Call for case studies on mountain biodiversity initiatives in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas - especially success stories
5 July 2010
Mountain areas are home to half of all global biodiversity hotspots. Mountain environments have a high level of endemism – flora and fauna that are found nowhere else. Mountains are centres of agrobiodiversity, with a wide variety of locally-adapted crops, wild edibles, aromatic and medicinal plants, and livestock. Mountain biodiversity supports the livelihoods of mountain and lowland populations by providing essential environmental goods such as fresh water, timber, fodder, fuel wood, food, and medicinal herbs, as well as services such as recreation and spiritual inspiration for an increasingly globalising world.
ICIMOD is in the process of documenting case studies of initiatives (success stories) which are focused on aspects of mountain diversity in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. The initiative can be a project or programme or even an activity or a set of activities, either completed or still ongoing. In this context ICIMOD is making a call for case studies on the same.
The case studies collected from the region, including lessons learned, will be published in book form to draw the attention of policymakers to the Hindu Kush-Himalayan experience at the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-10) in Nagoya, Japan, later this year.
Thematic scope (key words or phrases)
- Mountain biodiversity - Agrobiodiversity, endangered species, (alien) invasive species, high- altitude wetlands, cloud forest, buffer zone, protected area, migratory species, aromatic and medicinal plants, genetic resources, etc.
- Issues - Poaching, forest fire, grazing pressure, park-people conflict, wildlife-people conflict, encroachment and habitat fragmentation or destruction, illegal logging, overexploitation of non- timber forest products, bio-piracy, sustainable use, access and benefit sharing, climate change impacts, impacts of mass tourism, ecosystem stress, resource extraction, pollution, etc.
- Approaches, including instruments and knowledge- A lessons’ learned approach, landscape approach, ecosystem approach, single specie’s approach, community based conservation, sacred landscape, transboundary cooperation, conservation corridors, payment for ecosystem services, wildlife management, biodiversity registers, traditional or indigenous knowledge associated with mountain biodiversity, policies and laws, capacity building, transfer of technologies, etc.
Geographical scope
The initiative that you intend to showcase must have been implemented in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan areas of ICIMOD's regional member countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan - as shown in the ICIMOD regional map at http://www.icimod.org/index.php?page=43.
Conditions of entry
- Your submission(s) will be inlcuded in a publication to be brought out by ICIMOD on the occasion of CoP-10; however, the credit for the submission will be given to its rightful author(s), organisational or individual.
- Your submission should follow the template shown below, and not exceed 750 words.
- Your submission should be accompanied by one representative digital image (in JPEG format, size between 1.5 and 5 MB) with a proper credit and caption.
- Your submission should not have more than two co-authors. Ideally, it would be preferable for either the sole author or one of the co-authors to belong to the organisation that actually implemented the initiative.
- The initiative that you wish to do a case study on can be either completed or ongoing. If it is a completed piece of work, it should be an initiative that was completed after the cut-off date of 2000, i.e., in 2001 or thereafter. If it is ongoing, it should be an initiative that, in your view, is at least 20% complete.
- Your submission must be in the English language, straightforward, and in clear language rather than in jargon.
- Participating organisations may submit up to two submissions.
Template: Elements of the case study
The template is in two parts: A., a profile of the initiative and B., the case study itself (see the table below). Your submission should ideally cover the elements listed as closely as possible; and it should not exceed 750 words). Some of the elements may not be applicable to your case study, in which case they may be omitted.
|
A. |
Profile of the initiative you wish to do a case study on |
Number of words |
|
a) |
Title of the initiative |
As required |
|
b) |
Name(s) of the implementing organization(s): |
As required |
|
c) |
Initiative completed or ongoing? (if completed when it began and ended; if ongoing, when it began and when will it end) |
As required |
|
d) |
- Scale of the initiative: a) landscape level, b) ecosystem level, or c) single species’ level - Level of the initiative: a) sub-national, b) national, c) transboundary (e.g., between two or more adjoining countries),or d) regional |
As required |
|
e) |
Mountain areas [location(s)/country(ies)] in which the initiative was/is being implemented? |
As required |
|
B. |
Case study (Success story) |
Number of words (indicative only) |
|
1. |
Problem(s)/issue (s)/challenge(s) to be addressed? |
About 100 words |
|
2. |
Actions (or approach) taken to address the problem(s)/issue(s) /challenges outlined in 1 above? |
About 100 words |
|
3. |
How did (has) the approach address the problems/issues/challenges outlined in 1? State the outcomes/impacts, supported by qualitative or quantitative data wherever possible. |
About 200 words |
|
4. |
If there is one thing/idea that has emerged from this initiative, something that has actually worked, something that can be replicated or upscaled, what would that be? (This would be something like a good practice.) |
About 50 words |
|
5. |
Lessons learned (in bullet points please) |
About 100 words |
|
6. |
Online resources on the initiative (URLs, etc) and/or references |
About 50 words |
|
7. |
Name of the organisation and/or person who can furnish more information on this initiative, including contact email address(es) |
As required |
Prizes
The four best submissions will receive small cash prizes along with certificates of the achievement.
Selection
A panel of experts will select the winning submissions
Information/enquiry
Please write to Mr Ujol Sherchan at
initiative@icimod.org