National Priorities in South Asia

	Afghanistan	Bangladesh	Bhutan	India	Maldives	Nepal	Pakistan	Sri Lanka
Land degradation & desertification
Water erosion
Wind erosion
Water logging
Salinisation
Loss of Biodiversity
Deforestation				**
Water scarcity				**
Water Pollution
Need for Water supply & sanitation
Solid & liquid waste Management in urban centres
Degradation of Air quality
Vehicular emission in urban centres
Industrial emission				**
Domestic cooking				*
Environmental Health issues
Depletion and degradation of Coastal & Marine Environment	n/a		n/a			n/a
Natural disasters
Droughts
Floods & Land slides	-
Earth Quakes	-		n/a			-
Sea level rise	n/a		n/a			n/a

high priority

medium priority

low priority

n/a. not applicable

Land degradation and Desertification

Current trends

The principal causes of land degradation and desertification in the region are erosion by water followed by wind; and biophysical and chemical degradation. Afghanistan (85 percent), India and Pakistan suffer mostly from desertification problems.

In India, approximately 57 per cent of the land is under some form of degradation, while Bhutan, because of its low population density, has not yet suffered severe land degradation, but deforestation, often the initial cause of degradation, is taking place and 10 per cent of the agricultural land has been affected by soil erosion.

Four countries with humid climatic zones - Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the greater part of India - are severely affected by water erosion on their rainfed lands, by soil fertility decline, and by deforestation. In parts of the hill and mountain areas of Nepal, deforestation and water erosion have reached an extreme degree. Wind erosion is extensive in India and Pakistan, affecting about 25 million ha of land.

The most devastating form of waterborne land degradation in Bangladesh is riverbank erosion, and the active floodplains of the Ganges, the Brahmapurt-Jammua, the Tista and the Meghan rivers are most susceptible to this problem.

Waterlogging and salinization affects between 2 and 3 million ha in Indian and Pakistan respectively. In Pakistan, salt build-up in the soil is known to reduce crop yields by 30 per cent. In Bangladesh, over 30% of the land available for cultivation is situated in the coastal belt, and most of the land is not utilized for crop production due to increased soil salinity.

Chemical soil degradation in the region is mainly caused by agricultural mismanagement.

Land Use Pattern of South Asia

Underlying causes

South Asia has a population density of 15 people per ha compared to world average of 4 people per ha.

Annual deforestation rate in India is 0.34 mha, while in Bangladesh and Nepal 3.3 and 1.7 per cent annual forest decrease takes place.

According to FAO estimates over 60% of the population depends on agricultural activities for their livelihoods and shifting cultivation is practiced in some parts of the region (India, 4.35 mha of forest area). Mono cropping, overexploitation and heavy use of fertilizers has also lead to increased oil quality depletion in the region.

The under pricing of resources and subsidization of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers play a major role in excessive utilization. For instance, the fertilizer subsidy in India grew from US$ 57 million during 1973/74 to
US$ 2630 million in 1989/90.

India supports 20% of the world's livestock population, and an average of 42 animals graze in a hectare of land against the threshold level of 5 animals per hectare.

Natural hazards such as floods and droughts (In India, floods affect an average of 8 million ha, out of which 3.7 million ha are cropped)

Over exploitation of water resources had lead to increased soil salinity in many parts of the region.

The present land tenure system does not provide security to the farmers, especially in Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Gem mining and in land coral mining in Sri Lanka have lead to land degradation.

Road and other infrastructure development in mountain areas

A well-defined land use policy is absent in all the countries and most of existing laws are overlapping with other jurisdictions.

Depletion of Biodiversity

Current trends

South Asia accounts for the 19% of the forest resources found within Asia-Pacific region and India is recognized as one of the 17 "Mega Diversity Regions" of the world, which accounts for 67% of the world biodiversity. Bhutan, falling under the Eastern Himalayas have been declared as one of 10 global "hotspots" for the conservation of biodiversity with high species density

Pakistan have only 0.01 ha of forests per capita compared with world average of 1 ha per capita while in Bhutan 72 percent of the country's land is under forest cover.

The legally protected land area in Bhutan is 26 per cent, while Sir Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh has over 10 percent of land protected. The recorded protected area from India, Pakistan and Maldives is less than 5 per cent of the total land mass.

According to the estimates of Asian Wetland Bureau, 15 per cent of all wetland habitats in South Asia are afforded some legal protection, but only 10 per cent is totally protected.

About 179 mammal species in the region are threatened while the threatened animal species in India alone accounts for 3 per cent of the world total.  

Underlying causes

Bangladesh records the highest deforestation rate from Asia, which is 3.3 per cent per annum.

The dependency on fuelwood for meeting basic energy need place enormous stress on the forest resources is a common problem within the region.

It is estimated that in India by year 2025, 75 percent of the rice production will come from less than 10 verities, compared with thousands of varieties grown in the 1950s.

In Pakistan, falcons are smuggled to the Middle East, lizards and snakes are killed for their skins and crocodile hunting is still a popular sport and recreation activity

The growing monopolization of traditional medicines, such as those derived from indigenous plants like Neem and improved verities of seeds by a few multination companies, through intellectual property rights and patent regimes, has created new threats to the cultural and traditional rights of indigenous communities and traditional farmers.

Bangladesh and India is in the lead in the establishment of forest plantation.

Nepal has formed a Trust Fund for Biodiversity Conservation.

Local community participation in the management of forests has been gaining pace in the region since the late 1970's, particularly in Nepal and India.

Fresh Water Depletion & Degradation

Maldives is already water scarce with annual internal renewable water resources of <1,000 m 3 per capita while in India and Pakistan the freshwater supplies are between 1400-1900m 3 per capita. The highest supply is recorded from Bhutan, which is around 50,000m 3 per capita/year.

The Indian subcontinent has the highest levels of water withdrawals for agriculture, accounting for 92 per cent of total consumption.

The diversion or alteration of the flow of water in rivers through dams and channels has seriously reduced stream flows in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The Ganges River of India faces a serious pollution problem.

High arsenic concentrations have been recorded from a large number of rural wells in Bangladesh and from some adjacent parts of India

Ground water of several cities in South Asia is affected by the influx of storm water and sewage.

Salt water intrusion is recorded from many parts of Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

 

Solid Waste Management

  Daily waste generation in Bangladesh and India vary between 0.45 - 0.89 kg/capita.

Daily waste collection rates of Calcutta, Dhaka are less than 50 per cent while in Mumbai it higher than 50 per cent.

  Open dumping and burning still constitute major disposal methods for solid wasted, although land filling, incineration and composting are increasing.

The ratio between municipal and industrial solid waste generation is less than 1:3 in South Asian countries while in developed countries such as Australia and Japan it is 1:8.

  Lack of permanent shelter for the urban residents in major cities.

 

Degradation of Coastal and Marine Resources

The rich marine environment in the region is subjected to great pressure through over- extraction of resources, enhanced pollution and physical alterations in coastal ecosystems.

Oil pollution threatens the coral reefs, where boating activities for tourism and fishing are unregulated.

Most of the shallow water coral reef habitats of Sri Lanka, Maldives and India were severely damaged as result of bleaching

Mangroves have been exploited for timber, fuel wood and other purposes, while large areas have been cleared for agricultural activities and for shrimp farming.

  Freshwater interceptions for agricultural schemes have severely affected mangroves and other coastal habitats.

Marine-based tourism also leads to environment degradation through the construction of hotels, beach clubs and marinas involving infilling, dredging and resuspension of contaminated silts.

Sediment loads in the coastal zones of South Asia is high mainly arising from soil erosion due to poor land use practices.

Major industrial cities and towns are situated on or near to the coastline and they discharge large amounts of untreated effluents daily.

Limited institutional capacity and resources continue to be the major impediments to the implementation of coastal environmental management plans.

Underlying causes

Climate change & associated Natural disasters

Increasing population pressures

Pollution due to land based activities

Intensive agriculture development

 Coral mining

  Increased pressure from tourism

 

Natural Disasters and their consequences

In 1998, floods in Bangladesh left 21 million people homeless and two thirds of the country under water for more than a month.

In October 1999, the state of Orissa in India was seriously affected by a cyclone which resulted in 10,000 human deaths and affecting 2 million ha of standing crops.

In Maldives, about 80 per cent of the land area is less than 1 m above the sea level and is vulnerable to sea level rise

Degradation of Air Quality, especially in urban centers

Urban growth between 1980 and 2000 in India lead to the transformation of 600,000ha of land as urban centers.

In Delhi, India vehicles accounts for 70 per cent of the total emissions of nitrous oxides and the levels of lead in the atmosphere are high as a result of using leaded petrol.

The region's economic giant, India depends heavily on coal and the demand is projected to increase by 6.5 per cent a year.

A study conducted in Nepal has estimated that total emission will increase fivefold by 2013, and about two-thirds are likely to come from the transport sector.

 

Environmental Health issues

  Environmental health problems can either be due to lack of access to essential environment resources (clean air, water, shelter adequate food etc.,) and due to unhealthy and unsafe work environments.

  Health issues in the form of premature death, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory symptoms are high in several metropolitan centers in the region.