Mountain Hazard Perception and Risk-Avoiding Strategies among the Sherpas of Khumbu Himal, Nepal

Bjønness, Inger-Marie

doi:10.2307/3673369

Cited by 26 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The production of highly valuable crops, such as cardamom, ginger, potatoes, fruits, tea, coffee, milk, vegetables, and spices was generally introduced near market centers and district administrative headquarters [52,81]. Farmers have started adopting inter-culture practices of growing two or more crops [119], such as maize with beans and/or potato, and the double cropping of staple crops, such as rice and wheat or corn (maize) in one single cultivated field. The most visible impacts seen on the agriculture system have been that staple foods and vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, radish, etc.…”

Section: The Intensification Of Agriculture and The Increasing Trade mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Synopsis of Farmland Abandonment and Its Driving Factors in Nepal

Chaudhary

Wang

Dixit

et al. 2020

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Farmland abandonment is considered as an important phenomenon for changing eco-environmental and sociocultural landscapes of mountainous rural landscape. Many studies have analyzed farmland abandonment, its driving factors, geophysical processes and consequences at landscape: however, very few have focused on mountainous developing countries such as in Nepal, which is a rapidly urbanizing country suffering from serious farmland abandonment. Therefore, our study was an attempt to (i) assess the spatiotemporal extent of farmland abandonment in Nepal, (ii) explore driving factors of farmland abandonment, and (iii) discuss on the eco-environmental and sociocultural consequences in Nepal. We reviewed various literature, documents, and national reports to obtain a dataset pertaining to the overall status of farmland use and changes along with political and socioeconomic changes, economic development processes, and policy and governance in Nepal. Our results showed that farmland abandonment is widespread; however, it is more prevalent in the hilly and mountainous regions of Nepal. A total of 9,706,000 ha, accounting for 23.9% of the total cultivated farmland in Nepal, was abandoned during the period of 2001 to 2010. The driving factors included population growth, scattered distribution of settlements, urbanization, socio-economic development, poor access to physical services, and poor implementation of agriculture development policies. Furthermore, the increasing extent of natural disasters, malaria eradication, land reform and resettlement programs, the complex system of land ownership, land fragmentation, political instabilities, and the intensification of trading in agricultural products also acted as drivers of farmland abandonment in Nepal. Farmland abandonment generates negative effects on rural societies eco-environmentally and sociologically. Abandoned plots were subjected to different forms of geomorphic damage (e.g. landslide, debris flows, gully formation, sinkhole development etc.). Farmland landscape fragmented into a group of smaller interspersed patches. Such patches were opened for grassland. Furthermore, farmland abandonment also has effects on the local population and the whole society in terms of the production of goods (e.g., foods, feed, fiber), as well as services provided by the multi-functionality (e.g. sociocultural practices, values and norms) of the agricultural landscape. Therefore, this study plays an important role in planning and implementing eco-environmental management and social development processes in Nepal.

show abstract

Section: The Intensification Of Agriculture and The Increasing Trade mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Synopsis of Farmland Abandonment and Its Driving Factors in Nepal

Chaudhary

Wang

Dixit

et al. 2020

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There is much to learn from cases in Peru, due to socio-economic similarities for both regions, however Nepal remains distinct in various elements. For instance, concepts of Buddhist Dualism are used to explain events as both natural and supernatural (Bjønness, 1986). This thought process will ultimately shape how mountain communities with strong Buddhist culture view risk from GLOF events.…”

Section: Historical Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An institutional analysis of glacial floods and disaster risk management in the Nepal Himalaya

Thompson

Shrestha

Chhetri

et al. 2020

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Another relevant study in the relationship between faith and risk perception (Bjonness, 1986) of the Sherpas in the Himalaya of Nepal notes that their response to mountain hazards depends greatly upon their Buddhist beliefs, which considers the human a part of nature. Due to their dependency on the forces of nature in such a mountainous habitat, the Sherpas originally provided sacrifices to the Gods to avoid the damaging impacts of nature.…”

Section: Literature Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Perception and Belief in Guardian Spirits

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

People do not respond directly to the risks around them, but rather to their perception of those risks. These perceptions can be affected by many factors, including the degree to which people feel protected, and within that context beliefs in guardian angels or spirits can be a significant factor in some cases. In a survey of risk perception, it is shown that this belief does correlate with how people perceive risk, but in a complex way that may increase or decrease risk-taking behavior, with the latter being the more dominant theme.

show abstract

Mountain Hazard Perception and Risk-Avoiding Strategies among the Sherpas of Khumbu Himal, Nepal

Cited by 26 publications

References 17 publications

A Synopsis of Farmland Abandonment and Its Driving Factors in Nepal

A Synopsis of Farmland Abandonment and Its Driving Factors in Nepal

An institutional analysis of glacial floods and disaster risk management in the Nepal Himalaya

Risk Perception and Belief in Guardian Spirits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About