The government is all set to approve and implement the Nepal Bio-diversity Strategy Implementation Plan (NBSIP) by the end of 2003, Batu Krishna Uprety, Environmental Officer at the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) said today at the National Seminar on NBSIP organized by MoFSC. Uprety, while presenting the revised NBSIP said, "The specific goals of this plan, among others, are to conserve bio-diversity within and outside protected areas and conservation of endangered species".

He said NBSIP is a government document that covers all the necessary components of bio-diversity, covering components from agriculture, forestry, indigenous knowledge and intellectual property rights, among others. However, participants at the program remarked over the inefficiency of the plan to incorporate gender issues, local community involvement and participation, and also commented that the document needs to clearly delineate the ownership of the resources among the stakeholders.

For the effective implementation of the plan, Chandi Prasad Shrestha, secretary of MoFSC, stressed on the importance of support from all concerned and said, "Let us forget about the personal biases and take bio-diversity conservation as a common objective".

NBSIP, developed only for five years (2003-2008), is in line with the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) to which Nepal is a signatory. In the near future, the Ministry is to formulate a National Bio-diversity Co-ordination Committee under the chairmanship of the Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation.

OTHER NEWS

• Starry blitzkrieg in Kathmandu sky: People of Asian region will see the greatest display of natural fireworks in the sky today, Deepak Raj Pant, academician of Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST), said recently at an interaction and observation program entitled 'Night of Leonids Meteor Shower' jointly organized by S.M. College and the Astronomical Society of Nepal (TASON). Speaking at the program, Pant said, "The orbit of the earth and comet has coincided hence we will see a grand shower of Leonids meteor tonight". The time period of this meteor is 33 years, that is, the phenomenon repeats every 33 years but this year is special because this time the Leonid outburst rate may exceed 120 per hour or two per minute, he informed.
  
  
• Blueprint to save birds: The Birdlife International has launched a blueprint to prevent Asia's bird extinction crisis. In a statement issued by the Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), the book, titled "Saving Asia's Threatened Birds", will prove to be a ground-breaking guide for governments and civil societies to prevent the extinction of birds. Of the 324 threatened bird species in Asia, 11 may already be extinct including pink-headed duck of Nepal. The Birdlife International states more than 100 sites critically important for globally-threatened birds, remain unprotected and without conservation. One of the most important areas is Nepal's low grassland where endangered species inhabit. Among those sites urgently needing protection is the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve.
  
  
• Installation of solar power makes a difference in Dolpa: Over 1,000 households in around a dozen VDCs of the remote Dolpa district have now access to electricity powered by solar energy. Thanks to the initiative of Caravan Solar Energy Program (CSEP). The beneficiaries who otherwise depended on candle wood for light are now experiencing change in their way of living with electrification, according to sources. CSEP has recently installed 450 solar systems in VDCs such as Saldang, Vijera, Tinje, Lawan, Tripurakot, Pahada, Rimi, Liku, Sarmi and Majhfal under the Alternate Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), according to Thinley Lundup, the star of the film Caravan that depicts the harsh lifestyle of the people in Dolpa.
  
  
• 'Tibet should uphold provision of Treaty': Officials at the Nepali customs office in Khasa have emphasised on the provision of free movement up to 30 kilometers across Nepal and Tibet through the Liping border point as per the Sino-Nepal Treaty. Customs, immigration and security officials talking to journalists said that they, as per the provision of the treaty, accept the recommendation papers issued by the Tibetan officials for visitors from China, but the Tibetan officials reject the recommendations of the Nepali side for visitors intending to visit their side.
  
  
• World's Conservationists worried over blackbucks' genetic erosion: Despite blackbuck (Antelope cervicapra), a protected species of Nepal, slightly gaining in numbers, experts and conservationists are worried about its possible genetic erosion. Genetic erosion is the decrease in the genetic variability, that is, the population of a species loses its diversity in its genes, resulting in inferior individuals that are vulnerable to diseases, susceptible to slight changes in the environment, and individuals that are not capable of reproducing as equally as their healthy counterparts. It is thought that the gene level study to determine the genetic erosion is not possible in Nepal. Professor Dayananda Bajracharya, Vice-Chancellor of Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST) says, "Genetic study varies according to the methodology applied by the researchers. However general genetic study to determine the genetic erosion of blackbucks can be conducted in Nepal".