HIMAP

The first assessment activities and team

The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is one of the greatest mountain systems in the world, encompassing an area of over 4.3 million km2. Outside of the North and South Poles, the region contains the largest area of permanent ice cover in the world, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the ‘Third Pole’.

It is the source of 10 major river systems, and contains all of parts of 4 global biodiversity spots, 330 important bird and biodiversity areas and hundreds of mountain peaks over 6,000 masl. The HKH provides ecosystem services that directly sustain the livelihoods of 240 million people living in the hills and mountains. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report-4 announced that climate change will be the most prominent force of global change in the modern era and that the HKH region is seen as ‘a data gap’ area, lacking consistent long-term monitoring. The report calls for national, regional and global attention towards filling this data gap. Unfortunately, not much progress has been reported in IPCC 2014 AR-5 on the HKH region in this regard.

While initial progress has been made by universities, NGOs, and science organizations in the region, in assembling and consolidating existing data, the information remains too fragmented and incomplete to derive any meaningful conclusions about trends and scenarios. The need for an evidence-based assessment which brings together hundreds of scientists and policy experts persists. A comprehensive assessment could greatly assist in addressing threats, acting on opportunities, and scaling cutting edge approaches. At the same time, looking to the success of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), a regularized system of monitoring which can generate powerful data about the key trends and scenarios in the region is needed.

Steering Committee

Atiq Rahman

Steering Committee

David Molden

Steering Committee (Chairperson)

Eklabya Sharma

Steering Committee (Convener)

Linxiu Zhang

Steering Committee

Surendra Pratap Singh

Steering Committee

Yao Tandong

Steering Committee

Yubaraj Khatiwada

Steering Committee

HKH Assessment

Assessment Process

More than 350 researchers, practitioners, experts, and policy-makers were involved in drafting the HKH Assessment Report. The process involved: Framing of the assessment: An initial framing workshop and consultation with various experts defining the structure and process of the assessment;
Drafting of chapters: The experience of other assessments, engaging a network of people with in depth knowledge of the region has drafted the chapters;
Extensive review: The draft, the chapters and sections outline, will be modified/revised and shared with respective group of people for more suggestions and inputs before finalizing it;
Active communication program: Steering committee to look into issues that have been discussed on the overall structure, chapters and timeline;
Engagement with policy makers: The assessment will be linked to policy makers in the region through various processes through a policy reference group,
Development of a summary document: A Summary for Decision Makers will be prepared based on the results of the process,
Publication and Launch: The assessment book was published in early 2019.
Access the full text of HKH Assessment Report

The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment
hkh assessment

 

Activities Conducted
  • Conceptualization and Concept Note
  • 2-3 Sep 2013: The Overall Framing Workshop, Nepal was organized to initiate the design of the assessment. The overall structure and process of this assessment was further concretized with feedbacks and inputs from the professionals of the workshop.
  • Oct 2013: During the Arctic Circle Conference in Iceland, Oct 2013, a session on the “Himalayan Circle” was used as a platform to bring policy makers from the HKH countries on board with the idea of the assessment book. The HKH policy associated participants endorsed the assessment process following which ICIMOD has decided to step up the activities.
  • Sep 2014: HIMAP first Steering Committee Meeting, ICIMOD (where the members helped draft the outline of the HKH Assessment Chapter structure)
  • 15-16 Oct 2014: This First HIMAP workshop, ICIMOD, Nepal (Thematically focused on Food, Water and Energy Nexus)
  • 4-6 Feb 2015: The Second HIMAP workshop, Thimpu, Bhutan (focused on Drivers of Change)
  • 13-14 Nov 2018: First Hindu Kush Himalaya Science-Policy Forum: Actions to Sustain a Global Asset, ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • 4 Feb 2019: Regional Editors’ Meet and Launch of the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal

First HIMAP Workshop (15 – 16 Oct 2014, Nepal)

Recognizing Food, Water and Energy as the critical lenses for the HIMAP process and defining the nexus among these threads, in different country contexts within HKH, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) organized a two day workshop (15-16 October 2014) at ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal. The purpose of the workshop was to bring together different scientific and educational institutions, and experts/researchers to debate on issues related to research particularly focused on food, water and energy in the Himalaya. The deliberations were focused on:

  1. Why HIMAP is needed and what are the main lessons we can learn from other global assessments?
  2. Defining the Food, water, energy nexus in the HKH context, focusing on: Key drivers & trends; Future scenarios and; Deriving Key messages

The workshop was attended by over 30 experts, social scientists, senior officials from government Ministries, development practitioners and senior Fellows. The two-day deliberation was organized into highly participatory sessions, each session with a facilitator and panel members. Dr David Molden provided the brief on the Overview, Goals, & Progress of HIMAP and Dr Eklabya Sharma presented on the HIMAP Structure.

Dr Lars-Otto Reiersen, Executive Secretary of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme gave a presentation on the key achievements and lessons learned in the arctic context. Dr Shobhakar Dhakal of the IPCC gave a presentation on the IPCC context and the process that would need to be followed to develop a chapter on mountains in the next IPCC report.

The major deliverable was in the form of a road map for strengthening research in the Himalayas. The areas of the workshop were limited to the questions on the diversity of situations and the implications for the food-water-energy nexus. The diversity of the mountain context was stressed as well as the need to derive locally specific solutions. The workshop concluded with a note that several overarching themes or topics are needed to look more specifically at the food-water-energy nexus with this perspective. Outcomes of the workshop will be presented to ‘Himalayan Circle’ meeting in Thimphu.

 

 

Second HIMAP Workshop (4 – 5 Feb 2015, Bhutan)

The Second HIMAP workshop was held from 4 to 6 February 2015 in Thimpu, Bhutan, focusing on Drivers of Change. This workshop was held back to back with the ‘Himalayan Circle’ meeting held in February 2015 in Thimphu, Bhutan.

This provided opportunities for technical experts who attended the assessment meeting to start dialogue with policy makers who would be specifically joining the ‘Himalayan Circle’ meeting.

Meet the team

Lead Author

Zhiyuang Cong

Lead Author
Air Pollution in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Meet the team

Contributing Author

Harris Kuemmerle

Contributing Author
Water in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Hongbo Zhang

Contributing Author
Water in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Ranjan Parajuli

Contributing Author
Meeting Future Energy Needs in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Sanjeev Bhuchar

Contributing Author
Water in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Meet the team

Coordinating Lead Author

Christopher Scott

Coordinating Lead Author
Water in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Shichang Kang

Coordinating Lead Author
Air Pollution in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Shobhakar Dhakal

Coordinating Lead Author
Meeting Future Energy Needs in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Yiching Song

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