Mountain Environment and Natural Resources Information Service: Gorkha District Database

Mountain Environment and Natural Resources Information Service:
Gorkha District Database

The Hindukush-Himalayan Region presents a wide range of both ecological and development problems. Isolated solutions have proved to be counterproductive, since most of the problems are interconnected. An integrated approach to solving the problems needs a strong database. In 1990, ICIMOD established the Mountain Environment and Natural Resources' Information Service as a resource center for the HKH Region for the study and application of GIS technology. One of the pilot activities was to build a GIS of Gorkha District.

The established database of Gorkha District is based mainly on secondary data. The population figures were extracted from the 1991 Census, and all other socioeconomic figures were retrieved from a ward-level baseline survey. The database currently covers such themes as:
elevation, water bodies and meteorological data;
land utilization and land resources;
settlements, roads, population and agriculture.

The work has been supported by the Governments of Nepal and Germany
The database is based on ARC/INFO software. A PC platform was used for data input and digitizing, while the geographic analysis was carried out using IBM RISC System/6000TM.

The database is available in a PC format. Among its applications have been:
the agro-climatic zoning of the district territory;

the analysis of livestock feed situation, including feed supply, feed requirements, and livestock carrying capacity;
the assessment of the potential of horticultural development as a function of climate, land use, and access to market infrastructure;
the correlation of land use and climatic factors;
the analysis of appropriate locations for potato production during optimal growing periods.

address.jpg 4.33 K Contact : Environment and Natural Resources Information Service
International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, P.O.Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone: +977 1 525313/16 Fax: +977 1 524509
E-mail: menris@icimod.org.np | http://www.south-asia/icimod/

The Hindukush-Himalayan Region presents a wide range of both ecological and development problems. Isolated solutions have proved to be counterproductive, since most of the problems are interconnected. An integrated approach to solving the problems needs a strong database. In 1990, ICIMOD established the Mountain Environment and Natural Resources' Information Service as a resource center for the HKH Region for the study and application of GIS technology. One of the pilot activities was to build a GIS of Gorkha District. The established database of Gorkha District is based mainly on secondary data. The population figures were extracted from the 1991 Census, and all other socioeconomic figures were retrieved from a ward-level baseline survey. The database currently covers such themes as: elevation, water bodies and meteorological data; land utilization and land resources; settlements, roads, population and agriculture.	The work has been supported by the Governments of Nepal and Germany
	The database is based on ARC/INFO software. A PC platform was used for data input and digitizing, while the geographic analysis was carried out using IBM RISC System/6000TM. The database is available in a PC format. Among its applications have been: the agro-climatic zoning of the district territory;	the analysis of livestock feed situation, including feed supply, feed requirements, and livestock carrying capacity; the assessment of the potential of horticultural development as a function of climate, land use, and access to market infrastructure; the correlation of land use and climatic factors; the analysis of appropriate locations for potato production during optimal growing periods.