Publications
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S. N.
Year
Title
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2008
ISBN: 978 92 9115 095 3Language: EnglishAbstract
Flash floods are severe flood events that occur with little or no warning triggered by intense rainfall, dam failure, outbursts of glacial lakes, and similar episodes. They occur frequently in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region where they threaten life, livelihoods, and infrastructure both in the mountains and downstream. Vulnerable groups the poor, women, children, and people with disabilities are often the hardest hit. ICIMOD has worked with partners to compile resource materials to help those who are working to reduce flash flood risks. These materials are now being made available in the form of a resource manual. The first volume focuses on community-based approaches to managing flash floods; the second looks at technology-based non-structural measures for managing flash floods. Both volumes were produced under a USAID/OFDA funded project -
2008
ISBN: 978 92 9115 095 3Language: EnglishAbstract
Flash floods are severe flood events that occur with little or no warning triggered by intense rainfall, dam failure, outbursts of glacial lakes, and similar episodes. They occur frequently in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region where they threaten life, livelihoods, and infrastructure both in the mountains and downstream. Vulnerable groups the poor, women, children, and people with disabilities are often the hardest hit. ICIMOD has worked with partners to compile resource materials to help those who are working to reduce flash flood risks. These materials are now being made available in the form of a resource manual. The first volume focuses on community-based approaches to managing flash floods; the second looks at technology-based non-structural measures for managing flash floods. Both volumes were produced under a USAID/OFDA funded project -
2008
ISBN: 978 92 9115 086 1Language: EnglishAbstract
This report is the last in a series of publications prepared under the project Living with Risk Sharing Knowledge on Disaster Preparedness in the Himalayan Region, implemented by ICIMOD during 2006 and 2007 and funded mainly by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia. The book (published on-line only) documents the results of two workshops one early in the project which looked at the status of disaster preparedness planning in the region, and one at the end of the project which looked at social inclusion in disaster preparedness plans. It provides a short background to the project and workshops, a synthesis of the major findings and recommendations, and details of the proceedings. The publications, training sessions, and workshops were undertaken in the context of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 which recommends that regional organizations should promote sharing of information; undertake and publish baseline assessments of disaster risk reduction status; and undertake research, training, education, and capacity building in the field of disaster risk reduction. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-036-6Language: EnglishAbstract
This book is one of four reports intended to provide a quick overview of the current status of disaster preparedness planning in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan including the documents, plans, and legal instruments in place and the institutions governing their implementation. It includes a summary of the conclusions of a workshop held in Kathmandu in August 2006 to discuss the status of disaster preparedness in these countries as reflected in policies, strategies, and plans, and to identify gaps and shortcomings. The reports are an outcome of the project Living with risk sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-038-0Language: EnglishAbstract
This book is one of four reports intended to provide a quick overview of the current status of disaster preparedness planning in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan including the documents, plans, and legal instruments in place and the institutions governing their implementation. It includes a summary of the conclusions of a workshop held in Kathmandu in August 2006 to discuss the status of disaster preparedness in these countries as reflected in policies, strategies, and plans, and to identify gaps and shortcomings. The reports are an outcome of the project Living with risk sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-030-4Language: EnglishAbstract
This book is one of four reports intended to provide a quick overview of the current status of disaster preparedness planning in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan including the documents, plans, and legal instruments in place and the institutions governing their implementation. It includes a summary of the conclusions of a workshop held in Kathmandu in August 2006 to discuss the status of disaster preparedness in these countries as reflected in policies, strategies, and plans, and to identify gaps and shortcomings. The reports are an outcome of the project ‘Living with risk – sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness’ funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-039-7Language: EnglishAbstract
This book is one of four reports intended to provide a quick overview of the current status of disaster preparedness planning in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan including the documents, plans, and legal instruments in place and the institutions governing their implementation. It includes a summary of the conclusions of a workshop held in Kathmandu in August 2006 to discuss the status of disaster preparedness in these countries as reflected in policies, strategies, and plans, and to identify gaps and shortcomings. The reports are an outcome of the project ‘Living with risk – sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness’ funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-032-8Language: EnglishAbstract
This study, prepared in close cooperation with and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, investigates the impact of climate change on glaciers and glacial lakes in two major glacial hotspots in the Himalayas: the Dudh Koshi sub-basin in the Khumbu-Everest region in Nepal, and the Pho Chu sub-basin in Bhutan. The focus was on changes in the number and size of glacial lakes forming behind exposed end moraines as glaciers retreat, and the resulting potential threat of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). The report aims to demonstrate methodological aspects of monitoring and potential GLOF hazard assessment using a case study approach. A hydrological model was used to calculate discharge and flood arrival times in downstream areas, and classification into terrain units was used to assess vulnerability in the vicinity of a possible Imja Tsho GLOF. Monitoring of glacial lakes in poorly accessible mountain locations using satellite-based techniques is also explored as a basis for monitoring and prioritizations of disaster mitigation efforts. The study recommends refinements and adaptation to the local situation when replicating in other areas. The report will be useful for scientists, planners, and decision makers, as well as for raising the awareness of the public at large to the potential impacts of climate change in the Himalayas. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-026-7Language: EnglishAbstract
It is only recently that the importance of integrating local knowledge and practices into development and conservation projects has started to receive real recognition, but the approach is still far from being mainstream. This book is one of a set of three prepared to help increase awareness and understanding, particularly among implementing organizations, of local knowledge, practices, and contexts related to disaster preparedness, so that they can be used in disaster management activities. The first book summarizes the results of a cross-disciplinary literature review, and presents a framework that can be used to help understand local knowledge on disaster preparedness. This book provides examples from a case study in Chitral in Pakistan. The book is an outcome of the project Living with risk sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-042-7Language: EnglishAbstract
It is only recently that the importance of integrating local knowledge and practices into development and conservation projects has started to receive real recognition, but the approach is still far from being mainstream. This book is one of a set of three prepared to help increase awareness and understanding, particularly among implementing organizations, of local knowledge, practices, and contexts related to disaster preparedness, so that they can be used in disaster management activities. This first book summarizes the results of a cross-disciplinary literature review, and presents a framework that can be used to help understand local knowledge on disaster preparedness. It highlights the over-riding processes, including the need to understand the nature of the local knowledge, the transformation processes influencing it, the key dimensions, and the links between local knowledge, disaster preparedness, and poverty reduction. The book is an outcome of the project Living with risk sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-027-4Language: EnglishAbstract
It is only recently that the importance of integrating local knowledge and practices into development and conservation projects has started to receive real recognition, but the approach is still far from being mainstream. This book is one of a set of three prepared to help increase awareness and understanding, particularly among implementing organizations, of local knowledge, practices, and contexts related to disaster preparedness, so that they can be used in disaster management activities. The first book summarizes the results of a cross-disciplinary literature review, and presents a framework that can be used to help understand local knowledge on disaster preparedness. This book provides examples from a case study in the eastern Terai of Nepal. The book is an outcome of the project Living with risk sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-018-2Language: EnglishAbstract
The Ratu Khola watershed employs flood-hazard mapping to study flood hazard, risk, and vulnerability in a watershed unit. The study combined three approaches: a geomorphic approach using GIS and remote sensing (RS); measurement of rainfall-runoff processes using the Hydrological Engineering Corporations River System Analysis (HEC-RAS) model; and social flood hazard mapping based on community experiences. Technologies such as GIS, RS, and HEC-RAS have made flood hazard mapping more accurate and less time-consuming and laborious in recent times. As part of the study, an attempt was also made to develop a community-based early warning system and to identify safe evacuation routes and areas for safe shelter to improve local capacity to respond to and manage flood hazards.
Through the study and the publication of its findings, ICIMOD and UNESCO-Delhi, which jointly supported the study, hope not only to save lives and livelihoods in the Ratu Khola, but also to provide a basis for replicating these efforts throughout the Himalayan region. -
2007
ISBN: 978-92-9115-024-3Language: EnglishAbstract
The idea of focusing on gender in a time of crisis may seem a misplaced priority. It is commonly assumed by the lay public and disaster preparedness and management professionals alike, that natural disasters are levellers, affecting everyone who comes within their orbit in a more or less equal fashion. But, in fact, disasters are extremely gendered events in terms of both their impacts and peoples responses to them. Failure to acknowledge this can diminish the efficiency of disaster responses and help create new categories of victims. This book provides a synthesis of key findings from the literature, with the aim of helping key practitioners understand how and in what ways natural disasters have different impacts on the sexes, and what can be done to integrate a gender perspective into disaster preparedness and management work in the South Asian context. The book is an outcome of the project Living with risk sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD. -
2006
ISBN: 92-9115-004-5, 978-92-9115-004-5Language: EnglishAbstract
The environment plays a crucial role in enabling and sustaining poverty reduction and the effect is magnified within mountainous ecosystems such as those found in Nepal. Including environmental considerations in planning is a must, but to do this we need the relevant environmental data. In Nepal, environmental data and information can be difficult to find. Many data sets are unpublished held in reports, ministry files, and others much is inconsistent, and there are big gaps, especially in terms of time series and reliable, verified data.
The Environment Assessment of Nepal, published jointly by ADB and ICIMOD, attempts to bring together a large part of what is available to provide an analysis of environmental status and trends in the country; the policy, legal and institutional framework for environmental management; financing mechanisms; and major environmental issues and opportunities. The Assessment highlights data inconsistencies, gaps, and needs, and the extensive list of sources provides an excellent starting point for anyone attempting to locate relevant environmental data. -
2006
ISBN: 92-9115-010-X, 978-92-9115-010-6Language: EnglishAbstract
This publication presents the findings and results of the 'International Workshop on Flash Floods and Sustainable Development in the Himalayas' organized by ICIMOD, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Lhasa, PR China, in October 2005, with support from the Government of Norway and the USAID Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). It presents up-to-date knowledge about flash floods and their management in each of ICIMOD's eight regional member countries, possibilities for forecasting and early warning, and discussions about the importance of community-based disaster reduction management. The book concludes with the Lhasa Declaration for Flash Flood Management, which provides important guidance not only for the Himalayan region, but also for the world as a whole. The detailed country reports are provided on a CD-ROM with the book. -
2005
ISBN: 92-9115-224-2Language: EnglishAbstract
The Himalaya comprises a continuous chain of high mountain ranges that stretches from Afghanistan in the west to China and Myanmar in the east and is the source of the great rivers of Asia. The extreme landscape and weather conditions are reflected in a vast cultural and biological diversity. The region directly supports some 150 million people, and impacts on 500 million more downstream. The Atlas of the Himalaya was prepared to support understanding of Himalayan geography and development activities in the region. It is the outcome of a collaboration between the University of Eastern Kentucky, USA, and ICIMOD and is designed for use by researchers and practitioners, as well as those interested in the region in general. The Atlas covers the main range from the Indus in the west to the Brahmaputra in the east. The maps are presented without international boundaries and are complemented by textual descriptions and photographs. The Atlas provides information on the characteristics of physical geography, geology, climate, and natural hazards, as well as sociocultural and historical descriptions. It highlights the Himalaya as an important resource base and underscores the need for conservation of the mountain ecosystem to go hand in hand with development.
This book is for regional distribution only. -
2004
ISBN: 92-9115-751-1, 3-906151-75-1Language: EnglishAbstract
This book, a doctoral dissertation, describes the current bio-physical and socioeconomic state of water resources in the Jhikhu Khola catchment of Kabhre-Palanchok District in the middle mountains of Nepal, and compares the results with those in the Yarsha Khola catchment in Dolakha District of Nepal as well as catchments in China, India and Pakistan. The study was a part of the People and Resource Dynamics of Mountain Catchments in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas Project (PARDYP), a regional research-for-development project on natural resources and watershed management. The research focuses on runoff generation and floods, sediment mobilization and transport, water availability for domestic and agricultural purposes, the impact of future change on water resources and on related processes, and the synthesis and development of a framework for comparing catchments in the region. The findings show that water resources are not actually scarce in the selected catchments, but that a combination of water management issues and marked seasonality has led to the perception of water scarcity. This publication will help those working on integrated catchment development focused on the reduction of water-induced land degradation and the degradation of water resources by illustrating the most important considerations when developing water management decision-support systems. -
2003
ISBN: 92-9115-734-1Language: EnglishAbstract
A long-term project has been initiated aimed at establishing a regional flood information system to reduce flood vulnerability and minimize the negative impacts of floods in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas and its downstream plains areas. This book presents the outcomes of the most recent meeting held in March 2003 in Kathmandu, Nepal -- organized by ICIMOD and WMO, co-hosted by Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), and co-sponsored by the USDS Regional Environment Office for South Asia, and the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. The main volume provides background information on the project, short summaries of the presentations at the technical conference that preceded the meeting, and a brief account of the presentations and the results of the discussions of the draft project document and issues related to the project implementation. The action plan is presented in the Annexes together with background material gathered from the preceding meetings and consultations. The twelve technical presentations by international and regional technical experts on flood forecasting and information exchange papers are published in full in the supplementary volume. -
2003
ISBN: 92-9115-779-1Language: EnglishAbstract
A long-term project has been initiated aimed at establishing a regional flood information system to reduce flood vulnerability and minimize the negative impacts of floods in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas and its downstream plains areas. This book presents the outcomes of the most recent meeting held in March 2003 in Kathmandu, Nepal -- organized by ICIMOD and WMO, co-hosted by Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), and co-sponsored by the USDS Regional Environment Office for South Asia, and the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. The main volume provides background information on the project, short summaries of the presentations at the technical conference that preceded the meeting, and a brief account of the presentations and the results of the discussions of the draft project document and issues related to the project implementation. The action plan is presented in the Annexes together with background material gathered from the preceding meetings and consultations. The twelve technical presentations by international and regional technical experts on flood forecasting and information exchange papers are published in full in the supplementary volume. -
2002
ISBN: 92-9115-507-1Language: EnglishAbstract
This publication summarizes the presentations, discussions, and findings of the regional workshop on ‘Water-Induced Disasters in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan Region’ held in December 2001 in Kathmandu. The aim of the workshop was to achieve a shared vision of regional cooperation and to create the basis for an information and knowledge-sharing network for disaster mitigation in the HKH region. It was organized by ICIMOD together with the new ‘Participatory Disaster Management Programme’, whose objective is to improve Nepal’s capacity at local and national levels in the areas of disaster preparedness and management, and to mainstream disaster management into regular development activities at both levels. Presentations were made summarizing the knowledge and information generated during the first year of the programme and other important experience, information, and knowledge from the region. Participants included government officers, academics, and representatives from international development organizations and universities from Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand. Together participants prepared a set of conclusions and recommendations related to effective disaster management in the region called the ‘Kathmandu Recommendations’. The twenty-four presentations on a range of themes are summarized and presented together with the results of the intensive discussions and the recommendations. -
2001
ISBN: 92-9115-328-1Language: EnglishAbstract
The Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) is geologically fragile with unstable slope-land systems. Every year, landslides and related hazards resulting from a combination of natural conditions and human activity cause thousands of deaths and several billion US$ in economic losses. Disaster mitigation requires better understanding of the physical nature of the region and the impact of human activity, with integration of knowledge from such diverse fields as geology, geophysics, engineering, hydrology, and meteorology, to facilitate more effective planning and implementation of activities.
Written by professionals of repute with wide experience in the region, this book provides readers with information on the geology, physiography, seismicity, climate, and rainfall of the HKH region and their bearing on landslide problems, as well as on techniques for investigating landslides and landslide prone slopes and methods for mitigation. Four case studies in Nepal and China illustrate the integrated approach needed for successful mitigation and management of landslides and debris flows.
The book provides useful reference material both for experts and for the medium level technical staff engaged in landslide hazard management and control in the HKH countries. It will also be useful for students of geology, civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, and other related subjects and as course material for academic and professional training courses on landslide management and control.
