RESUMO
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has severely affected all sectors of the economy, and the impacts are expected to last-long. One major impact is that migrants return to their original households in rural communities due to loss of jobs. Since rural communities are highly dependent on forest and agriculture for livelihoods, an influx of return migrants likely increases the consumption of forest products and intensifies the agriculture practices, increasing the pressure on forest resources. Based on in-person interview of 215 in 2018 before the pandemic and a phone interview of the same 215 rural households in 2021 at the peak of the pandemic in Kavrepalanchowk district in Nepal, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) Does COVID-19 exert differential impacts among the socio-economic groups? (2) How do return migrants affect the rural land use? (3) Do return migrants put additional pressure on forests resources? The rare before-and-after dataset provide a precious opportunity to assess the COVID-19 impacts on the livelihoods of rural households in the community forestry landscape in the Middle Hills of Nepal. We found that the impacts of COVID-19 were severe on the households with larger family size, those belonging to the marginalized caste groups, having lower number of livestock, low wellbeing index, those who rely on daily wage-based occupation, with low level of education, and the households with return migrants. A significant number of migrants were found to return to their village of origin. As a result, there was a decrease in abandoned land and an increase in the livestock number and forest product use. These findings provide timely insights for the post-pandemic recovery efforts in better targeting needy household with limited resource in the community forestry landscape in the Middle Hills of Nepal.
RESUMO
This study analyzed daily patterns and dynamics of PM(2.5) concentrations in the Kathmandu Valley during three winters. The PM(2.5) data showed a daily repetitive cycle which represents influence of local air flow and dispersion and accumulation of air pollutants in the valley. Two concentration peaks were observed in the morning and in the evening periods, and they fell down during the daytime and the nighttime periods. This indicates local emission sources as major contributors in the valley. The more pronounced morning peak compared to the evening peak showed that the upslope wind in the morning helped to move the polluted inversion layer downward, subsequently adding to freshly emitted pollutants and causing a sharp pollutant concentration rise in the morning. Katabatic wind and rise of temperature in the basin during the day helped the pollutant upflow and dilution, resulting in a sharp PM(2.5) concentration decline. Through the afternoon, the decrease in air temperature followed by decrease in wind speed caused to lower PM(2.5) peaks in the evening. Also, higher morning peaks of PM(2.5) concentrations compared to the evening indicated pollution from the previous day is added to the fresh emission. The valley had increased PM(2.5) from the beginning of October which continued till the first week of February. The increase in PM(2.5) peak fit the logistic equation y=[k/(1+exp (p-qx)]+asin(bx) where k, p, q, a, and b are constants.