Livestock depredation by snow leopards Panthera uncia poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of pastoral communities and engenders negative attitudes towards the species, threatening its survival. We conducted 104 semi-structured interviews within local communities (livestock herders and owners) in the Nyesyang valley of Manang District, in the Annapurna Conservation Area, western Nepal, to assess the status of livestock depredation and community attitudes towards snow leopards. During February 2016–January 2018, respondents reportedly lost 279 livestock to snow leopards (mean loss of 1.3 livestock per household), comprising 3.7% of the total stockholding in 2018. This loss amounts to a monetary loss of USD 319 per annum for each household. Only half of the households who lost livestock to snow leopards in the previous 2 years received compensation from the Conservation Area. Almost an equal proportion of respondents held positive (42%) and negative (41%) attitudes towards snow leopards. An ordered logistic regression analysis revealed that being a woman, being illiterate, owning a high number of large-bodied livestock and relying primarily on agropastoralism were factors associated significantly with negative attitudes towards snow leopards. We recommend focusing conservation education on illiterate community members and engaging more women in conservation programmes, along with a community-based insurance scheme for large-sized livestock to mitigate losses and improve local community attitudes towards snow leopards.

Following the report of the first COVID-19 case in Nepal on 23 January 2020, three major waves were documented between 2020 and 2021. By the end of July 2022, 986 596 cases of confirmed COVID-19 and 11 967 deaths had been reported and 70.5% of the population had received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Prior to the pandemic, a large dengue virus (DENV) epidemic affected 68 out of 77 districts, with 17 932 cases and six deaths recorded in 2019. In contrast, the country's Epidemiology and Disease Control Division reported 530 and 540 dengue cases in the pandemic period (2020 and 2021), respectively. Furthermore, Kathmandu reported just 63 dengue cases during 2020 and 2021, significantly lower than the 1463 cases reported in 2019. Serological assay showed 3.2% positivity rates for anti-dengue immunoglobulin M antibodies during the pandemic period, contrasting with 26.9–40% prior to it. Real-time polymerase chain reaction for DENV showed a 0.5% positive rate during the COVID-19 pandemic which is far lower than the 57.0% recorded in 2019. Continuing analyses of dengue incidence and further strengthening of surveillance and collaboration at the regional and international levels are required to fully understand whether the reduction in dengue incidence/transmission were caused by movement restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the last decade the tiger Panthera tigris population in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayas has increased, while populations in other countries have remained below their conservation targets. Although there has been some research on tiger conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape and the Himalayas, scientists and managers have not catalogued and characterized tiger research in the region, with empirical findings scattered among disparate document types, journals and countries. Without a review of the tiger research in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayan region, it is difficult to analyse or change conservation policies, develop adaptation strategies, prioritize research, allocate resources or develop conservation strategies potentially employable elsewhere. We therefore conducted a systematic scoping review to identify focal research areas, the spatial and temporal distribution of study sites, general publication trends, the extent of empirical studies, and gaps in tiger conservation research in this region (which spans Bhutan, India and Nepal). Since 2000, 216 studies have been published on issues associated with tiger conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayas, with an increasing number over time. Most empirical studies have focused on tiger habitat, ecology and conflicts in protected areas in the region's foothills. There are research gaps in high-altitude landscapes, social science investigations, conservation economics, and policy and institutional analyses.

This article explores the role of the traditional Pang Lhabsol festival of Sikkim in India as a medium for political ascendancy and influence in the region – a phenomenon that has continued, albeit with different political inflections, from its founding days until the present. Since its emergence as an indigenous practice in the thirteenth century, it has consistently transformed according to each juncture of political realignment in the region. After 1642, the festival was redesigned to resonate with the religion and ideology of the ruling Namgyal dynasty, playing out negotiations between mainstream Buddhism and the animistic Bon religion. While the inclusion of the Pangtoed Chham dance performance in the ritualistic itinerary of Pang Lhabsol had very significantly reinforced the role of the king as the protector of the people and their faith, the festival has been considerably overshadowed by the inclusion of new elements that resonate with the secular narrative of India after 1975. The article identifies the significance of each of these new elements, drawing as well on audience research undertaken through in-depth interviews. Arkaprava Chattopadhyay is an Assistant Professor at the Shri Ramasamy Memorial University in Sikkim, as well as a doctoral candidate at the Central University of Sikkim.

Enhanced-efficiency nitrogen (N) fertilizers (EENFs) such as slow-release polymer-coated urea (PCU) and deep placement of urea briquettes (UBs) improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) by reducing N losses and increasing nitrogen uptake by plants. Multilocation field trials (81) with cauliflower were conducted across two agroecological regions covering seven districts during two crop-growing seasons between 2018 and 2020 to assess the potential of three EENFs, i.e., PCU, sulphur-coated urea (SCU) and UB for increasing curd yields, agronomic NUE (AEN) and economic benefits over conventional urea (CU). Results were compared with farmers’ current nutrient management practice (FP): applying CU at 58.5 kg N ha−1 (ranging from 33 to 88 kg N ha−1). The N rates in three EENF treatments were 33% lower (100 kg N ha−1), considering their higher N use efficiency, than for CU (150 kg N ha−1). We hypothesize that EENFs produce similar or even higher yields compared with CU. For both years, all three EENFs resulted in significantly (p < 0.05) higher curd yields than CU (36.7 ± 1.1 t ha−1). PCU, SCU and UB increased yields by 21, 21 and 24% over those for CU. The yield increment was much higher (PCU, 44%; SCU, 43%; UB, 46%) than for FP. Similarly, PCU, SCU and UB increased the partial factor productivity of N (PFPN) by 91, 90 and 94% and the AEN by 133, 129 and 138%, respectively, compared with CU. The gross margins of all three EENFs were similar: an average 25% more than with CU and 51% more than with FP. These results suggest that EENFs could help increase productivity and farmer income while considerably reducing N input, compared to use of CU. The government of Nepal should promote these EENFs by removing barriers to access for the associated fertilizers and foster their use through extension.

Protected areas (PAs) are critical for achieving conservation, economic and development goals, but the factors that lead households to engage in prohibited resource collection in PAs are not well understood. We examine collection behaviours in community forests and the protected Chitwan National Park in Chitwan, Nepal. Our approach incorporates household and ecological data, including structured interviews, spatially explicit data on collection behaviours measured with computer tablets and a systematic field survey of invasive species. We pair our data with a framework that considers factors related to a household’s demand for resources, barriers to prohibited resource collection, barriers to legal resource collection and alternatives to resource collection. The analysis identifies key drivers of prohibited collection, including sociodemographic variables and perceptions of an invasive plant (Mikania micrantha). The social-ecological systems approach reveals that household perceptions of the presence of M. micrantha were more strongly associated with resource collection decisions than the actual ecologically measured presence of the plant. We explore the policy implications of our findings for PAs and propose that employing a social-ecological systems approach leads to conservation policy and scientific insights that are not possible to achieve with social or ecological approaches alone.

Marriage during childhood and adolescence adversely affects maternal and child health and well-being, making it a critical global health issue. Analysis of factors associated with women marrying ≥18 years has limited utility in societies where the norm is to marry substantially earlier. This paper investigated how much education Nepali women needed to delay marriage across the range of ages from 15 to ≥18 years. Data on 6,406 women aged 23-30 years were analysed from the Low Birth Weight South Asia Trial on the early-marrying and low-educated Maithili-speaking Madhesi population in Terai, Nepal. Multivariable logistic regression models assessed the associations of women’s education with marrying aged ≥15, ≥16, ≥17 and ≥18 years. Cox proportional hazards regression models quantified the hazard of marrying. Models adjusted for caste affiliation. Women married at median age of 15 years and three-quarters were uneducated. Women’s primary and lower-secondary education were weakly associated with delaying marriage, whether the cut-off to define early marriage was 15, 16, 17 or 18 years, with stronger associations for secondary education. Caste associations were weak. Overall, models explained relatively little of the variance in the likelihood of marriage at different ages. The joint effects of lower-secondary and higher caste affiliation and of secondary/higher education and mid and higher caste affiliation reduced the hazard of marrying. In early-marrying and low-educated societies, changing caste-based norms are unlikely to delay women’s marriage. Research on broader risk factors and norms that are more relevant for delaying marriage in these contexts is needed. Gradual increases in women’s median marriage age and increased secondary education may, over time, reduce child and adolescent marriage.

The most critical period for brain development is before a child’s second birthday. Standardised tests measuring neurodevelopment are more reliable when administered after this period. Severe vitamin B12 deficiency affects brain development and function. In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 600 Nepalese infants (6–11 months at enrolment), we found no effect of 2 µg vitamin B12 daily for a year on neurodevelopment. The primary objective of the current study was to measure the effect of the intervention on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) full scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ). We measured the effect on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development 3rd edition at age 30–35 months (n 555). At age 42–47 months (n 533), we used the WPPSI-IV and subtests from the Neuropsychological Assessment, 2nd edition (NEPSY-II). We also used the FSIQ to estimate subgroup specific effects. The mean (sd) WPPSI-IV FSIQ in the vitamin B12 group was 84·4 (8·4) and 85·0 (8·6) in the placebo group (mean difference −0·5 (95 % CI -1·97, 0·94), P = 0·48). There were no effect of the vitamin B12 on any of the other neurodevelopmental outcomes and no beneficial effect in any of the subgroups. In conclusion, providing 2 µg of vitamin B12 for a year in infants at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency does not improve preschool cognitive function.

Tropical montane systems are characterized by a high plant species diversity and complex environmental gradients. Climate warming may force species to track suitable climatic conditions and shift their distribution upward, which may be particularly problematic for species with narrow elevational ranges. To better understand the fate of montane plant species in the face of climate change, we evaluated a) which environmental factors best predict the distribution of 277 plant species along the Himalayan elevational gradient in Nepal, and b) whether species elevational ranges increase with increasing elevation. To this end, we developed ecological niche models using MaxEnt by combining species survey and presence data with 19 environmental predictors. Key environmental factors that best predicted the distribution of Himalayan plant species were mean annual temperature (for 54.5% of the species) followed by soil clay content (10.2%) and slope (9.4%). Although temperature is the best predictor, it is associated with many other covariates that may explain species distribution, such as irradiance and potential evapotranspiration. Species at both ends of the Himalayan elevational gradient had narrower elevational ranges than species in the middle. Our results suggest that with further global warming, most Himalayan plant species have to migrate upward, which is especially critical for upland species with narrow distribution ranges.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M), an organized armed group, engaged in a non-international armed conflict against the Government of Nepal between 1996 and 2006. During the armed conflict, the organized armed group operated a judicial system in the territories under its effective control, called the Jana Adalat (the People's Court). The legitimacy of the Jana Adalat has been a contentious subject matter. This article examines the historical, legal and practical dimensions of the Jana Adalat, especially focusing on the perspectives of the CPN-M.