December in Nepal

Posted on Dec 11, 2009 Country updates, Guest blogs | Comments Off on December in Nepal

We are nearing our deadline for our species reports, which need to be ready for a technicians workshop in January and we seem to be running on time – with only bats and rodents left to complete. Unfortunately these make for long days as I don’t believe I’ve had any population estimates for a single rodent species out of the 40 that I’ve done. I estimate using the phrase “there is no information on the population abundance of this species” for over half of my species reports. It makes me want to get out and do some species monitoring! Especially for the less charismatic species who go highly underrated.

Soon I am off to Christmas in Chitwan and to collect info from the resources there and develop the January workshop plan. Really looking forward to getting there, nothing more inspiring than seeing conservation in action and trying to find the species I have written reports on. The team in Chitwan are superb and hopefully my friend and wildlife guide Naresh will be helping me out. He is currently doing important work on the invasive species Mikania micrantha which is having a very serious effect on the habitat in Chitwan, especially for the rhinos. The extent of the problem is something you cannot appreciate until you see it. I think most tourists dont realise the problem as the jungle still looks lush and green, but on closer inspection you realise that Mikania micrantha is the one plant taking over. Unfortunately, they have not yet found a herbivore that feeds on it and do not have an effective management plan to control it.

Oh and if you think the London tubes get busy: I got a bus the other day which was so full I had to hang out of the side door. The joys of public transport. Having said that for 10 NPR I dont think I can complain too much!

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Sam Lee is a Project Assistant on Nepal’s National Biodiversity Databank and Red List of Mammals. She will be blogging regularly on the process, providing insights into the details of producing a National Red List.