Background

The Government of Nepal launched the Hydropower Environmental Impact Assessment Manual in 2018 as a guiding document for the environment impact assessment (EIA), in line with international good business practices in the hydropower sector. With the endorsement of the manual, an in-depth capacity assessment and gap analysis, with a focus on EIA, was carried out in Nepal’s hydropower sector. The assessment highlighted the need to build the capacity of stakeholders on conducting freshwater ecosystem assessments and recommended a handbook to build stakeholders’ capacity and guide freshwater ecosystem assessments using standard tools and techniques.

As a result, Forest Research and Training Centre (FRTC), Ministry of Forests and Environment (MOFE), Government of Nepal (GoN) developed the ‘Freshwater Ecosystem Assessment Handbook’ – a complementary guidance document to the Hydropower Environmental Impact Assessment Manual (2018) – with support from ICIMOD’s Koshi Basin Initiative (KBI) in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

About the handbook

The Freshwater Ecosystem Assessment Handbook is envisaged as a guiding document for the conservation and sustainable management of freshwater ecosystems in Nepal. It can be used to build capacity on freshwater ecosystem assessment and will also be useful to those in the hydropower sector – such as hydropower proponents, EIA reviewers and consultants – as well as for researchers, environmental professionals, students, and policy makers. The handbook aims to provide understanding on theoretical concepts, and standard tools and techniques for the assessment of different components and parameters of freshwater ecosystems.

About the workshop

This workshop will share the handbook’s structure and content among the stakeholders. In doing so, the workshop will gather inputs and recommendations from experts, policy makers, and other stakeholders. The specific objectives of the workshop are as follows:

• Share the handbook’s structure and content with a specific focus on the components, parameters, and methods of freshwater ecosystem assessment
• Seek inputs and recommendations on the content to finalize the handbook

To attend the workshop, please visit the following link.

To confirm your participation and for further information, please contact Sabina Prajapati and Sunita Chaudhary.

Agenda