Upper Bhote Koshi Hydroelectric Project

Bhote Koshi Power Company Private Limited (BKPC) owns and operates the Upper Bhote Koshi Hydroelectric Project (UBKHEP) which is the first privately funded, run of the river hydroelectric power project in Nepal. BKPC was incorporated in 1996 under the Nepalese Company Act. Its plant is situated in Sindhupalchowk District of central Nepal and is approximately 110 kilometers northeast of Kathmandu. The UBKHEP is a 36 MW power plant with 2 turbine/generator units. 

BKPC entered into a Project Agreement with the Government of Nepal in July 1996 for the development of the UBKHEP. BKPC has a 40-year license to build, own, operate and transfer the UBKHEP as per the Electricity Act, 2049 (1992).

BKPC entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in July 1996 for the sale and purchase of energy. The PPA is valid for 25 years from the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of January 24, 2001. 50% of the Project Assets will be transferred to NEA upon maturity of PPA tenure at One Rupee only. 

PM highlights LDCs' vulnerability to climate change at Rio+20

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE 

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has emphasised on integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development to address development challenges facing the world, particularly Nepal and other least developed countries.

While addressing the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, yesterday, Prime Minister Bhattarai underscored that the outcome of the Rio+20 summit has to provide enhanced financial resources, including Overseas Development Assistance — a financial support commitment made by developed countries to the poorest counties — for the support of the LDCs, a UN group of 48 poorest countries in the world. 

As the chair of Global Coordination Bureau of LDCs, the prime minister said it was naturally a key stakeholder of the conference. “Its concerns and aspirations in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication should get due priority,” he added.

In his speech, Bhattarai said development challenges of LDCs had become more pronounced and complex and their ability to address them remained greatly constrained. “The LDCs continue to remain most off-track in the achievement of the MDGs that we collectively defined as a basic minimum for humanity. The resources committed to be available for achieving those goals fall much short of the commitments,” said Prime Minister Bhattarai. 

Orchid Extinction Threat Writ Large

Ramesh Prasad Bhushal 

Kathmandu, Nepal

Nepal boasts more than four hundred species of the orchids, but lack of awareness and increasing market demand has endangered these rare species. Although the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) bans trade in orchids, the absence of a monitoring authority has led to widespread trade in the flower. Bhakta Bahadur Raskoti — who authored ‘The Orchids of Nepal’ after ten years of extensive research — said there is no barrier to orchid trade. While the locals sell it openly, contractors easily send the flower to India, China and even Japan and European countries. “Locals collect various species from the forests and sell to contractors at throwaway prices. They neither know about their value nor the high market value,” said Raskoti. Nepal occupies only 0.1 percent of the land in the world but has with 6,500 species of flowering plants that make for two percent of the total flowering plants in the world. Orchids are the largest plant family in the country and accounts about 6 percent of the total flora of Nepal. This makes the country an ‘Orchid Paradise’. Raskoti has taken 900 photographs of 302 species in the last decade. Resource crunch and lack of access to the districts has virtually disabled the Department of Plant Resources. “We are the authoritative body to look after medicinal and other herbs, but we neither have resources nor district offices, so it’s not possible to monitor the trade,” said Dr Krishna Chandra Paudel, Director General of the department. According to Raskoti, beside medicinal value, orchids possess very high ornamental value. Hence their high market value in Japan and other European countries. During field trips covering a period of 10 years, he recorded 15 new species of orchids in Nepal. “Orchid distribution is extremely limited in range and their habitat has been heavily deforested in recent days, largely due to fodder, firewood and timber collection and overgrazing. Effects of climate change has increased the risk of extinction of many species of orchids,”said Raskoti.

Monetising nature

Mugu, Nepal

An international team of experts this month completed a survey of 27 important bird areas in Nepal to see how conserving them doesn't just save nature, but can also provide income to local people.

The team included staff from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and the Cambridge-based BirdLife Secretariat, and they used a concept known as "eco-system service" to quantify the impact of conservation on local development.

The last of the selected sites to be surveyed was Rara National Park, where the lake is an important habitat for indigenous migratory birds. "Rara provides refuge for the globally threatened chir pheasant," explains Rara's warden, Durga Poudel, "and its pine and mixed forests are populated by red panda, musk deer and Himalayan thar."

BCN is working on a UK Government-funded Darwin Initiative project that assesses and quantifies the resources provided from nature by areas with rich birdlife. Field surveys are being carried out by the project at four sites: Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park and Phulchoki Community Forest in Kathmandu, Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve and Rara National Park. The team is measuring how much carbon is being stored in the vegetation, the provision of clean water, harvesting of wild and cultivated products, and eco-tourism.

2012 IUCN – Thomson Reuters Environmental Media Award

Welcome to the 2012 IUCN - Thomson Reuters Environmental Media Award. Submit an article for your chance to win a trip to the IUCN World Conservation Congress in South Korea in September!

The Award

Established in 1998 by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and IUCN, the Award aims to raise global awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues by encouraging high standards in environmental reporting worldwide.

The Prize

The winner of the 2012 IUCN - Thomson Reuters Environmental Media Award will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Jeju Island, South Korea, from 6 to 15 of September 2012, to attend IUCN’s 2012 World Conservation Congress, the world’s leading summit on the environment.

The winner

The competition closes at 17:00 CET on 15 June 2012. The writer of the article with the most votes at the close of the competition will be deemed the winner. IUCN reserves the right to disqualify inappropriate or offensive entries. The winner will be announced on 1 July 2012.