
CBD. (1992). Convention on Biological Diversity. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: United Nations.
CBD. (2021). Agricultural Biodiversity. (C. Secretariat, Producer) Retrieved May 19, 2021, from
Convention on Bilogical Diversity: https://www.cbd.int/agro/
FAO. (2021). International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Retrieved May
20, 2021, from United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization: http://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/en/
FAO. (2012). Synthetic accoutn of the second global plan of action for plant genetic resource for food and
agriculture. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Commision on genetic resource for food
and agriculture. Rome, Italy: FAO.
Gauchan, D., Tiwari, S. B., Acharya, A. K., Pandey, K. R., & Joshi, B. K. (2017). National and International
Policies and Incentives for Agrobiodiversity Conservation in Nepal. In B. K. Joshi, H. B. KC, & A. K. Acharya
(Ed.), Proceedings of 2nd National Workshop on CUAPGR (pp. 176-183). Kathmandu, Nepal: NAGRC,
FDD, DoA and MoAD.
GoN. (2014). Nepal National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2014-2020. Kathmandu, Nepal:
Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation.
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Different on-farm conservation and management practices in Nepal

On-farm conservation
On-farm conservation of agricultural biodiversity refers to the maintenance of traditional crop

varieties (landraces) or cropping systems by farmers within in the natural habitats where they
occur-in farmers’ fields and uncultivated plant communities.
(Altieri and Merrick, 1987)
On-farm conservation/on-farm management: adapt, evolve and buffer
Figure: Seed flow in formal and informal system
Why On-farm conservation?
Conserve the evolutionary processes of local adaptation of crops to local conditions;
Conserve diversity at all levels; ecosystem, species and intra-specific (genetic) levels –adaptation
strategy for CC
Conserve ecosystem services and functions
Conserve diversity for livelihoods for resource poor farmers
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Maintain or increase farmers’ control over and access to genetic resources
Maintain traditional knowledge in the community
Integrate farming community to national conservation efforts
Support national commitment to the CBD, ITPGRFA and farmer’s rights
Basic questions to understand farmer management of crop diversity
• WHAT: The amount and distribution of genetic diversity maintained by farmers over time and
space
• HOW: The processes used to maintain genetic diversity on-farm
• WHO: The people who maintain genetic diversity on-farm and who make decisions
• WHY: The factors that influence farmer decision making to maintain diversity
Four-cell diversity analysis as a widely adapted tool
Figure: Participatory extent and distribution analysis
CBM platform: Participatory learning for understanding local crop diversity and associated traditional
knowledge
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Figure: Rice diversity in Begnas village, Nepal
Who maintains diversity and how? Social seed network
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What is farmer system?
own saved seed
exchange
gifts
purchase
Who is nodal farmer?
high frequency of exchange seed and information to other farmers
Who is innovator?
search
select
maintain
exchange
Meta-population Theory
migration
colonization
93
Social seed network and system resilience
Resilient to climate change Vulnerable to climate change

Community interventions?
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Figure: Size of networks-large vs. small; open vs. close network
94
Strengthening Local Capacity for Community led Climate Change Adaptation
Figure: Consolidating role of farmers as conservers, promoters of diversity and as dynamic Innovators to
cope climate change!
95
Conceptual framework for using genetic diversity to adapt to climate change
Relations between CBM, in situ conservation and Empowerment
Figure: CBM is a good practice for empowering community
Steps for establishing CBM
1. Enhancing community awareness
2. Understanding local biodiversity, social networks and institutions
3. Capacity building of community institution
4. Setting up of institutional working modalities
5. Consolidating community roles in planning and implementation
6. Establishing a CBM trust fund
7. Community monitoring, evaluation and social auditing
8. Social learning and scaling up for community collective actions
96
Challenges
If genetic resources are going to conserved on-farm, it must happen as a spin off of farmer’s
production and livelihood strategies.
This means conservation efforts must be carried out within the framework of farmer’s
livelihood, income and cultural values.
What are the strategies for on-farm conservation and livelihood gains?
STRATEGIES
• Improve access of materials and information
• Develop market incentives for traditional varieties
• Improve competitiveness of local varieties
Strategic decisions: Empowering community for setting development and conservation agenda
97
Maximize use of diversity-NUS-Crops for the future using PPB methods
Figure: There will never be enough plant breeders for all crops for all situations!
Enhance local materials
98
What do we need to do?
• Understand and use the intra-specific diversity among the traditional varieties maintained by
farmers
• Adapt breeding programs to develop genetic resources adapted to intra-specific mixtures

(Finckh 2008)
• Integrating diverse trees, livestock, aquatics species and crops (including NUS) to buffer
changing environmental conditions and improve resilience capacity
• Strengthen farmer seed systems to promote open, dynamic and integrated genetic system to
cope climate change at the local level
• Empower community for community based conservation actions (e.g. seed fair, diversity
kits)
• PVS and PPB
• Consolidate farmer’s role as conservers, promoter of diversity and dynamic innovator by

strengthening farmer’s seed system.
99
Introduction to Climate change and its historical overview
Climate
Climate is usually defined as the "average weather" in a place. It includes patterns of temperature,
precipitation (rain or snow), humidity, wind and seasons. Climate patterns play a fundamental role in
shaping natural ecosystems and the human economies and cultures that depend on them. The climate
we've come to expect is not what it used to be, because the past is no longer a reliable predictor of the
future. Our climate is rapidly changing with disruptive impacts and that change is progressing faster than
any seen in the last 2,000 years.
Overview: Global Climate Change: Trends & Projections
What is Climate
Climate is the aggregated pattern of weather, meaning averages, extremes, timing, spatial distribution
of…
• hot & cold
• cloudy & clear
• humid & dry
• drizzles & downpours
• snowfall, snowpack, & snowmelt
• blizzards, tornadoes, & typhoons
Climate change means altered patterns. Global average temperature is just one measure of the state of
the global climate as expressed in these patterns.
Small temperature changes big changes in the patterns.
100
What is an extreme event
101
Global Temperatures are increasing
102
Source: http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/
Historic record of global climate change
Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in
global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean
sea level.
103
One Definition of Climate Change
• “A significant and persistent change in the mean state of the climate or its variability. Climate
change occurs in response to changes in some aspect of Earth’s environment: these include
regular changes in Earth’s orbit about the sun, re-arrangement of continents through plate
tectonic motions, or anthropogenic modification of the atmosphere.”
• Source: “Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science,” U.S. Global Change
Research Program:
• Warm nights increasing

Cold nights decreasing
104
Figure: Frequency of occurrence of cold or warm temperatures for 202 global stations for 3 time
periods:1901 to 1950 (black), 1951 to 1978 (blue) and 1979 to 2003 (red).
Proportion of extreme precipitation events increasing in most areas
The frequency of heavy precipitation events has increased over most land areas - consistent with
warming and increases of atmospheric water vapor while more intense and longer droughts have been
observed since the 1970s, particularly in the tropics and subtropics.
Greenhouse gas concentrations
Compared to natural changes over the past 10,000 years, the spike in concentrations of CO2 & CH4 in the
past 250 years is extraordinary. Humans are responsible for the recent dramatic increase emissions.
Fossil CO2 & CH4 lack carbon-14, and the observed drop in atmospheric C-14 is measurable.
105
Source: (IPCC AR4 WG1, 2007)
106
Best estimate of global radiative forcing
History
• 1712: Biritish ironmonger, Thomas Newcomen invents the first widely used steam engine,
paving the way for the Industrial Revolution and industrial scale use of coal.
• 1800: World population reaches one billion.
• 1824: French physicist Joseph Fourier describes Earth's natural 'greenhouse effect".
107
• 1896: Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius concludes that industrial age coal burning will enhance
natural greenhouse effect.
• 1927: Carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning and industry reach one billion tones per year.
• 1930: Human population reaches two billion.
108
• 1960: Human population reaches 3 billion.
• 1965: A US President's advisory committee panel warns that greenhouse effect is a "real
concern".
• 1972: First UN Environment Conference in Stockholm, The United Nations Environment Program
UNEP is formed as a result.
• 1975: Human population reaches four billion.
• 1987: Human population reaches 5 billion.
• 1987: Montreal protocol agreed to restrict chemicals that damage the ozone layer.
• 1988: Intergovernment panel on climate chage (IPCC) formed to collate and assess evidence on
climate change.
• 1989: Carbon Emission from fossil fuel reach 6 billion tonnes per year.
• Modern history of Climate change continues

But Interpreting past climate from geologic records .
109
Earth's climate system

Climates on Earth are Favorable to Life because; Surface Temperature: Averages 15oC (59oF) and much
of the Surface Ranges from 0o C to 30oC.
Geologic Time
110
1 km = 1 million years
LA to NY: 4,500 million yrs
Precambrian: LA to Pittsburgh, PA
Paleozoic – entirely in PA
Mesozoic – 179 km drive to NJ, 65 from NYC
End of ice age – 10 m from destination
2,000 AD years is 2 meters
Human life span<10 cm
111
Another Geologic Time Analogy . . .
If all Earth history had been recorded from its origin to the present as a motion picture
Each frame would flash on the screen for 1/32 of a second which would equal 100 years, to show all
Earth history would take 16 days, the last 2,000 years would take ¾ of a second, the present to the last
ice age would be less than 7 seconds, the last 65 million years would take almost six hours and the
Paleozoic Era would last two days.
112
We will focus on the last several million years of Earth’s history (about 10% of its total age)
This can only be represented by:
• A series of magnifications
• Using a log scale that increases by factors of 10
113
Time Scales of Climate Change
Figure: Longest Shortest
114
Tectonic Change: The Longest Time Scale
Shows a slow warming, between 300 Myr and 100 Myr which last 100 million years with gradual cooling
Led to ice ages during the last 3 million years; note shorter oscillations.
115
Time Scales of Climate Change
As the time scales become shorter; progressively smaller time scales are magnified out from the larger
changes at longer time scales.
116
Degree of Resolution
Amount of detail retrieved from records, Older records have less resolution, long term averages over
millions of years, younger records have progressively greater resolution
• Shorter term averages

• Occur within intervals of:
o Thousands
o Hundreds
o Even tens of years
Studying Climate Change – The Scientific Method
Theories can be discarded: Ongoing work may disprove the predictions of a current theory
An Historical Example . . . The Geocentric Model of the Solar System
117
• Devised by Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) in the second century AD
118
• Accepted until 1543
The Heliocentric Model replaced the Geocentric Model
where, Pluto is no longer considered a planet!
Pluto’s Been Demoted on August 24, 2006 the International Astronomical Union redefined the definition
of a planet as:
– “a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun
– has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a
nearly round shape,
– and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.”
Pluto is now considered a “Dwarf Planet”
• Pluto lost its status as a planet because it’s highly eccentric orbit crosses over the orbit of
Neptune.
– As such it hasn’t “cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
• A dwarf planet like Pluto is
– Any other round object that
• Has not “cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
• Is not a satellite
A Law or Unifying Theory
119
• If a theory has survived the test of time
– Years or decades
• It’s the closest approximation to “the truth” as possible.
• It’s impossible to prove a theory as being true.
• We can only prove it’s untrue.
Revolutions in Climate Change
• A scientific revolution that endeavors to understand climate change has accelerated.
• The mystery of climate change yields it’s secrets slowly.
• This revolution has achieved the status so that it has begun to take its place alongside two great
earlier revolution in knowledge of Earth history.
Plate Tectonics
Figure: The unifying theory of geology
120
Tectonic Plate Boundaries
Earth’s Four Spheres
• Earth is divided into four independent parts
• Each loosely occupies a shell around Earth - This why they’re called spheres
121
Earth Systems Interact
• Earth Systems Interact Video from the American Geological Institute (AGI)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnpF0ndXk-8&list=PLTBBygdCOWWd-7-
WOjPvPBSawmlvMoSDH
Earth’s Climate System
Small number of external factors; Force or drive changes in the climate system.
122
Internal components respond to external factors. They change and interact in many ways.
End Result of interactions, a number of observed variations in climate can be measured; analogous to a
machine’s output after input (factors).
Studies of Earth’s Climate cover a wide Range of processes: i.e. Climate Forcing. There are three
fundamental kinds of climate forcing
1. Tectonic Processes
Part of Plate Tectonic Theory, alter the geography of Earth’s surface.
• Changes in distribution of land and sea

• Changes in surface topography
• Formation of mountain ranges
123
• Erosion of the land surface
Slow processes
• Occur on a scale of millions of years
2. Variations in Earth’s Orbit
• Alter the amount of solar radiation received on Earth

o By season
o As a function of latitude
• Occur over tens to hundred of thousands of years.
3. Changes in the Sun’s Intensity
• Affects the amount of solar radiation arriving on Earth

• Long-term increase since Earth’s origin
• Shorter-term variations may be partially the cause for changes on shorter time scales of
o Decades
o Centuries
o Millenia
A Fourth Factor to be Considered
Anthropogenic Forcing
• In a strict sense, not part of the natural system

• The effect of humans on climate
• Unintended byproduct of agricultural, industrial, and other human activities
• Results from additions of materials to the atmosphere
124
Variation in the Response Times of Climate System Components
This Has Happened in the Past
125
Food Security and Climate Change
Food Security:
1. Food safety
2. Amount of food
“all people at all times have both physical and economic access to access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food to maintain a healthy and active life”
- World Health Organization
Agriculture is important for food security in two ways:
• it produces the food people eat; and
• it provides the primary source of livelihood for 36 percent of the world’s total workforce.
Interrelation of Agriculture, Climate Change, Food security and Poverty
As the world population grows to a projected 9 billion by 2050, agricultural production must also
increase by an estimated 70 percent according to FAO. Climate volatility, more frequent extreme
weather events and temperature changes increasingly threaten the viability of agriculture and forestry
sectors and rural infrastructure throughout the world. Globally, agriculture directly accounts for 13.5 %
of greenhouse gas emissions and indirectly for another 17% due to deforestation and land-use change.
The sector holds a large mitigation potential, mainly through reduced deforestation, soil management
and increased productivity. Agriculture is therefore part of the problem and part of the solution to
Climate Change.
Food Security and Health
Climate change could affect; amount of food produced, variety and nutritional value of food and cost of
food. Nepal consume food from a global market as well; food security is impacted by climate change not
just in Nepal.
Impacts of rising temperature on food security
• Global food production potential is likely to increase with increases in global average
temperature up to about 3°C, but above this it is very likely to decrease (IPCC, 2007)
126
• There are, however, regional and local variations both in negative and positive impacts. Further
warming has increasingly negative impacts in all regions. Short-term adaptations may enable
avoidance of a 10 to 15% reduction in yield.
• If increases in temperature exceed 1.5–2.5°C which is likely then around 20–30% of plant and
animal species are likely to be at increased risk of extinction (IPCC, 2007). This will certainly be
combined with the impact of globalization on seeds and varietals selection. As the base of
indigenous varieties has been deteriorating with genetically modified seeds, climate change will
enhance the rate of extinction of indigenous species and varieties which have better capacity to
sustain the adverse environmental consequences in the longer term. It is obvious that
smallholder and subsistence farmers will suffer complex, localized impacts of climate change
combined with the globalization of market opportunities.
Changes in Precipitation
Precipitation is changing:
More localized, heavy precipitation events
Potential to cause both increased flooding and drought
Impact of climate change in precipitation
• Global analysis conclude that erratic pattern of precipitation has adverse impact on production.
• Precipitation data available in Nepal are not enough to analyze accurate precipitation scenario
for long in the past.
• Based on the experienced shared by the farmers in different workshops, visits and interactions
the author has information that farmers have also experienced this and are aware on the
adverse impacts on production. They noticed that it does not rain as usual but when comes it
comes too much to create flood. This implies that there is greater rainfall in fewer rain storms.
• The crop yields have strong association with the amount of rain it receives on right time. The
reduction of rice production in the past years can be closely liked to the abnormal rainfall
received in those years. Agricultural production, of which 36.5% is rain fed until 2002, and
mainstay of over 60% Nepalese is badly affected by the change in precipitation.
• In the early 1960s Nepal had the highest level of agricultural productivity in South Asia, but by
the early 1990s, its agricultural productivity was the lowest in the Subcontinent. However, there
are other factors as well to count to the end result of production.
127
Crop production
Climate Change Impacts
Changing climatic conditions will impact crop production in four primary ways:
1. Long-term changes in average temperatures and precipitation patterns
2. Increase in pests and invasive species
3. Acute losses resulting from more frequent and intense weather extremes
4. Impacts of runoff, soil erosion and reduced infiltration from increased intensity of storm events
Complex System
Crop production relies on a balance of temperature and precipitation, soil composition, and atmospheric
CO2
Pests, Diseases and Weeds
• With warmer temperatures, pests, diseases and weeds may:
– Expand towards climate-stressed areas
– Survive warming winters better
– Require increased use of pesticides and herbicides
Warmer Summers
Warmer summers and higher maximum temperatures may
• Increase crop yields with some warming
128
• Decrease crop yields with too much warming
Warmer Nights & Minimum Temps
Warmer nights and higher minimum temperatures may
• Stress some plants, taxing their ability to grow and resulting in lower yields
• Cause some plants, such as tomatoes, to ripen faster
• Disturb pollination and lower crop productivity and reduce quality
Nutritional Value
Globally, the nutritional value of some foods may change due to
• Elevated atmospheric CO2 (increased carbohydrates, decreased protein & vitamins)
• Changes in cultivated varieties (favor yield over nutrient content)
Temperature Effects on Water Demand
Complex interactions of temperature and precipitation
Flood and Drought
Precipitation variability can cause drought
• Inadequate precipitation in some regions impacts crop yields
• Prolonged droughts can increase fire danger
Precipitation Effects: Flooding
Increased precipitation has been driven by intensification of the heaviest rainfalls, resulting in:
129
• Flooded fields and damaged crops
• Increased runoff and reduced infiltration of water for crop use
• Increased soil erosion, leading to
– Soil nutrient loss
– Sediment contamination of nearby water bodies
Runoff and Erosion
Runoff and erosion will be affected most by
• High rainfall intensity
• Soil quality
• Low crop cover in spring and fall
• Land use
Livestock
Climate Change Impacts
Changing climatic conditions affect animal agriculture in four primary ways:
1. Feed-grain production, availability, and price
2. Pastures and forage crop production and quality
3. Animal health, growth, and reproduction
130
4. Disease and pest distributions
Animal Health
• Animal health is highly susceptible to temperature:
– Heat stress negatively affects cattle, swine and poultry health
– Warmer winters may reduce mortality but will likely be offset by greater mortality in
hotter summers
Animal Growth & Reproduction
• Hotter temperatures may reduce productivity of livestock and dairy animals
– Animals lose appetite, gain weight slower and take longer to get to market
– Production decreases, including milk from dairy cattle and eggs from poultry
– Reproduction decreases resulting in smaller herds
Disease and Pest Distributions
• Climate change may affect
– Frequency, intensity, or distribution of animal diseases and pests
– Livestock’s resistance to infections and diseases
Other issues
• Food Prices
– Food prices may rise if
• Production declines
• Prices of inputs increase (such as, petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides)
• Food insecurity increases with rising food prices
• Food System Delivery
Climate change impact on food system delivery:
• Damage to transport and distribution infrastructure from extreme weather events
131
Food Safety
Impacts of climate change on food safety:
• Increased need of climate control to prevent food spoilage
• Increased runoff or flooding from livestock to nearby fields may cause crop contamination and
damage to stored food
Impacts of Climate Change in Nepal
IPCC 4th Assessment Report submitted estimates that by 2050 crop yields in South Asia can decrease by
up to 30%. Increase in pests, diseases and invasive species owing to temperature change affect
agricultural productivity resulting in food insecurity and loss of livelihoods. Atmospheric CO2
concentration will reduce Nepal’s forest types from 15 to 12, and habitats and ecosystem. The adverse
impacts on the Himalayas are expected to affect both the upland and lowland systems, especially
threatening the vital biodiversity, water, energy and food security.
Adaptation & Best management practices
Adaptation: Adaptation is not new to agriculture. Adaptation practices will vary by location due to
climatic, soil and topographic variability. Strategies may include: Biodiversity, Wetland restoration,
Reduce soil erosion and Mitigate heat effects on livestock
Biodiversity
Biodiversity increases resilience to changing environmental conditions and stresses, increases potential
to adapt to climate change.
132
Agrobiodiversity includes:
• Harvested crops, livestock breeds, fish species, and wild plants and animals
• Supportive species: soil micro-biota, bees, earthworms, etc.
• Supportive ecosystems
Reduce Soil Erosion
Soil and nutrient erosion rates may increase with more intense rainfall events associated with climate
change.
Strategies :
– Conservation tillage
– Crop residue management
– Perennial crops and cover crops
– Management of livestock grazing intensities
Strategies may also enhance water management during drought
Mitigate Heat Effects
• Hot weather increases water consumption
– Cattle increase their water consumption by 20-50% when heat stressed
133
• Alleviate heat stress in cattle, poultry and swine
– Install cooling systems (evaporative cooling, air conditioning or geothermal)
– Increase air movement
– Provide plenty of water and shade
– Manage diet for weather (type of food and time of day)
Promote Diverse Food Supply
• Diverse food supply – balance of food grown locally and regionally
• Diversity of locally grown food insulates us from climate change impacts.
• promotes local producers of specialty crops and livestock
Hence we can summarize: A food system is vulnerable when one or more of the four components of
food security is uncertain and insecure.
• Food Availability
• Food accessibility
• Food Utilization
• Food system stability
134
The committee on World Food Security in 2012 endorsed the following recommendations on Food
Security and Climate Change:
• the responsibility of member states to ensure that their policies, programmes, actions and
strategies are fully consistent with existing international obligations, including food security
related commitments.
• the role of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the key
competent forum to deal with climate change and that this decision box does not prejudice
efforts under the UNFCCC to address climate change.
At last
Overall, climate change has adverse impact on food security (production, access and affordable
capacity). Particularly poor and marginalized people and developing countries are more vulnerable due
to low coping capacity. There is regional variation on the impacts. Nepal lacks adequate field based
information on the impacts. Specific information is still limited on different sectors of agriculture and
natural resources and the planner and the development workers have to rely on the potential impacts
while developing activities on reducing vulnerability of food insecurity and increasing the resilience to
the adaptation processes. Field based studies are more important and urgent for designing appropriate
coping or benefiting mechanisms. Strategies and investments on the research and piloting adaptation
process would really benefit people to have some options on food security amidst climate change.
135
Adaptation / Mitigation: And Climate change resilience
What is Adaptation?
• Reacting or changing to fit the new circumstance

• Coping with impacts that cannot be avoided
Examples:
• farmers planting different crops for different seasons

• wildlife migrating to more suitable habitats as the seasons change.
• Building levees against sea level rise
What is Mitigation?
• To prevent the worsening of destruction

• To decrease force or intensity. To lower risk.
E.g. Earthquake mitigation: Build buildings to withstand shaking better
Flood mitigation: Build dams to hold back overflowing rivers
Climate change mitigation: Reduce carbon dioxide emissions
"Mitigation helps us avoid the unmanageable, while adaptation helps us manage the unavoidable."
Dealing with Climate Change:

Mitigation and Adaptation
Mitigation activities
Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases
136
Adaptation activities
Managing the change that occurs as mitigation strategies are implemented.
Mitigation and adaptation are complementary
What is adaptation?
“…adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their
effects, that moderates harm and exploits beneficial opportunities.”
…a process by which individuals, communities, and countries seek to cope with the consequences of
climate change, including variability.
Two types of adaptation:
Autonomous adaptation or reactive adaptation tends to be what people and systems do as impacts of
climate change become apparent
Anticipatory or proactive adaptation are measures taken to reduce potential risks of future climate
change
137
Why adaptation planning is necessary?
Significant climate change impacts are projected, and the impacts expected within the next few decades
are largely unavoidable. Decisions with long-term impacts are being made every day. Today’s choices
will shape tomorrow’s vulnerabilities. Significant time is required to motivate and develop adaptive
capacity and to implement changes. Proactive planning is often more effective and less costly than
reactive planning. Proactive planning can provide benefits today.
The Goal of Adaptive Planning
To become a more “climate resilient” community
What does this mean?
Taking proactive steps to reduce the risks associated with climate change for your community (e.g.,
incorporated, unincorporated, tribal lands, etc.) and important ecosystems. Developing a climate
adaptation plan (or strategy) is a means of reaching this goal.
The Basic Process
Additional Key Points
There is no single prescribed way for adaptive planning, although the major milestones will be similar.
Become familiar with the concepts but adjust the “recipe” to meet your specific needs. While the
discussion is most often oriented to the problems of climate change, look for the opportunities as well
Vulnerability
Vulnerability to climate change is the risk of adverse things happening. Vulnerability is a function of
three factors: Exposure, Sensitivity and Adaptive capacity
138
Exposure
Exposure is what is at risk from climate change, e.g.,
• Population
• Resources
• Property
It is also the climate change that an affected system will face, e.g.,
• Temperature
• Precipitation
• Extreme events
Sensitivity
• Biophysical effect of climate change

o Change in crop yield, runoff, energy demand
• It considers the socioeconomic context, e.g., the agriculture system
• Grain crops typically are sensitive
• Manufacturing typically is much less sensitive
Adaptive Capacity
• Capability to adapt
• Function of:
o Wealth
o Technology
o Education
o Institutions
o Information
o Infrastructure
o “Social capital”
• Having adaptive capacity does not mean it is used effectively
Vulnerability is a Function of All Three:
• More exposure and sensitivity increase vulnerability

• More adaptive capacity decreases vulnerability
• An assessment of vulnerability should consider all three factors
Key commitments under the UNFCCC
All Parties shall “Take climate change considerations into account, to the extent feasible, in their
relevant social, economic and environmental policies and actions, and employ appropriate methods, for
139
example impact assessments, formulated and determined nationally, with a view to minimizing
adverse effects on the economy, on public health and on the quality of the environment, of projects or
measures undertaken by them to mitigate or adapt to climate change.”
Article 4.1 (f)
“The developed country Parties … shall also assist the developing country Parties that are particularly
vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in meeting costs of adaptation to those adverse
effects.”
- Article 4.4
Mitigation and adaptation are both necessary and complementary
• We need to increase mitigation efforts. If the 2°C target is missed, adaptation increasingly
costly.
• We need to adapt. Adaptation is inevitable (delayed impact of emissions). Adaptation is cheaper
o 1rupees invested in flood protection saves 6 rupee damage costs.
• We need to act now. Postponed adaptation and maladaptation will lead to higher damage
costs.
o 250 bn/year by 2050 for the EU
• We need to prioritise actions by focusing on most urgent needs
Adaptation is Important for Developing

Countries: High Sensitivity
• High poverty levels, especially in rural areas (500 million subsistence farmers in AP region),
characterized by low human development index
• High dependency on primary production sectors such as agriculture and animal husbandry (nearly
60% of total population), that are directly impacted by climate change, coupled with lack of diversified
livelihood options
• Least access to resources (inequality) coupled with rapid degradation of natural resource base
including forests
• Poor governance and institutional systems (political, social, environmental and economic) reflecting
fragmented and slow progress in development
Adaptation policies
• Food
Strengthening local agriculture Importing food from regional market
• Forestry
140
Reforestation
REDD (reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation)
• Migration (remittances)
Seasonal: working in India for a short-period, moving from mountain to hilly or plain
land during winter
Long-term: working abroad (domestic skill and expertise decline)
• Micro-credit or loans can help farmers cultivate drought or flood-resistant species and increase crop
variety.
Mitigation : Who are vulnerable?
Geographical space: “people who live on High mountain areas or, arid or semi-arid lands, in low-lying
coastal areas, in water limited or flood-prone areas, or on small islands……”
Social space: “developing countries… have lesser capacity to adapt and are more vulnerable to climate
change damages, just as they are to other stresses. This condition is more extreme among the poorest
people” (double-exposure).
Dealing with Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation
Move towards new Paradigm - low carbon economic development strategy must address – Win-Win
Situation for Nepal.
Development: – sustained real growth of 8-10% over 20 yrs that embeds both adaptation and
mitigation into development that is low in carbon content, inclusive and broad based
141
Adaptation: adjustments in human and natural systems, in response to actual or expected climate
stimuli or their effects, that moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities (OECD 2009)
Mitigation: consists of activities that aim to reduce GHG emissions, directly or indirectly, by avoiding or
capturing GHGs before they are emitted to the atmosphere or sequestering those already in the
atmosphere by enhancing “sinks” such as forests (OECD 2009)
What are the options?
Why Nepal concerned?
• Nepalese should be concerned about climate change since this phenomenon might have
substantial adverse impacts on them.
• Main categories of impacts are : water resources and hydro power; agriculture and human
health.
• Each of these impacts poses serious threats to economy of Nepal
• Therefore, Nepal has to initiate mitigation measures for its own sake
142
GHG emissions from Nepal in the base year 2000 (MOEST, 2014)
3% 2%
Agriculture
27% Energy
Waste
68% LULCF
Total ghg emission =24877 Gg CO2 equivalent (eq)
Key sources: The first five emission sources in the list of key emission sources in Nepal, together
accounting for 90.2% of emissions, are as follows:
• Enteric Fermentation
• Agricultural Soils
• Residential (CH4 emission)
• Road Vehicles
• Residential (CO2 emission)
• Manure Management
143
700
600
Emission ( Gg CH4/Year)
500
CH4 from Manure
400 management
300 CH4 from enteric

fermentation
200
100
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Year
CH4 Emission from Livestock
The methane emission from overall livestock sector is in increasing trend with the growth rate of 1.46%
per annum.
CO2 emission from fossil fuel consumption

4000
3500
3000
2500
CO2 (Gg)
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Growth rate: 2000/01-2005/06: 20.5 Gg/yr; 2006/07-2011/12: 222.38 Gg/yr
144
Calculated annual GHG emissions by different types of vehicles in 2012/13
Solid Waste Generation

0.365
0.36
0.355
0.35 Solid Waste
0.345 Generation, Kg/Capi…
Gg
0.34
0.335
0.33
2003 Year 2008
145
Methane Emission from Wastewater, Gg

18
16
14 Methane Emission
12 from Solid Waste in
10
Gg
Gg
8 Methane Emission
6 from Wastewater in
4 Gg
2
0
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
2026
2028
2030
Year
Impact------
• Days & nights becoming warmer - cool days & cool nights becoming less frequent (Baidya et.
al.2008)
• Majority of glaciers retreated by 30-60m & glacier surface thinning (Mool et. al. 2002; Shrestha
et. Al 2012).
• Winter rains failed in 2005 and 2008 (NAPA, 2010)
• Across hills & mnts, springs & rivers drying causing drinking water scarcity (WFP 2009; Regmi
and Adhikari 2007)
• Biodiversity affected due to drought, forest fires, land use changes & desertification in some of
the areas (Regmi and Adhikari 2007)
• Extreme Weather Events (floods, landslides etc) on rise
• Floods & landslides resulted in over Rs 9 billion ($ 90 million) worth of damages (2001-2008)
(Banskota 2011)
• Highly dependent on climate-sensitive economic activities such as agriculture, forestry, tourism
etc are affected.
Mitigation option: Livestock and Paddy
• Population management and genetic improvement (management and animal breeding, increase
production efficiency, reduction in the number of low productive cattle, disposal of
unproductive animals, improved feeding practices)
• Manure management
• Pasture Management (avoid over grazing and careful selection of new species)
• Paddy: water and soil management and fertilizer application
146
Forestry
• The high Low Carbon Emmision Development (LCED) scenario is set to achieve 40 percent forest
cover as per the national vision and Millennium Development Goal (MDG).
• Medium LCED scenario involves abatement activities at the moderate intensity and aims to
achieve half the targets of the high LCED scenario.
• Low LCED scenario involves the abatement options are planned and implemented at the
minimum level of a quarter of the targets of the high LCED
Energy: Overall Scenarios
• Replacement of traditional and fossil fuels by clean energy alternatives – electricity, LPG and ICS.
• Replacement of incandescent bulbs by CFL and LED.
• Promotion of electrification in all 5 sectors for lighting, heating and other purposes.
• Intervention of more efficient process technologies in industries
• Intervention of mass transportation system
• Introduction of new electric and bio-fuel transportation technologies
Low Emission Strategic Option Scenario (LESO)
• GDP growth rate according to BAU case, i. e. with an average GDP growth rate of 6 %
• Electrification in major end-uses in all five sectors.
• Total electrification for lighting in rural and urban sub-sectors and cooking in urban sub-sector,
with use of efficient lighting technologies such as CFL and LED.
• Energy efficiency improvement in industrial sector end-uses such as lighting, process heat.
• Fuel switching to modern fuels such as electricity, LPG and other liquid petroleum and
renewable energy such as solar, biogas, bio-fuel etc.
• Penetration of ICS as efficient biomass conversion technology for cooking.
• Mass transportation in transport sector.
Nepal’s Response
• Climate Change Policy, 2011.

o Vulnerability Assessment
o Capacity Enhancement
o Resource Allocation
o Mainstreaming in Planning Process
o Social Mobilization
• National Periodic Plan (2013/14-2015/16)
o Information Dissemination
o Integration in Development Programs
o Capacity for Climate Change Resilient
• Climate Change Budget Code, 2012
147
o Budget tracking
• National Climate Change Policy, 2019.
o To contribute to socioeconomic prosperity of the nation by building a climate resilient
society
NAPA/LAPA
National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA)
• Country Vulnerability Assessment

• Coping Strategy Development
• Community Engagement
( The total cost for implementing National Adaptation program of Action (NAPA) is estimated at US$ 350
million)
Local Adaption Plan for Action (LAPA)
• Integrating climate change into local participatory planning process.

• Implementing adaptation actions
(80% of estimated NAPA cost is committed to be spent at the local - village/municipal level)
Climate Public Expenditure
• About 2 % of GDP and 8% of Government Expenditure is on climate activities . The trend is

increasing.
• Around 80% of climate change expenditure relates to adaptation activities.
• Around 60% of the expenditure is executed directly by Central Agencies and 40% through Local
Agencies (Unconditional Capital grants ).
Case studies from Central Nepal: Mustang
Mustang: land use and climate change
Land use
- Cereals and vegetables
- Temperate tree crops
148
Climate change
• Increasing temperatures
• Increasing but also increasingly erratic rainfall
• Decreasing snowfall
Mustang: impact and response
• Decline of apple production in lower Mustang

• Better conditions for vegetables
• Shifting apple production from lower to upper Mustang
149
• Intercropping cereals and vegetables with apple trees in lower Mustang
• Due to the diversity of available environments in a complex mountain landscape, climate change
has increased the diversity of land use systems both on the landscape and farm level
• New agroforestry systems have been adopted in response to climate change
The use of trees in responding to climate change and extreme weather events is not a panacea but can
be a viable approach within strategies of agricultural and livelihood diversification to improve
community resilience.
The complexity of mountain environments can be an asset for more flexibility in the face of climate
change.
TOWARDS A CLIMATE RESILIENT SOCIETY
• Climate resilience denotes the ability to anticipate and reduce risk to climate variability and
change, the ability to “bounce back” from the negative impacts of climate variability and
change.
• It places a special focus on reducing inequality and increasing social and other capitals so that
the most vulnerable in society are not differentially negatively impacted by climate change.
To achieve this kind of society, we needs to consider the following:
Strengthening and improvement of systems, processes and mechanisms to enhance effective

response: Strengthening of access to information and resources necessary for appropriate and timely
responses.
Enhancing the science policy interface for decision making: A combination of science-based
information, socioeconomic baselines and vulnerability assessments including the integration of
economic impact assessments, and gender issues.
Ensuring development is an integral part of climate change action: an opportunity to rethink the
development pathways, including development, socio-economic needs.
Leadership for climate resilience: Climate resilience and development outcomes
Cross-sectoral integration: Underpinning all of the above is the need for cross-sectoral integration,
collaboration and communication through the multi stakeholder engagements
SEARCH
“A watershed system’s capacity to absorb, manage, and adapt to social and health, agricultural, and
ecological changes (or stressors) while still maintaining its essential structure, feedbacks, and
functionality.”
150
• IPCC 2008
"The ability of social and ecological system to absorb disturbances while maintaining the same basic
structure and functioning. The capacity for self – organization and the capacity to adapt to stress and
change".
How to develop Resilience
• Understanding the system, its diversity, its capacity and its main actors and problems facing it.
• Define adaptive capacity, governance and organization.
• Define system's social, economic and ecological vulnerability.
• Rank and implement the most feasible plans.
• Monitoring evaluation, documentation and feed back
151
Attribute Scale
resilience very high; high; medium; low; very low
diversity very high; high; medium; low; very low
economic services very high; high; medium; low; very low
gdp increase; constant; decrease
income suffisant; insuffisant; zero
health services developped; available; not available
percentage local budget high; medium; low
government contribution high; medium; low
livelihoods very high; high; medium; low; very low
stability of income stable; fragile; instable
poverty level high; medium; low
sources of income diversified; medium; limited
migration rates immigration; zero; emigration
natural services very high; high; medium; low; very low
water resources abundant; available; scarcity
deforestation/desertification high; medium; zero
land ownership & quality equitable-productive; equi-marginal; not equi-productive; not equi-marginal
natural cover high; medium; low
species high richness; medium; poor
integrated land use planning present; absent
capital-innovation high; medium; low
built capital high; medium; low
domestic water supply generalized; partial; absent
wastewater facilities available; not available
energy services electricity; petrol; wood
techn. exp. available high; medium; low
natural capital high; medium; low
natural infrastructure high connectivity; medium connecctivity; low connectivity
use of local knowledge high; medium; low
innovation high; medium; low
self-organisation high; medium; low; very low
local level high; medium; low
n & type of CBOs active; present; absent
facilitation & leadership active; present; absent
intermediate level high; medium; low
equity high; medium; low
legitimacy high; medium; low
national level high; medium; low
cross-scale institutions active; present; absent
accountability high; medium; low
coordination GOs high; medium; low
learning very high; high; medium; low; very low
awareness high; medium; low
support of community education high; medium; low
learning per se high; medium; low
learning from crises high; medium; low
capacity high; medium; low
152
Evaluation results
Attribute Resilience before project Resilience after project
resilience very low low
diversity very low medium
economic services very low very low
gdp constant constant
income insuffisant insuffisant
health services not available not available
percentage local budget low low
government contribution low medium
livelihoods low medium
stability of income fragile fragile
poverty level medium medium
sources of income limited medium
migration rates zero zero
natural services high high
water resources available available
deforestation/desertification medium medium
land ownership & quality not equi-productive not equi-productive
natural cover medium medium
species high richness high richness
integrated land use planning absent present
capital-innovation low medium
built capital low medium
domestic water supply absent partial
wastewater facilities not available not available
energy services electricity electricity
techn. exp. available low medium
natural capital medium medium
natural infrastructure medium connecctivity medium connecctivity
use of local knowledge medium medium
innovation medium medium
self-organisation low medium
local level low high
n & type of CBOs present active
facilitation & leadership absent present
intermediate level low medium
equity low medium
legitimacy medium medium
national level medium medium
cross-scale institutions present present
accountability medium medium
coordination GOs medium medium
learning low low
awareness medium medium
support of community education medium medium
learning per se low low
learning from crises low low
capacity low medium
What could be done ?
• increase of government contribution.

• increase of sources of income (improvement of tree fruits and aromatic herbs plantation)
• promotion of integrated land use planning (elaboration of a tool kit to integrate climate change
and land use planning in municipal development plans)
• partial improvement of domestic water supply (domestic rainwater harvesting)
153
• increase of technical experience available (through trainings on aromatic herbs planting and
through constructing rainwater harvesting systems)
• shift of number and type of CBOs from present to active (increase of number of CBOs by
creation of one association of farmers and two groups of women, empowerment of one
agricultural cooperative of women).
• introduction of a process of facilitation and leadership that was absent (through a technical
team grouping key stakeholders working with communities, CBOs, municipalities and others)
• enhancement of cooperation between local organizations (equity)
• empowerment of capacity (training of farmers, introduction of new agricultural practices,
publication of several documents as learning tools, exchange of information, facilitation of
group processes)
Components of Resilience that changes are
Diversity which effect the sources of income of livelihoods,
Capital and Innovation through introduction of different technology eg a rainwater harvesting technique
and improvement of technical experience available,
Self-organisation at local and intermediate levels.
Hence overall resilience shift can be attained.
capital-innovation capital-innovation
medium
low medium medium
self-organisation diversity self-organisation diversity

low low
learning learning
Resilience before intervention Resilience after intervention
Conclusion
There are two main strategies for dealing with climate change: mitigation and adaptation. These two
strategies must happen simultaneously given the need to avoid the most serious projected impacts (by
reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and to prepare for the impacts that are unavoidable at this point
(and other potential future impacts).
154
• Some official definitions of mitigation: To moderate in force or intensity, to alleviate. To lessen

in force or intensity. Elimination or reduction in frequency, magnitude or severity of exposure.
To minimize risk.
• An informal definition that could be used to discuss the idea: Basically to make something that
could be very bad less bad.
• Ask for examples of things people do to “mitigate” for the following environmental effects:
• Earthquake – build houses to building codes, try to get people to have emergency kits, meeting
points.
• Floods – build houses on stilts, make walls so the water can’t get in. Create dams.
• Climate Change – mostly involve decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases of all kinds in the
atmosphere. For the most part, mitigation cannot reverse warming that has already occurred, it
can only slow or stop what would come without any changes.
Risk Management Strategy
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation manage different parts of risk: Mitigation reduces the
likelihood and magnitude of climate-related hazards; Adaptation reduces the consequences of these
hazards.
Adaptive capacity is the capability to adapt. Having capacity does not guarantee it will be used
effectively (a good evacuation plan may not be effectively implemented). Nepal’s population is about
half of one percent of the global population and the country accounts for about 0.025 percent of global
GHG emissions. Poor, dependent on the climate sensitive economic sectors (agriculture and forestry)
and with almost 50 percent of the people living in the mountains. Fossil fuels are carbon based , thus
emits carbon by products such as CO2 and CO, along with other emissions such as SOx, Nox, and VOCs.
Poor inefficient technologies results incomplete combustions which means lesser amount of energy
with higher amount of emissions. Thus a proper policy is required not only to meet the low emission
standards but also to aid the development goals, decrease the fuel dependency and use of indigenous
resources.
Adoption of forest conservation, reforestation, afforestation and sustainable forest management

practices can contribute to conservation of biodiversity, watershed protection, rural employment
generation, increased incomes to forest dwellers and carbon sink enhancement.
Livestock: Population management and genetic improvement can reduce methane emission
substantially
Efficient, fast and reliable public transport systems such as Mass transport system, electric driven buses
can reduce urban congestion, local pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
Adoption of cost-effective energy-efficient technologies in Industry, Transport, electricity generation

and end-use can reduce costs and local pollution in addition to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
155
Shift to renewable, some of which are already cost effective, can enhance sustainable energy supply,
can reduce local pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Resilience is a relatively new issue for the climate change. Generally, there is a lack of awareness
throughout the sector and the general public of the concept and its application. To build climate
resilience at the country, policy makers must figure out how to integrate success stories from local level
project implementation into more strategic planning instruments at broader scales. Adaptation based
solely on prioritisation of discrete actions – for example on infrastructure, institutions, or ecosystems –
may lead to missed opportunities to build resilience towards a dynamically changing climate, where
uncertainty and unknowns are expanding. Building climate resilience is dependent on how well
established the adaptive governance capacity is (the ability to apply adaptation measures in practice
from community to national and basin scale). Ensuring a good adaptive governance capacity requires
that local knowledge, access to resources, leadership, mobilisation, and financing are available to
strengthen the resilience.
156

Class Notes On Agrobiodiversity Conservation and Climate Change 022

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Class note provided by Ananta Prakash Subedi, apsubedi@afu.edu.

What is biodiversity or biological diversity?

• “Biodiversity includes assemblages of plant, animals and micro-organisms, their genetic

Biodiversity is usually considered at three hierarchical levels i.e.

Genetic, Species and Community and Ecosystem levels.

Biodiversity, therefore, is commonly considered at three different levels:

1. Within species (intraspecific) diversity; usually measured in terms of genetic differences

2. Species (interspecific) diversity, measured as a combination of number and evenness of

3. Community or ecosystem diversity, measured as the number of different species assemblages.

It enables a population to adapt to its environment and to respond to natural selection.

The amount of genetic variation is the basis of speciation.

Genetic diversity within a species often increases with environmental variability.

• It represents the collective response of species to different environmental conditions.

Figure: Diversity of Butterfly

Community and ecosystem diversity

Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Diversity

– Beta diversity: a comparison of diversity between ecosystems, usually measured as the

The values of biological diversity

• The value of biodiversity depends on how it is defined.

• But it is difficult to define, and is often impossible to estimate.

• It provide the basis for life on earth, including that of humans.

Why is Biodiversity Important?

Values are Subjective: Perspectives and Scales

The Value of Biodiversity

• The value of something independent of its value to anyone or anything else

Direct Use Indirect Use Value Non-Use Values

Cultural, Spiritual and Existence Value Value of knowing

Bequest Value Value of knowing that

Direct Use Value: Goods

• Fiber (clothing, textiles)

• Industrial products (waxes, rubber, oils)

Building Materials, Paper Products, and Fuel

• 57% of the 150 most-prescribed drugs have their origins in biodiversity

Traditional Medicine: Basis of Many Drugs

Indirect Use Values: Services

• Regulating global processes, such as atmosphere and climate

• Soil and water conservation

• Pollination and seed dispersal

• Control of agricultural pests

• Inspiration and information

• Scientific and educational

• Tourism and recreation

• Cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic

Global Processes: Atmospheric Regulation

Global Processes: Climate Regulation

Soil and Water Conservation

• Minimizes damage from waves and floods

• Serves as a nursery for juvenile commercial fish

• Provides habitat for many birds, fish, and shellfish

• Example: Coastal wetlands and mangroves

• Biodiversity is critical to nutrient cycling and soil renewal

• Decomposers such as algae, fungi, and bacteria

Pollination and Seed Dispersal

• Many flowering plants depend on animals for pollination to produce food.

Source of Inspiration or Information

• Education and Scientific Research

Hibernating bears may improve the treatment of:

– trauma patients, kidney disease and osteoporosis

Spiritual and Cultural Values

Ecological Value: Does Diversity Make Communities More Resilient?

• Resilient ecosystems are characterized by:

– Constancy (Lack of fluctuation)