Back to news

Participation in sixth Regional Conservation Forum meeting in Bangkok

1 min Read

70% Complete

The Sixth Regional Conservation Forum (RCF ), organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asia Office, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Government of Thailand, and the National Committee of IUCN Members in Thailand, was held in Bangkok from 10-12 August. Over 450 participants from across Asia gathered to discuss regional programmes focusing on progress, gaps and future directions.

A side event on ‘Nepal Earthquake: Supporting a nature-based response and recovery to strengthen long-term resilience’, was organised by the Nepal National Committee (NNC), IUCN and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Over 50 experts and conservation practitioners from the region stressed the need for greater collaboration to overcome the socio-ecological impacts from the recent Nepal Earthquake and to protect Nepal’s rich biological and cultural heritage. The event was attended by many including the IUCN President Mr Zhang Xinsheng.

In his keynote address, Basanta Shrestha, director of strategic cooperation at ICIMOD, took account of the magnitude of damage brought by the recent earthquake in Nepal and its more than 300 aftershocks. He highlighted the collective efforts of the Government of Nepal and other organisations that have supported the disaster relief and recovery efforts, including ICIMOD. With a brief introduction of the ecosystem-based conservation approach, Nakul Chettri, coordinator of the Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative at ICIMOD, highlighted contributions of NNC-IUCN members through their immediate actions with relief materials including food, temporary shelter and medications to the natural disaster.

In closing, Arzu Deuba, IUCN regional councillor for South and East Asia, highlighted the need for both short-term and long-term strategies to restore the natural heritage that was lost during the Nepal earthquake.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related Contents

Continue exploring this topic

8 May 2015 News
ICIMOD’s earthquake response task force maps potential helicopter landing sites

A team of GIS and remote sensing experts at ICIMOD are mapping possible helicopter landing sites for village development committees ...

30 Jan 2017 Himalica
A Regional Orientation Training on Ecosystem Services Assessment Held in Udayapur, Nepal

The Support to Rural Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation in the Himalayas (Himalica) programme of ICIMOD organized a regional orientation ...

11 Feb 2019 Water
2nd Regional Upper Indus Basin Network (UIB-N) Workshop

Glaciers in the upper reaches of the Indus River basin are an important source of freshwater. However, as climate change ...

19 Jan 2018 Water
Pakistan Government Credits CBFEWS for Zero Loss of Human and Animal Lives in Sherqilla Floods

On 3 August 2017, in the pre-dawn hours of 4:30 am, the community-based flood early warning systems (CBFEWS) at ...

19 Dec 2019 HI-LIFE
Promoting local food systems and food-based value chain in the Far-Eastern Himalayan Landscape

The workshop involved 30 participants (including 10 women) from government bodies, academia, I/NGOs, the private sector, and communities ...

17 Nov 2015 News
Soil Study in Mustang

  Up to 18 thousand gross tonnes of carbon are stored in worldwide soils, almost double the amount stored in all ...

16 Aug 2017 News
Strengthening Cooperation with Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The MoU was signed in Thimphu in the presences of officials from BCCI, colleagues from ICIMOD, private sector organizations, and ...