Rivers, lakes, wetlands, and their adjacent ecosystems, such as floodplains, provide key ecosystem services that support local communities and contribute to the identity of local cultures. Aquatic ecosystem services, such as the provision of water for household use, the supply of water for agricultural production, and the support of habitats for fishes and other aquatic organisms, are critical to meeting the water needs of families and to sustaining livelihoods of local communities. Additionally, aquatic ecosystems and their adjacent floodplains provide important regulating services, including water filtration, flow regulation, and floodplain stabilization, which help to mitigate the compound effects of drivers, such as climate change and land-use change, that heighten the risk of extreme flood and landslide events.
Photo: Early morning on the Babai River, Bardiya District, Nepal, May 2023.
As such, the ecological well-being of aquatic systems must be ensured to enable the long-term availability of water resources and sustain fisheries that are vital to life in Nepal. Climate change, proliferation of hydropower dams, urbanization, and invasive species threaten to alter aquatic ecosystems in Nepal. Comprehensive aquatic field surveys do not exist in Nepal, thus, the degree and extent of these threats remain to be explored. Surveys of aquatic resources, particularly fishes and invertebrates that are harvested to meet the nutritional needs of rural communities, are essential to assess aquatic biodiversity and characterize species composition, distribution, and abundance. Together with geospatial analyses that provide insights on land-based threats to aquatic ecosystems, the NWI seeks to characterize and quantify anthropogenic effects on aquatic ecosystems.
Photo: Electrofishing in the Narayani River, Chitwan, Nepal, May 2023.
