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Natural disasters are among the major risk factors in aggravating human and livestock lifes as well as agricultural production in most of the developing and poor countries. A community level survey was conducted in Doti district to assess the rural communities perception towards the disasters induced by climate change in agriculture and livestock production and productivity. Discussions with two focal groups, at village level and with district based stakeholders revealed that there is a conceptual difference between the perception of disasters at the government level and the farmers level. Most of the farmers have realized the major disasters of slow onset type (drought and famine) to be more common than the rapid onset type (landslides and floods). There has been a change in the cropping pattern with decreased winter rain and short monsoon rain. The local communities have suffered due to drought which has lead to fewer water holes for animals and less water for irrigation. Farmers have gradually decreased the number of larger ruminants like cattle and buffalo and are inclined towards smaller animals like sheep and goat. Animal diseases as well as insects-pests of crops are also on the rise.

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Plant macrofossil investigation was carried out on the Late Quaternary sediments of the Kathmandu Valley, central Nepal. The fluvial-deltaic to fluvio-lacustrine deposits of the Kathmandu Basin are found to be rich in plant macrofossil assemblages. A total of 66tax.a from 38 families were identified to genus and some of them up to species level from five different macrofossil bearing layers (BG- I Lo BG-5) from the 33 m thick Besigaon section belonging to the Gokarna Formation exposed at the northern part of the basin. The lower half of the exposed section is completely devoid of macrofossil horizons, however the upper half yielded a significant amount which could be used for climatic interpretation. The characteristic feature of the Besigaon section is the dominance of angiosperms in the lower and middle horizons (BG-I, BG-2, BG-3) but gymnosperms in the upper horizons (BG-4, BG-5). The dominance of angiosperms such as Carpinus, Alnus, Pyracantha, Quercus subgen. Cyclobalanopsis, Eurya and Zizyphus suggest the deposition of the lower and middle horizons in warm temperate climatic condition. The humid phase is documented during deposition of the BG-3 and BG-4 horizons with the findings of Selaginella remotifolia and wetland aquatic taxa such Carex, Schoenoplectus, Nymphoides indica. In contrast, the upper horizons dominated by gymnosperms such as Abies, Pinus, Picea smithiana, Tsuga dumosa and Taxus wallichiana represent cold and humid climate. The macrofossils from Besigaon section suggest minor fluctuation in climate from wam1to cold temperate phase with increasing humidity during the Late Pleistocene.