A REVIEW OF THREATS TO RAMSAR SITES AND ASSOCIATED BIODIVERSITY OF NEPAL

摘要

Asia is a vast continent stretching almost halfway around the world. It is estimated that there are at least 120 million hectares of wetlands of international importance in South and East Asia. Asia comprises less than 14% of the world's land surface but supports 56% of its population, thus the population density is eight times higher than the rest of the world and is increasing at a rate of 55 million per annum (Hussain, 1994). The high population density of this region had led to a long historical dependence of people on wetland resources.