Natural resource evaluation and sustainable development in Nepal: health, tourism and the environment

Principal investigator: Prof. Alberto Baroni - University of Padova, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Hygiene Division.

The study team intends to expand their studies, carried out in SNP in past years, in the Manang Valley in order to evaluate the ecosystem health of the area in pretext of growing tourism and human impact. The study will mainly focus on the sustainability and quality of tourism in the area, and will evaluate various environmental and social parameters such as pollution, biodiversity, cultural contamination, etc. by integrated indicators and descriptors. The following activities will be carried out during this study:

• Examination of water samples quality through “Extended Biotic Index”;
• Quantitative measurements of plants in quadrates laid at different altitudes and major tourist sites;
• Examination of socio-economic conditions through interviews and secondary data (reciprocity, politics, demography and emigration as well as income, profits, from many other economic action).