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The Lumbini province government is set to launch the ‘Ghumna Jau Bardiya’ campaign on Nov 14, aiming to promote Bardiya as a prime tourism destination. The main attraction in Bardiya is its tiger population, drawing increasing numbers of tourists eager to see these majestic animals. Bardiya National Park, the district’s top tourist destination, offers jungle safaris where visitors can spot a variety of wildlife, including tigers. Daulatpur Ghat, known for its rare dolphin sightings, has also become popular among international visitors, and the district’s Krishnasar (blackbuck) population is protected within a dedicated conservation area. Additionally, Bardiya’s homestays add appeal by offering authentic local experiences.

This campaign is part of the province’s policy initiatives to boost tourism and economic growth in the region. Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Transport Prachanda Bikram Neupane stated that the Ghumna Jau Bardiya campaign aims to increase tourism and contribute to economic prosperity in Bardiya. The campaign will launch on Nov 14 in Thakurdwara, further establishing Bardiya as a premier tourism destination within Nepal.

“Bardiya is the main tourist destination in Lumbini province,” Minister Neupane remarked. “This year, we aim for the economic prosperity of the entire province by attracting more visitors to Bardiya. Promotional programs will be held to increase tourist awareness.”

Minister Neupane explained that promotional efforts will focus on attracting foreign tourists through collaboration with relevant stakeholders to enhance visitor experiences. “We will organize promotional programs to inform tourists about Bardiya’s attractions and ensure smooth coordination with all parties for their convenience,” he added.

Tourists visiting Bardiya can sample local cuisine at homestays and observe innovative agricultural practices. The district offers unique opportunities for agricultural study, making it an appealing destination for both ecotourism and cultural exploration.

Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has pledged to uphold a strict, uncompromising approach to criminal investigations.

During a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday, MPs questioned the arrest of former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane. In response, Minister Lekhak assured that all individuals accused of corruption, fraud or other criminal activities will be brought under probe regardless of political affiliations. “There is no discrimination; the ruling party does not differentiate between the opposition or any other party,” he said. “We base our actions on facts.”

He emphasized that evidence guides the direction of investigations and that the government will not misuse the law to target, harm or harass anyone. “Investigations are fair and independent. We seek court approval as per the need,” he said, urging the public to trust the government’s adherence to legal boundaries.

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa has also urged the government to initiate an immediate investigation into Congress leader Dhanraj Gurung and CPN-UML MP Rishikesh Pokharel for their alleged involvement in a cooperative scam. Thapa stated that the Parliamentary Investigation Special Committee on the Misuse of Cooperative Savings found evidence implicating Congress Vice-president Gurung and UML MP Pokharel in the case, stressing that the government must promptly investigate and bring them to justice if they are found guilty.

Addressing a festive greeting exchange program organized by Nepal Rastra Bank in Kathmandu on Monday, Thapa argued that timely action against anyone involved in fraud will help build public trust. “The embezzlers of cooperatives number in the hundreds. Around 500 to 600 people are under prosecution, while another 500 to 700 have been absconding. Bring all of them under investigation, whether the case is new or old,” he urged. “The committee supports this approach, and we call on the government to handle these matters thoroughly. This also concerns the credibility of the common citizen.”

He added, “There is ongoing public discussion about the involvement of Congress Vice-president Dhanraj Gurung. I urge the government to conduct a thorough probe. CPN-UML’s Rishikesh Pokharel has also been named. Investigate thoroughly and prosecute if wrongdoing is found. Punish those responsible.”

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UN Climate Change released urgent reports on the escalating levels of greenhouse gasses and the inadequacy of current emissions targets. Both reports underscore the dire need for rapid and aggressive climate policies ahead of COP29, which is set to take place in Baku from Nov 11 to 22.

The WMO reported on Monday that greenhouse gas concentrations reached unprecedented levels in 2023, driving global temperatures higher and committing the planet to years of warming. The UN agency’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin highlighted that carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide concentrations are all at record highs, with CO2 levels climbing at an alarming rate—up more than 10 percent in just two decades.

CO2 concentrations rose by 11.4 percent in the past 20 years, reaching 420 ppm in 2023. Methane and nitrous oxide levels were also significantly elevated, reaching 1,934 ppb and 336.9 ppb, respectively. These values represent 151 percent, 265 percent, and 125 percent increases from pre-industrial levels, according to the WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch network of monitoring stations.

“These aren’t just statistics; every part per million and every fraction of a degree of temperature increase brings real impacts on our lives and ecosystems,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. The 2023 CO2 increase was 2.3 ppm—the 12th consecutive year with an increase above two ppm—driven by persistent fossil fuel emissions and aggravated by large-scale vegetation fires and the effects of El Niño.

The report underscores the difficulty in meeting the Paris Agreement goals to limit warming below 2°C, with an aspirational target of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. “We are clearly off track,” said Saulo. She stressed that warming feedbacks—where rising temperatures reduce the ability of ecosystems to absorb CO2—pose an even greater risk.

Due to the long atmospheric lifespan of CO2, the current levels of global warming will likely persist for decades, even with rapid emission cuts. “The warming effects of CO2 will not dissipate quickly, locking in temperature increases for generations,” noted Saulo. Radiative forcing—or the warming impact from greenhouse gasses—has increased by 51.5 percent since 1990, with CO2 accounting for 81 percent of this rise.

The WMO report highlighted concerns over the durability of natural carbon sinks. Currently, oceans and land ecosystems absorb nearly half of CO2 emissions, with oceans accounting for a quarter and land ecosystems nearly 30 percent. However, as Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett noted, climate change could reduce these natural carbon sinks’ efficiency. “Warming oceans may absorb less CO2, while wildfires could release more carbon into the atmosphere,” Barrett warned, adding that climate feedback could intensify warming further.

The WMO pointed out that current CO2 levels mirror those of 3m-5m years ago, a period when global temperatures were 2-3°C higher and sea levels were 10-20 meters above today’s levels. With the WMO warning that ecosystems themselves might soon become net emitters of greenhouse gasses, Barrett stressed the urgency of addressing these “vicious cycles” that could exacerbate the crisis and have profound impacts on human society.

These findings align with the UN Environment Program’s recent Emissions Gap Report, which assesses the growing disparity between current emissions and levels needed to meet climate targets.

On Monday, UN Climate Change released its 2024 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report. The report evaluates the collective impact of current national climate plans on anticipated global emissions by 2030, underscoring the critical changes required to avert severe climate impacts. 

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell emphasizes that this report “must mark a turning point, ending the era of inadequacy and sparking a new age of acceleration” with much bolder climate plans needed from all nations in the coming year. 

The report finds that combined global NDCs would lead to a mere 2.6 percent reduction in emissions by 2030 from 2019 levels, only marginally improving on last year’s two percent projection. This falls far short of the 43 percent reduction by 2030 needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C, as advised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Stiell states, “Current national climate plans fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country.” He emphasizes that “much bolder new national climate plans can not only avert climate chaos—done well, they can be transformational for people and prosperity in every nation.”

The report serves as a wake-up call, highlighting that “emissions of 51.5 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030—only 2.6 percent lower than in 2019—will guarantee a human and economic train wreck for every country.” 

Stiell urges nations to adopt “ambitious new emissions targets that are economy-wide” and ensure they are backed by “substantive regulations, laws, and funding to ensure goals are met and plans implemented.” He also emphasizes the need for new NDCs to detail adaptation priorities and investments to protect vulnerable sectors and populations.

With COP29 in Baku on the horizon, Stiell stresses the importance of converting commitments from COP28, such as transitioning from fossil fuels and tripling renewables, into concrete policies. He concludes that new NDCs will be among “the most important policy documents” of the century, setting a clear path for renewable energy scaling, strengthened adaptation, and accelerated low-carbon transitions globally.

Both reports aim to inform COP29 discussions, where decision-makers are urged to treat the surging greenhouse gas levels as a “wakeup call” and to adopt more aggressive climate policies.

Standing in the forests at the foothills of mountains across Asia, Australia, and parts of Africa, hungry insect-eating birds seem to cry out: “Where have all the insects gone?” To their surprise, the weaver ants have devoured them all. These reddish, giant ants swarm the forest floor, feasting voraciously on insects—a familiar scene often portrayed in nature documentaries. Weaver ants consume so many insects that they leave little to nothing behind for the birds.

A team of scientists, led by Umesh Srinivasan from the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, found that in the foothills of mountain ranges across the world where weaver ants reside, the number of insect-eating birds is low. “Oecophylla [weaver ants] and insectivorous birds have highly overlapping diets,” said Srinivasan, Assistant Professor at CES. “As a result, where Oecophylla ants are present at the base of mountain ranges, the species richness of insectivorous birds is low, while the species richness of all other birds is high.”

Srinivasan, who researches climate change and bird interactions in the eastern Himalayas of India, was ignited to explore the relationship between weaver ants and insect-eating birds after a colleague in Darjeeling, India, prevented these ants from infesting trees. It was found that trees without weaver ants had more insects than those with ant infestations. Srinivasan said he had been curious ever since learning about the experiment, especially since weaver ants are considered the “oldest biological control agent.” He noted that Chinese farmers have long used weaver ants in their orchards to control insects and pests. “So they’re very effective insect predators,” added Srinivasan.

So, Srinivasan’s team categorized birds into three groups: insect-eating, omnivorous (which eat both insects and fruits), and fruit- and nectar-feeding. They then analyzed global datasets on bird elevation and recorded the lower and higher elevations at which birds lived in the observed mountain ranges. Afterward, they counted the number of bird species at different elevations in each mountain range and correlated it with the presence of weaver ants.

The research team found that where weaver ants are present, the number of insect-eating birds was lowest at lower elevations, with the bird population stabilizing only after reaching an altitude where the ants no longer exist. The population of these birds peaked at mid-elevations, around 900 meters, which is “over 400 meters higher than in mountains without Oecophylla,” the researchers wrote in their paper published in August in Ecology Letters. They also observed a “similar but weaker” pattern for omnivorous birds, with their population peaking around 700 meters higher, indicating that omnivores are less affected than insect-eating species. For other bird species, Srinivasan noted, “species richness is highest at low elevations,” suggesting that fruit-eating birds are not significantly impacted by the presence of weaver ants, as their population peaks at lower altitudes and steadily declines with increasing elevation.

“Birds eat a lot of things. Some species eat only insects, some eat only fruits, others are omnivores, and some are scavengers like vultures,” Srinivasan explained. Since weaver ants fiercely compete with insectivorous birds for the same food, only a few insect-eating birds thrive in areas where the ants are present: “Less food, less birds.” 

For hundreds of years, people have proposed numerous ideas to explain the causes behind the uneven distribution of species across elevation gradients: “Temperature, rainfall, area, and various other environmental factors,” Srinivasan said. Another factor is competition between species for resources, which Srinivasan noted hasn’t received much attention—especially competition between species that are distantly related to each other. In fact, the researchers also analyzed factors like precipitation and productivity, but they found these had less impact on the birds compared to the influence of the ants!

This new research—which exposes the link between weaver ants and insectivorous birds—is significant because it presents a new perspective on the question of why species numbers vary in different parts of the world, which is a “fundamental scientific curiosity,” added Srinivasan. Furthermore, he emphasized the rapidly changing global climate that is pushing species higher up the elevation gradient. “Because of rising temperatures, species are shifting their ranges to higher elevations,” he added. “This is not migration; this is actually a permanent shift in the range of species to higher elevations,” Srinivasan clarified. “So if these ants shift their ranges upwards, what will happen to the bird communities?”

Ben Freeman, a biologist at the Georgia Institute of Technology who was not involved in the study, told Science Magazine that he considers this new hypothesis “a big-time idea, that it’s ants that shape insect-eating bird communities.” Although Freeman finds the idea interesting, he expressed a desire to see it tested experimentally in the future.

“This is a pattern that is consistent with one hypothesis,” Srinivasan added. “It's difficult to get proof of a hypothesis like this when what you’re actually asking questions about are at the global scale.” He stated that since it is extremely challenging to prove this hypothesis through large-scale experimental studies, “We can only say that this might be one of the reasons why we see a difference in species richness patterns across a global scale.”