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Availability and higher gasoline price have attracted the attention of researchers towards alternative fuels. Plastic is produced from the byproduct of gasoline products, which possesses a higher possibility of recycling the waste plastic as an alternative fuel. Research conducted on plastic fuel shows that a diesel engine can run with 100% plastic oil. The present work is focused on the effect of distilled plastic oil on the cetane index as the cetane index is a major fuel property of diesel that affects the ignition quality and exhaust emissions of the engine. For the measurement of the cetane index, two standards are followed and they are ASTM D4737 and ASTM D976. It is found that Crude plastic oil produced from thermal pyrolysis of waste plastic possesses a wide variety of hydrocarbon i.e. lower to higher hydrocarbon. From the fractional distillation of crude plastic oil at three temperature ranges 200◦C, 290◦C and up to the final boiling point, it gave petrol grade oil and diesel grade oil (both low and high grade). Also, it was found that the recovery of distilled high-grade plastic oil is higher than other distilled crude plastic oil. Along with this, crude plastic oil, as well as high-grade plastic oil, have a higher cetane index than the diesel available in the market. Similarly, blending diesel with high-grade plastic oil up to 20% by volume and with low-grade plastic oil up to 10% by volume increases the cetane index of fuel.

An internal combustion engine can be considered a thermodynamic open system. Investigation on blends of distilled plastic oil was performed on a constant speed diesel engine at various loading conditions. The thermal balance sheet was prepared concerning useful work i.e. heat equivalent to useful work, heat loss in jacket cooling water, heat loss in the exhaust gas, and unaccounted heat i.e. heat loss in radiation. Blends up to 20% by volume of various high-grade plastic fuels were used. The thermal balance sheet indicates that heat equivalent to brake power of 5PDB is higher than diesel at low load and 10PDB has higher HBP than diesel at high load. All blends of PDB indicate higher heat conversion into useful work. The exhaust gas temperature of all blends of high-grade plastic fuel is lower than that of diesel which shows a better conversion rate of produced heat in the cylinder into useful work.

Introduction: The quality of life of people with epilepsy is hampered both by the nature of the disorder and its associated effects. This study was carried out to assess the quality of life in patients with epilepsy and determine the influence of various factors in quality of life in these patients. Material And Method: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in Mental Hospital, Lagankhel enrolling clinically diagnosed patients with epilepsy aged more than 18 years and on antiepileptic drugs for at least 6 months. Patients diagnosed with epilepsy but having mental retardation, overt cognitive impairment, psychiatric disorders or other co-morbid chronic systemic or neurological illnesses which could affect QOL were excluded from the study by detailed history, clinical examinations, previous medical records and relevant investigations. Results: Statistically significant differences in the quality of life scores were seen in terms of educational and marital status, and frequency of seizures within the last 6 months before evaluation. Statistically insignificant positive correlation was observed between the age of onset of seizures and the QOL scores. Similarly, statistically insignificant negative correlation observed between the number of drugs used and the QOL scores. Conclusion: Duration of epilepsy had a consistent negative effects on QOL. Evaluation of quality of life in epilepsy relatively measures the outcome for treatment for epilepsy.

Despite broad scientific consensus on climate change, public views may not always correspond with scientific findings. Understanding public perceptions of climate change is thus crucial to both identifying problems and delivering solutions. Investigations of climate change that integrate instrumental records and people’s perceptions in the Himalayas are scarce and fragmentary compared to other regions of the world. We analyzed nationally representative data (n = 5060) of local peoples’ perception of climate change in Nepal, and assessed annual and seasonal trends of temperature and precipitation, onsets of seasons, and trends of climate extremes, based on gridded climate datasets. We firstly used quantitative and spatial techniques to compare local perceptions and the instrumentally observed trends of climate variables. We then examined the possible association of demographic variables, place attachment, regional differences, and prior understanding of climate change with the accuracy of people’s perceptions. Instrumental evidence showed consistent warming, increasing hot days and nights, and increasing annual precipitation, wet spells, heavy precipitation and decreasing dry spells in Nepal. Our results indicate that locals accurately perceived the shifts in temperature but their perceptions of precipitation change did not converge with the instrumental records. We suggest that, in future as exposure to changes in weather, particularly extreme events, continues, people may become more likely to detect change which corresponds with observed trends. With some new methodological insights gained through integrating community perceptions with observed climate data, the results of this study provides valuable information to support policies to reduce climate-related risk and enhance climate change adaptation.

Soft soil stabilization frequently uses cement, lime, fly ash, etc., but very limited studies are available on its long-term durability. The present study deals with the long-term durability of commercially available EPK clay stabilized with ordinary Portland cement and polypropylene fiber. Experimental investigations were conducted to determine the percentage loss of soil during wetting–drying cycle, which is used as a durability indicator of cement and cement–fiber stabilized soil. Stabilized soil samples were subjected to harsh environmental conditions in a laboratory setup, and their deterioration was observed in each wetting–drying cycle. In the real world, stabilized soil encounters seasonal cycles of monsoon and summer in long run of its service life which is simulated as rapid wetting–drying cycle in laboratory setup. Samples were stabilized using a different percentage of cement, and a mix of cement–fiber and subjected to 12 cycles of wetting–drying to determine the percentage loss of soil as per ASTM standard. Finally, based on the percentage loss of soil for those samples which survived up to 12 cycles, the optimum content of stabilizing agent was determined. The results indicated that only the EPK clay stabilized with 5% and 10% cement in combination with 0.5% fiber survived up to 12 cycles but, only 10% cement mixed with 0.5% fiber was durable against wetting–drying cycle. For all the combination of 10% cement mixed with 0.5% fiber stabilized soil samples, after durability test the soil loss was less than 7%, which satisfy the Portland cement association’s durability specification.

Soft soil stabilization frequently uses cement, lime, fly ash, etc., but very limited studies were conducted on the long-term durability of stabilized soil. The present study deals with the long-term durability of commercially available kaolin soil stabilized with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and polypropylene fibre using a much more realistic approach, where the effect of weathering action can be observed in each cycle. Laboratory investigations were conducted to find the percentage loss of stabilized soil during wetting–drying and freezing–thawing tests, which are used as a durability indicator of cement and cement–fibre-stabilized soil. The stabilized soil encounters seasonal cycles of monsoon and summer in long run of its service life, which is simulated in rapid harsh weathering cycles in a laboratory setup. Kaolin soil samples were stabilized using different percentages of cement and mix of cement–fibre combination and were subjected to 12 cycles of wetting–drying and freezing–thawing cycles separately to determine the percentage loss of soil in accordance with the ASTM standards. Results of wetting–drying tests indicate that kaolin soil stabilized with cement and fibre combination survived up to 12 cycles, but only 10% cement + 0.5% fibre was durable against wetting–drying test based on percentage loss. Results of freezing–thawing tests indicate that only the kaolin soil stabilized with 10% cement, 5% cement + 0.5% fibre, and 10% cement + 0.5% fibre survived up to 12 cycles and are durable against freezing–thawing test based on percentage loss which satisfies the Portland Cement Association’s durability specification.

Several forest management and conservation models exist throughout the world and Nepal is one of the pioneering countries to implement a community forestry programme. Studying the relationship between carbon stocks and biodiversity is important in understanding the trade-off between two major benefits of forest ecosystems, and working towards achieving the optimum balance between them. This study aims to: (i) estimate the biomass and total carbon stock in community forests, (ii) explore the relationship between carbon stocks and the diversity and density of trees, and (iii) examine that relationship in relation to the elevation of the community forest. The study covers all the components of forest carbon including above- and below-ground, and soil carbon. The biomass in the forest was found to be 299.20 tons/ha whereas the total carbon stock (including soil carbon) was found to be 162.95 tons/ha. Total carbon and biomass carbon were negatively related to the diversity and the density of trees. However, soil carbon was positively related to these factors. The results of the study can contribute to revising community forest management policies and helping to increase forest carbon and biodiversity.

Globalisation has increased the flow of people, ideas, knowledge, technology and money by varying degrees. Due to constraints such as inaccessibility and fragility, the Himalayan region remained isolated from the outside world until relatively recently. Globalisation has however, now breached such isolation with increased tourism in some areas and increased migration from others. The accelerated rate of tourism and out-migration has the potential to affect different components of traditional socio-ecological system (SES). In the high Himalayan region, the transhumance is a system based on seasonal and recurring movement of livestock. This paper aims to explore the contemporary transhumance systems and impacts of tourism and labour migrations to the SES. The study was conducted in three sites in the northern mountainous areas of Nepal, having either significant tourism activities or labour migration. Primary data were collected by means of livestock census, household survey and focus group discussions. The results show that there were variations in proportions of households involved in transhumance, herd size, herd composition and seasonal mobility across the study sites but transhumance remains a major source of income and an important livelihood strategy for local people in all sites. Tourism and labour migration have reduced the number of households involved in transhumance systems and herd size by changing labour and income dynamics of the households but there are differential outcomes across the study sites. The findings of this study can contribute to strategies and policies for adaptation of SESs experiencing change pressures from non-traditional factors.

Climate change has emerged as a global concern despite its differential impacts across geographical, social and economic gradients. Understanding perceptions of local communities towards climate change is important as it advances the knowledge, and is the driver of autonomous adaptation and behavioral responses. The livelihood of the agro-pastoralists in the trans-Himalayan regions of Nepal depends on the natural resources, and is highly sensitive to the change in climatic variables. Although there are indications of pronounced climate change in terms of their important variables in the high-altitude compared to the lowland of Nepal, there is limited information on how communities living in those areas have perceived to the change. Realizing the significance of such information, perceptions of the agro-pastoralists towards the change in climatic variables were studied in the two important high- and trans-Himalayan districts- Dolpa and Mustang. The results of the study revealed that the perceptions of the agro-pastoralists correspond with the increasing trend of temperature and the changing (both increasing and decreasing) trends of precipitation. Moreover, the agro-pastoralists have perceived the decrease in snowfall and reported appearance of new forage and pasture species in rangelands. The findings will be useful to understand about the climate change in the high- and trans-Himalayan region, and to devise adaptation strategies in these areas.Banko Janakari, Vol. 27, No. 1, Page: 21-30

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has evolved as an environmental management and sustainability tool. Despite common principles shared by EIA globally, there are considerable variations in EIA processes across countries. In this paper, we reviewed and compared EIA processes of China, Queensland State of Australia and Nepal considering five key steps (selection of consultants, report preparation, public participation, report review and approval, and monitoring and evaluations) of EIA. Our review indicated that the EIA is well recognised in legal instruments in all state and countries under consideration and there are both similarities and differences in key steps of EIA. Monitoring of EIA recommendations and the integration of feedbacks from the past and current practices are important in improving EIA processes. This study also found that there are elements for possible improvement in existing EIA processes by each state and country introducing the best practices from others’ EIA system. Some of the practices that Nepal can follow from the EIA processes of Queensland and China are licensing and accreditation of individuals and firms to conduct EIA, establishment of separate monitoring unit within regulating department, development of clear guidelines for approvals and monitoring, and the use of independent third-party auditing in EIA monitoring. The findings of this paper are useful in revising and improving EIA policies, practices and processes in the selected state, countries and elsewhere.

Grazing-based livestock production, named pastoralism, is classified into nomadism, transhumance and agro-pastoralism. Transhumance is characterised by the seasonal and recurring movement of livestock whereby seasonal grazing areas and routes for livestock movement are fixed. All grazing based livestock production systems including transhumance are constrained globally for a variety of reasons. The major threats to the system are globalisation, nationalisation or privatisation of rangelands, national parks and community forestry policies restricting free grazing and shortage of labour. The collapse or decline of such social-ecological systems (SESs), which have existed for over 1000s years, often induces adverse impacts on societies and ecosystems. Here we review the literature on transhumance, and discuss reasons for transhumance, and the associated advantages and disadvantages of livestock movement in transhumance. Our review also focuses on how the integration of crop and livestock production in transhumance derives mutual benefits. The review indicates that the seasonal movement of livestock is an ecological necessity in areas with harsh climates and low pasture production. Transhumance is also a herders’ adaptive management to adjust to variable grazing resources and environmental conditions. The disadvantages of seasonal movement of livestock such as greater herding labour required and expenditure of more energy for livestock, are far outweighed by the ecological advantages. Some of these are: to minimise grazing competition and to protect rangeland pastures from being overgrazed. Our review also indicates that the integration of crop and livestock production derives mutual benefits and contributes for their enhanced sustainability.

Climate change vulnerability depends upon various factors and differs between places, sectors and communities. People in developing countries whose subsistence livelihood depends mainly upon agriculture and livestock production are identified as particularly vulnerable. Nepal, where the majority of people are in a mixed agro-livestock system, is identified as the world’s fourth most vulnerable country to climate change. However, there is limited knowledge on how vulnerable mixed agro-livestock smallholders are and how their vulnerability differs across different ecological regions in Nepal. This study aims to test two vulnerability assessment indices, livelihood vulnerability index and IPCC vulnerability index, around the Gandaki River Basin of central Nepal. A total of 543 households practicing mixed agro-livestock were surveyed from three districts, namely Dhading, Syangja and Kapilvastu representing three major ecological zones: mountain, mid-hill and Terai (lowland). Data on socio-demographics, livelihood determinants, social networks, health, food and water security, natural disasters and climate variability were collected and combined into the indices. Both indices differed for mixed agro-livestock smallholders across the three districts, with Dhading scoring as the most vulnerable and Syangja the least. Substantial variation across the districts was observed in components, sub-components and three dimensions (exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity) of vulnerability. The findings help in designing site-specific intervention strategies to reduce vulnerability of mixed agro-livestock smallholders to climate change.

Indigenous people whose subsistence livelihoods depend upon the direct utilization of natural resources are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and can yet be unaware of actual and possible change. Changes in seasonality, temperatures and rainfall could undermine traditional systems built in group's experience. In one such system in the Himalayas, some herders practice vertical transhumance whereby they ascend in stages to high-altitude rangelands for summer and similarly descend in winter. Climate change models have predicted warming in the Himalayan region but there is no information on whether or not herders are aware of any changes. For this study, temperature and rainfall data for the nearest stations were collected and analysed, 145 transhumant herders were interviewed and 6 focus group discussions were conducted in or near 3 mountainous Protected Areas of Nepal. Perceptions of herders corresponded with the trends of climatic variables but with some exceptions. The majority of transhumant h...

Landslides, floods, and droughts are recurring natural disasters in Nepal related to too much or too little water. The summer monsoon contributes more than 80% of annual rainfall, and rainfall spatial and inter-annual variation is very high. The Gandaki River, one of the three major rivers of Nepal and one of the major tributaries of the Ganges River, covers all agro-ecological zones in the central part of Nepal. Time series tests were applied for different agro-ecological zones of the Gandaki River Basin (GRB) for rainfall trends of four seasons (pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon and winter) from 1981 to 2012. The non-parametric Mann-Kendall and Sen’s methods were used to determine the trends. Decadal anomalies relative to the long-term average were analyzed using the APHRODITE precipitation product. Trends in number of rainy days and timing of the monsoon were also analyzed. We found that the post-monsoon, pre-monsoon and winter rainfalls are decreasing significantly in most of the zones but monsoon rainfall is increasing throughout the basin. In the hill region, the annual rainfall is increasing but the rainy days do not show any trend. There is a tendency toward later departure of monsoon from Nepal, indicating an increase in its duration. These seasonally and topographically variable trends may have significant impacts for the agriculture and livestock smallholders that form the majority of the population in the GRB.

Both climatic and non-climatic factors affect surface water quality. Similar to its effect across various sectors and areas, climate change has potential to affect surface water quality directly and indirectly. On the one hand, the rise in temperature enhances the microbial activity and decomposition of organic matter in the river system and changes in rainfall alter discharge and water flow in the river ultimately affecting pollution dilution level. On the other hand, the disposal of organic waste and channelizing municipal sewage into the rivers seriously worsen water quality. This study attempts to relate hydro-climatology, water quality, and impact of climatic and non-climatic stresses in affecting river water quality in the upper Bagmati basin in Central Nepal. The results showed that the key water quality indicators such as dissolved oxygen and chemical oxygen demand are getting worse in recent years. No significant relationships were found between the key water quality indicators and changes in key climatic variables. However, the water quality indicators correlated with the increase in urban population and per capita waste production in the city. The findings of this study indicate that dealing with non-climatic stressors such as reducing direct disposal of sewerage and other wastes in the river rather than emphasizing on working with the effects from climate change would largely help to improve water quality in the river flowing from highly populated urban areas.

The decline or loss of traditional social-ecological systems may induce adverse effects to the societies and ecosystems. Transhumance; the recurring and seasonal movement of grazing livestock; is increasingly constrained by a numbers of factors including policy; land use and socio-economic changes in Nepal. To explore how these changes have affected the transhumance; this study investigated transhumance at the Langtang valley in central Nepal. The specific objectives of this study were to determine the herd size and composition; spatial-temporal patterns and to identify the major drivers of the system and the system changes. Data were collected from field study comprising semi-structured interviews with the herders; focus group discussions; key informants survey; and observations of rangeland and livestock management systems. The study revealed that the transhumance system in the Langtang is influenced by two types of drivers. In one hand; traditional practices are contributing to the sustainability of the system. On the other hand; the grazing patterns and adaptive responses are strongly influenced by changes in government policies; socio-economic and cultural transformation; livestock productivity; markets; rangeland conditions and climate change. The findings of this study help with the development and implementation of transhumance management policy for the sustainability.

Climate change vulnerability depends on who you are, where you are and what you do. The indigenous communities who primarily depend on natural resources for subsistence livelihoods are among the first and most affected by climate change. Climate models have predicted pronounced warming in high altitude regions of the Himalayas. The transhumant communities of the Himalayas follow traditional lifestyles based on seasonal livestock rearing and subsistence agriculture. There is however, no information on how vulnerable transhumant communities are to climate change, and how vulnerability of transhumant herders differs across the mountainous areas of Nepal. Based on semi-structured interviews with transhumant herders and using the IPCC climate change vulnerability framework, this study assessed and compared the vulnerability of transhumant communities from three districts representing Eastern, Central and Western mountainous region of Nepal. The results showed that the livelihood vulnerability and the climate change vulnerability differ across sites; both of them having lowest index values in the Central region. The vulnerability dimensions viz. exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity are largely influenced by diversity in livelihood strategies, income sources and crops, and access to food, water and health facilities. The findings will inform the design of policies and programmes to reduce vulnerability and enhance adaptive capacity of indigenous communities in general and the transhumant communities of the Himalayas in particular.

There are no limit of human desire, so day by day we need much higher data speed to facilitate our need but every physical resource like frequency band, transmit signal strength are finite. Within the given limited resource, higher data speed is accomplished by new proficiency called Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system. MIMO-OFDM fulfills the high data rate requirement through spatial multiplexing gain and improved link reliability due to antenna diversity gain. With this technique, both interference reduction and maximum diversity gain are achieved by increasing number of antennae on either side. Received signal in MIMO-OFDM system is usually distorted by multipath fading. In order to recover the transmitted signal correctly, channel effect must be estimated and repaired at receiver. In this paper the performance evaluating parameter mean square error and symbol error rate of least square error, minimum mean square error and DFT based channel estimation methods are estimated and appropriate solution is recommended. Furthermore, comparison among their characteristics is simulated in MATLAB and useful conclusion is delineated. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v14i2.10421 Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 14, No. 2 (2013) 97-102

One of the major policies in response to global climate change is reduction of green house gases emission. Community forests of Nepal are acting as major sources and sink of green house gases, in spite of providing socio-economic benefits to the user groups. There is a lack of information on whether community forests address the socio-economic disparity of user groups, and how it affects opportunity cost and willingness to pay to the forest users groups. Focusing on how the socio-economic conditions of forest users affect forest management, opportunity cost and willingness to pay; and effect of carbon trading mechanism and discounting on the cost benefit ratio, this study was carried out in one CF in western Nepal. The data collection methods included carbon stock measurement, household survey, focus group discussion and key informant interview. Study has shown that most of the forest users are in medium and poor economic classes and female involvement in forest conservation and management was remarkable. Poor people had high dependency on forest product and are most likely affected in terms of opportunity cost. Rich people were willing to pay more to sustain forest ecosystem services. Benefit cost ratio measured directly with and without discounting was 3.91 and 2.97, respectively. The findings of the present study indicate that the community forests users groups are benefitted from the current state of management. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i2.10522 International Journal of the Environment Vol.3(2) 2014: 108-124

Forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle as both a source and sink of carbon. The carbon stock in a forest is affected by climate, tree species and forest management. The community forestry program of Nepal has been successful in reviving degraded forest patches in the Mid-hills but there is a lack of information whether mixed or pine plantations store more carbon. This study esti- mated and compared carbon stocks in mixed and pine-dominated forest stands within the Gwalinidaha Community Forest of Lalitpur District, Central Nepal. Carbon components considered include tree biomass carbon, root biomass carbon, litter biomass carbon and soil organic carbon. Total carbon stock of the forest is estimated to be 2,250.24 tons with average carbon stock of 166.68 tons/ha. Total carbon stock per hectare was found to be higher in the pine-dominated forest as compared to mixed forest due to the larger tree biomass although the litter carbon and soil organic carbon estimates are higher in the latter. The Community Forestry of Nepal has a huge potential for carbon storage and the pine-dominated forest has a greater carbon stock than mixed forest.

An experiment was conducted to estimate the crop water requirement of rice and to compare it with the amount of rainfall. Experiment was designed to estimate evaporation and evapotranspiration in cylindrical half cut mineral water bottles. Rice was planted in the bottles to estimate evapotranspiration. The amount of rainfall during the experiment period was recorded in the rain gauge station. The evaporation was highest in the month of September (3.16mm/day) and lowest in June (2.56mm/day). The rate of evapotranspiration was in increasing order from June to September ranging from 3.43 mm/day in June to 19.57mm/day for September respectively. The crop water required was in increasing order reflecting more water required with the increase in days after plantation and successive developmental stage of rice. The total amount of rainfall in the study area over study period (23rd June, to 30th September, 2005) was 549.59mm. The total crop water requirement of rice for same period in the same area was 711.45mm. It showed that the rainfall during the study period was insufficient to meet the water demand for rice in the study area. The Journal of Agriculture and Environment Vol:13, Jun.2012, Page 1-4 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/aej.v13i0.7576

The people living in the agrarian societies develop different strategies in response to climatic variability and environmental uncertainties. Transhumant pastoralists in the Himalayas are among those who follow nature's rhythm of seasonality. The traditional practices built in group's experience might be useful to adapt with climate variability and change. Therefore, this study aims to: 1) study perceptions of transhumant herders towards changes in key climatic variables and validate them with observed data; 2) explore traditional practices of transhumant herders and their significances for climate change adaptation in Khaptad National Park, far-Western Nepal. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interview and focus groups discussions. The results showed that the perceptions of transhumant herders match with observed climatic trends in many instances and herders' traditional strategies have potential in reducing risk from climate change. The findings indicate that the historically evolved practices might be useful for climate change adaptation.

Climate change poses differential vulnerability for different communities, sectors and regions. People, whose subsistence livelihood is based on the direct utilisation of natural resources are most affected by climate change and have different but accurate perceptions of climate change than those people following modern lifestyles. The herders of the higher Himalayas follow vertical transhumance and combine it with subsistence agriculture for their livelihood. Although, climate models have predicted pronounced warming in high altitude areas of the Himalayas and there are many indications that climate change impacts different aspects of transhumance, there is no information on how transhumant herders have perceived change in climate and how these changes might impact transhumance system. One hundred and forty five transhumant herders were interviewed from three Village Development Committees (VDCs) namely Khumjung in Solukhumbu, Kalinchok in Dolakhaand Majhigaun in Bajhang; representing Eastern, Central and far-Western mountainous areas of Nepal respectively to explore their perceptions about climate change and other observed changes in biophysical indicators. About 80% of the herders perceived increasing summer temperature, 92% decreasing winter rainfall and more than 93% noticed decreasing snowfall. Majority of the herders agreed that there was fast melting of snow in the rangelands, rainfall events were becoming more and more unpredictable, drought events increased, there was early induce in greenery and maturity of grasses in the rangelands and appearance of new livestock diseases. These observations suggest that transhumant herders in the Himalayas have experienced change in climatic variables and have noticed change in bio-physical indicators that have implications to the transhumance system. The findings help to devise adaptation strategies for indigenous communities and incorporate them in the climate change policies in the Himalayas.

Main objectives of this study were to estimate annual fuelwood demand in Community Forest Users Group (CFUG), and annual sustainable supply of the same from Community Forest (CF). Study was done each one community forest of Terai and Hills; Shanti Community Forest (SCF), Saljhandi, Rupandehi (Terai) and Barangdikol Community Forest (BCF), Madanpokhara, Palpa (Hill), in Western Development region, Nepal. Extensive field work was carried out from May to July, 2007. Sustainable supply of fuelwood from the CF was estimated by using the methodology mentioned in the "Revised guidelines for community forest resource inventory", MoFSC, 2004. Stratified random sampling with proportional allocation method in three households (HHs) type; HHs with biogas, HHs with ICS and HHs without biogas & ICS, was used to cover 15 % of the HHs in the CFUG during HHs survey for the estimation of fuelwood demand. The fuelwood consumption pattern in these three HHs types was compared. The result showed that SCF was found in good condition where as BCF was in poor condition based on regeneration rate and growing stock. Demand and supply analysis showed that only 12.03% of fuelwood demand in SCFUG and 8.03% of the fuelwood demand in the BCFUG was fulfilled by the sustainable supply of fuelwood from the CF. Key-words: Biogas; Consumption; Energy; Improved cooking stove; Growing stock DOI: 10.3126/njst.v10i0.2948 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 10, 2009 Page:129-133