Recovery from weather-related disasters is a great challenge for the Nepalese Government and any future increase in these disasters from enhanced climate variability and change will certainly add to this challenge. As is the case in most developing countries, disaster insurance has not been applied in Nepal as an adaptation mechanism to reduce disaster-related vulnerability. However, community-based micro-insurance schemes in the livestock and cash crop sectors have been successfully established in some villages.

Chitwan is the most flood prone among the districts of Nepal.  People regularly experience losses of land, property and biodiversity as well as food shortages.  The Intermediate Technology Development Group implemented a community-based disaster management program in cooperation with DIPECHO (Disaster Preparedness program of the European Commission Humanitarian aid Office) to reduce the impact of floods by strengthening the capacity of local communities to set up early warning systems.

Recently, the Knowledge and Research program from CARE and the Nepal Red Cross Society together with Jaleshwar Municipality began implementing community-based low cost flood risk reduction measures through action planning.  The project enhanced the capacity of communities to cope with and manage flood disasters by building institutional capacities through establishing various committees including, Community Based Disaster Management Committee, Disaster Preparedness Subcommittees, First Aid Subcommittees, Disaster Relief Subcommittees, and Coordination Subcommittees.  These committees were pr

One of the most dangerous glacial lakes in Nepal is the Tsho Rolpa Lake. At an altitude of about 5000m, the size of this lake increased from 0.23 sq.km. in 1957 to 1.65 sq.km. by 1997.  Tsho Rolpa was estimated to store approximately 90-100 million cu.m.

The goal of this project, implemented by Action Aid, is to reduce people’s vulnerability to natural disasters by contributing to the implementation of the Hyogo framework. The purpose is to make schools in high-risk disaster areas safer, enabling them to act as a locus for disaster risk reduction. The project works in 7 countries in selected districts at high-risk of diverse natural disasters.

Climate change is the main factor responsible for the accelerated glacier retreat in the Himalayas. As this continues, major changes in freshwater flows will have dramatic effects on biodiversity, people, and their livelihoods. Glacial melting leads to an increase in water discharge, which is expected to increase the frequency of catastrophic flooding events such as GLOF. These events can have devastating consequences to infrastructure like bridges, dams and power generation stations, and communities living at downstream.