Santosh Rayamajhi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Santosh Rayamajhi

Design Science and Innovation, 2022

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2022

Forests are crucial to the livelihoods of millions of poor people in developing countries. Yet qu... more Forests are crucial to the livelihoods of millions of poor people in developing countries. Yet quantitative approaches to estimate the economic value of forest products and other environmental resources at householdlevel across different sites have only recently been developed and experiences on using such methods are only presently emerging. This paper presents methodological experiences from using a structured household survey approach to estimate household forest dependency in two high altitude areas in Central Nepal. Area and village level background and contextual information was collected using qualitative techniques; this was followed by a structured household (n = 180) survey conducted over a full year from December 2005 to December 2006. Households were randomly selected and inter alia subjected to quarterly income surveys. The emphasis in this paper is on investigating whether own-reported value data is valid and reliable. It is concluded that it is reasonable to use house...

Japan Geoscience Union, 2019

Ecology and Evolution, 2021

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, wh... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

In spring of 2012, we studied the feeding habits of snow leopard using a comprehensive approach t... more In spring of 2012, we studied the feeding habits of snow leopard using a comprehensive approach that combines fecal genetic sampling, macro and microscopic analysis of snow leopard diets and direct observation of Naur and livestock in Kangchenjunga Conservation Area of east Nepal. Out of collected 88 putative snow leopard scat samples from 140 transects (290 km) in 27 (4*4 km2) sampling grid cells, 83% were confirmed to be from snow leopard. The genetic analysis accounted for 19 individual snow leopards (10 male and 9 female) with a mean population size estimate of 24 (95% CI: 19- 29), and an average density of 3.9 snow leopards/100 km2 within 609 km2. Total available prey biomass of Naur and Yak was estimated at 355,236 kg (505 kg yak/km2 and 78 kg Naur/km2). From the available prey biomass, we estimated snow leopards consumed 7% annually which was comprised of wild prey (49%), domestic livestock (45%), and 6% unidentified items. The estimated 47,736 kg Naur biomass gives a snow le...

Oryx, 2016

Wildlife attacks on people in and around protected areas have become one of the main challenges f... more Wildlife attacks on people in and around protected areas have become one of the main challenges for wildlife management authorities. We assessed all correlates of wildlife attacks during 2003–2013 in the vicinity of Chitwan National Park, Nepal. We used data from various sources (discussion with stakeholders, field observations, questionnaire surveys). Wildlife attacks were significantly correlated to factors such as site, season and time, activity, gender and awareness. Moreover, 89% of recorded attacks occurred outside the Park. The number of attacks fluctuated widely and patterns of attacks were significantly uneven across seasons and months. Of the 87% of attacks that occurred during the day, 63% occurred in the morning. Most victims were male and c. 45% of attacks occurred when people were collecting forest resources or working on croplands. Attacks were carried out predominantly by rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis (38%), tigers Panthera tigris (21%), sloth bears Melursus ursinu...

When theory meets reality how to do forest income surveys in practice

Land tenure and …, 2001

... Abstract. A review on community forest management in the inner Tarai of Nepal and in postwar ... more ... Abstract. A review on community forest management in the inner Tarai of Nepal and in postwar Japan is presented. The results of case studies on management efficiency of timber forests and plantations in Nepal and Japan are reported. ...

Shrubs Woody perennial vegetation less than 5 m in height. Grassland Land with grass as the predo... more Shrubs Woody perennial vegetation less than 5 m in height. Grassland Land with grass as the predominant natural vegetation; may have scattered trees (savannah) of less than 10% canopy cover. Residential areas, infrastructure Land used for buildings, roads, etc. Wetland Land where water saturates the soil, not classified as by forests or agricultural land. Others Land not fitting into any of the above categories. Stock Stock represents an amount of goods (e.g. agricultural, livestock, or business) owned by a household. Households gradually sell and replenish their stock to earn an income. For example, stock for a household who owns a shop would be the amount of goods in the shop (drinks, food, other items). Capital Capital is the amount of equipment (e.g. buildings, cages, machinery) a household owns as part of a business (e.g. shop or poultry farm). It does not include the stock (see above). 11 4. A detailed guide to the data collection activities This section provides a guide to the GEQ data collection instruments. 4.1 Structured household survey The household survey contains five sections (A, B, C, D, E). Here, rules and hints are given for each section separately. 4.1.1 Section A: Open questions to be asked at the household level Asking open questions at the beginning of an interview is a good way to start as it (i) allows the researcher/enumerator to get an overall idea of the context in which the interview will take place and the issues which will be dealt with and (ii) is a smooth way to start a conversation (i.e. instead of starting straight out with more sensitive questions (e.g. about income or assets). Remember that we are interested in people's perceptions of the facts. Therefore, enumerators should refrain from expressing their own opinion during interviews. When conducting those qualitative interviews, make sure to follow advices given under section 5.2. 4.1.2 Section B: Quarterly household income survey We refer to the excellent guidelines provided in PEN (20017), and in particular to the sections on "Getting the time frame right", "Cells that can be calculated", "Illegal activities and underreporting", "Recall periods", and "Valuation and pricing". The PEN guidelines also have very useful sections on questionspecific hints and rules in relation to the income survey questions. The codes are included in Appendix 5. Using uniform coding is important for data quality. Suggestions for new codes should be emailed to mapo@ifro.ku.dk. You will have to use the Household Identification Number (HID) which has been used previously by the ComForM project. 4.1.3 Section C: Survey questions on earthquake-related asset loss Question-specific rules and hints: Question 1a.  This question concerns the evolvement of household's economic condition between 2068 (2011-12, when last visited) until immediately before the earthquake. It is a good idea to mention an important event that happened in 2068 as a point of reference for the respondents.  Make sure that the respondents do not get influenced by what happened after the earthquake when answering this question. Question 1b.  This question is only to be answered if the respondent answers that his/her household's economic condition has improved or worsen in question 1a.  This question is the only question that in particular requires some enquiring and searching from your side because the respondent may not be precise in their formulation. What we need to know are the direct causes affecting economic wealth. For example, the respondent may say that land exhaustion/declining productivity (LLE-) is the principal reason for economic deterioration. Your job is

Forest management 3.1.3 Demographics 3.1.4 Study villages 3.1.5 Major economic activities 3.1.6 S... more Forest management 3.1.3 Demographics 3.1.4 Study villages 3.1.5 Major economic activities 3.1.6 Seasonal calendar 3.1.7 Markets and market access 3.1.8 Forest products 3.1.9 Major land cover and land uses 3.1.10 Description of conservation areas 3.1.11 Tenure institutions 3.1.12 Government and other development/conservation projects 3.1.13 Calamities 3.

Climate change may significantly impact the assets, activities and income of rural households thr... more Climate change may significantly impact the assets, activities and income of rural households throughout developing countries. Estimating possible future vulnerability is therefore essential to climate change impact assessments. This case study paper aims to assess household-level coping and adaptation possibilities in high altitude villages in Lower Mustang, Nepal. These are generally characterised as having limited economic resources, low levels of technology, low skill levels, poor infrastructure and weak institutions, and are thus likely to have low coping and adaptive capacity. Village-level background information was collected using qualitative techniques. This was followed by a structured household survey (2009), emphasizing household assets and income, and a separate survey focusing on households' response to economic shocks. Livelihood strategies were identified using cluster analysis and adaptive responses to shocks (coping strategies) were modelled on the basis of the...

Journal of Biodiversity & Endangered Species, 2018

Human activities are the prime reasons that cause the decline of Chinese Pangolins (Manis pentada... more Human activities are the prime reasons that cause the decline of Chinese Pangolins (Manis pentadactyla) throughout the world. Globally, the limited area is managed under protected area while most of the area lies outside protected areas where anthropogenic threats are experienced high. Incessant increase in the threats has lead Pangolins to a high risk of extinction in Nepal. This study was carried between October 2016 to January 2017 in Balthali VDC of Kavrepalanchowk district using semi-structured questionnaire interview (n=117) to assess prevailing anthropogenic threats to Chinese Pangolins and habitat. Almost all respondents agreed that human activities are major threats to Pangolins and habitat. More than half of the respondents stated that poaching and illegal trade, habitat destruction and haphazard construction and development activities like hotel and road constructions have resulted in reduced Pangolins population. Moreover, intentional human induced forest fire, heavy gra...

International journal of multidisciplinary and current research, 2014

Climate change (CC) impacts on rural farming and adaptation practices are new areas of study in t... more Climate change (CC) impacts on rural farming and adaptation practices are new areas of study in the rural farming systems. This study focused on better understanding the CC impacts and adaptation practices in rural farming in three different agro-climatic regions (Trans-Himalayan- Mustang, Mid-Mountain- Dhading and Inner Terai- Chitawan district) of Nepal. Household survey, key informant interview and focus group discussion methods were applied to collect primary information at household and community levels supplemented with national climate data. Soil moisture or irrigation deficiencies are the main limiting factors for farm production of the upland framers, particularly, in the midmountain region. It is observed that adaptation to CC is location specific and determined by different factors. Logistic regression model indicated different factors such as resources availability, family labor availability, farm income, institutional activities and involvement in the community level or...

Forestry: Journal of Institute of Forestry, Nepal, 2018

Nepal is prone to a variety of recurring natural disasters such as floods, landslides, snow avala... more Nepal is prone to a variety of recurring natural disasters such as floods, landslides, snow avalanches, thunderstorms, drought, earth quake and epidemics. In particular, floods, landslides, hailstorms and drought are almost regular phenomena. This paper has focused mainly on water induced disaster (Monsoon) prepared through review of documents, consultation with related line agencies and field level interaction with affected communities. The paper also seeks to explore and document the major disasters and their impacts in Nepal. It discusses policy and program, institutional arrangement and activities related to the disaster management as well as identification of gaps in the policy and program. Nepal has attempted to manage the prevalence of these hazards and their associated disasters through both informal civic involvement and formal government instruments. A legal and policy environment to deal with disasters has existed in one or the other form in Nepal since 1982, and these ha...

Climate and Development, 2018