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Combating the Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity in the Himalayas

Experts support transect approach for understanding biodiversity loss caused by climate change in the Himalayas

The remoteness of the Himalayan region and its endemic poverty have isolated it from the rest of the world, but they can't protect it from the global ravages of climate change. The rising temperatures are threatening a tremendous loss of biological diversity in this ecologically sensitive region, a loss that threatens mountain livelihoods and regional security.

Biodiversity experts, global programme leaders and representatives of Himalayan countries met in Kathmandu to share, network and develop future strategies to understand climate change and to help preserve mountain biodiversity. The meeting organised by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) was the culmination of a series of workshops held during the last fortnight on diverse aspects of climate change and biodiversity in the Himalayas.

At present, the lack of basic environmental data for the Himalayan region is so serious that the IPCC, the world's apex body on climate change, says that the region is a 'white spot' for data. Without this data it is impossible to develop appropriate plans for avoiding or adapting to the worst problems. The countries of the region also voiced the urgent need for reliable data and the need to share with and benefit from global programmes on climate change impacts, and volunteered to collaborate as needed.

Chhukung (4730 m)
The Himalayas are too big for any group to study the whole area, but renowned mountain geographer, Professor Bruno Messerli, and the team at ICIMOD proposed a solution: selecting four representative 'transects' or north-south 'corridors' in different places from east to west, and encouraging everyone, from big global programmes to individual researchers, to focus their efforts in these sites under a coordinated arrangement that helps make all the information produced available for everyone to use.

Representatives of global programmes enthusiastically supported the proposal and said that they could provide all possible technical support.

ICIMOD as a regional knowledge, learning and enabling centre can provide the crucial link between international technical support and the national institutions in Himalayan countries, and provide a platform for the links that are needed between countries.

Typical test sites will make use of existing protected areas, national parks, bird sanctuaries, Ramsar sites, and World Heritage sites, covering critical eco-regions and transboundary areas. The transects stretch across national and international boundaries, and participants stressed that regional cooperation was needed to tackle the problems holistically and make the most of countries' and organisations' individual efforts.

Dr. Andreas Schild, ICIMOD's Director General, was delighted by the willingness expressed by Himalayan countries and global programmes to participate in a transect approach for research and gathering data, saying: 'This is a significant and tangible first step towards the long-term preservation of the Himalaya's genetic heritage.'

Source: ICIMOD, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development , 19 Nov 2008

ICIMOD
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is an independent 'Mountain Learning and Knowledge Centre' serving the eight member countries of the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan - and the global mountain community. ICIMOD is a non-political intergovernmental organisation which, since 1983, has encouraged technical cooperation between governments in the region and whose primary objective is to help promote the development of environmentally sound mountain ecosystems and improve the living standards of the mountain population. www.icimod.org

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands - signed in 1971 in the city of Ramsar, Iran - is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are currently 156 Parties to the Convention, with 1,676 wetland sites, totalling 150 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Member countries of the treaty are obliged to manage all wetlands in a sustainable manner, promoting the wise use of all wetlands within their territory; consult with other Parties about the implementation of the Convention, especially with regard to trans-frontier wetlands, shared water systems, shared species, and development; and designate wetlands that meet the criteria for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance for conservation.

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