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David James Molden
3 mins Read
Last December more than 400 experts on climate change and climate change resilience gathered on our campus in Kathmandu to discuss ways to help HKH communities prepare for shocks, recover from shocks, and bounce forward stronger than before.
This was our Resilient HKH conference and it proved a fitting way to end a successful 2017, as the assembly brought together people from around the world and around the HKH with a shared focus to preserve the health and strength of mountains and mountain communities.
The conference produced a series of 12 action points, including calls to promote and strengthen regional cooperation, support the development of entrepreneurs (especially among women and youth), and promoting ICIMOD as a regional forum for knowledge generation and dissemination.
And while we were proud of that conference and what it accomplished, we turned immediately to face the New Year and the many social and environmental challenges that still confront the HKH region.
To do this, we focus on two important documents that represent countless hours consultation with partners, of hard work and planning from ICIMOD staff, and feedback and approval from our Board: the Strategy and Results Framework (SRF), and the Mid-Term Action Plan IV (MTAP). Together these documents will provide ICIMOD’s path for the next five years.
ICIMOD’s work is designed to achieve specific results that produce transformative change in the lives of mountain people. The SRF provides a five-year roadmap we will follow to achieve those results: adoption of innovative practices, developed human and institutional capacity, and a strong role influencing policy, among others.
ICIMOD delivers impact through its six Regional Programmes, and the SRF outlines the vision of each one, including the outcomes the programme expects to achieve, and—this is key—how they will measure their progress. We will build on experience with regional approaches to ecosystem and water management, on climate change, air quality, and disaster risk management. At the community level, we address issues related to youth, migration, and gender equality. We search for, identify and test, the means to outscale different options for livelihood diversification, and consider the role of markets for realizing opportunities with high-value niche products and sustainable tourism.
The SRF firmly places ICIMOD in its proper niche as a regional knowledge sharing and generation organization where we can apply tools like remote sensing, but also where we can bridge the gaps between science, policy and practice.
Perhaps most importantly, the SRF takes stock of ICIMOD’s experience working in the HKH, drawing upon the lessons we’ve learned over the past 35 years. What works, what doesn’t work, what could work but needs some adjustment? Questions like these have informed the SRF and illustrate the kind of self-reflection and stakeholder consultation necessary to address the many complex challenges of today’s mountain world.
While the SRF provides the vision, the MTAP offers the work plan for achieving our goals, detailing the steps we will take to realize our shared goals. This five-year plan provides details on how ICIMOD works to put research into use, measures its impact, and develops innovative methods for transdisciplinary work, partnership building, private sector collaboration, and outscaling solutions.
At centre of our work are the men, women and children of HKH and their relationship with the mountain environment. To ensure inclusive development in this region, mountain voices and issues need more recognition in policy making at national, regional and global levels. The MTAP provides special focus on how we aim to achieve this influence and how we will work to improve regional cooperation through the HKH.
Finally, as we move hopefully into 2018, we want to thank our eight government supporters, who have helped develop and approved these two key documents. With their guidance, we feel strong and assured moving into the next five years working for mountains and people in the HKH.
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山地被广泛认为是生物多样性的发源地,其陡峭的斜坡孕育了各种繁复的生命形式。这些地区作为自然的庇护所变得愈发重要:虽然它们只占据了地球总面积的四分之一,却容纳了地球上85%的两栖动物、鸟类和哺乳动物。这种丰富的自然资源在联合国教科文组织的738个全球生物圈保护区中得到体现,其中明显超过一半位于山区。 然而,令人担忧的是,这些自然资源的非凡丰富正面临威胁。过去,由于偏远或地形困难,山地得以免受人类干扰,但如今这种状况逐渐减少。曾经被视为大自然摇篮和避难所的山地正在逐渐转变成墓地。在兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区,上个世纪就已经失去了70%的生物多样性。这些损失,包括物种的灭绝,如今正以加速度增长,正如ICIMOD的重要评估报告《兴都库什喜马拉雅的水、冰、社会和生态系统》(简称《HIWISE报告》)所指出的那样。 在公众、政治和外交层面,人们越来越认识到自然是我们当前危机中最重要的解决方案之一。联合国已宣布2021-2030年为生态系统恢复十年,去年,《昆明-蒙特利尔全球生物多样性框架》的指导下,全球100多个政府承诺在2030年之前将30%的陆地和海洋保留给自然,其中包括兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区。今年,在联合国全球气候大会COP28上,自然首次成为讨论的核心议题。 这些努力,以及今年国际山岳日的“生态系统恢复”主题,为恢复和保护山区景观提供了迫切需要的推动力。那么,我们的八个成员国离实现“30x30”目标有多近呢?到目前为止,不丹是唯一一个实际超额达标的国家,其51.4%的土地面积已经属于各种保护区类别。 尼泊尔只有不到24%的土地受到保护;中国仅为16%,略高于目标的一半;巴基斯坦占12%;印度为8%;缅甸为7%;孟加拉国为5%,阿富汗为4%。 令人担忧的是,在整个兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区,自然资源仍然丰富的关键区域仍处在保护之外:67%的生态区、39%的生物多样性热点、69%的关键生物多样性区域以及76%的重要鸟类和生物多样性区都没有得到保护。 现有的保护区域犹如在人类改变过的景观中的“孤岛”,缺乏与其他保护区域的连通走廊,无法满足广泛分布的物种需求,并且面临非法捕猎、侵占和资源开采的压力。现有的保护区域不足以确保成功保护我们地区的象征性物种,包括亚洲象、独角犀牛和孟加拉虎。 一个尚未尝试的解决方案是建立跨界生物圈保护区,这将允许在景观层面进行综合保护。实现这一目标需要跨越国家边界的共同政治承诺,并在共享生态系统的管理方面展开合作。ICIMOD将积极推动我们区域成员国接受这一解决方案。 然而,底线是,要扭转自然的损失,我们必须对其进行估值并提供相应的资金支持。只要经济学家继续将其价值定为零,就不会引起足够的重视。在进行估值之前,拥有大量自然资本但经济欠发达的国家将因为缺乏3A信用评级而难以以较低贷款利率借款。必须为该地区的国家提供更便宜的资本来促使自然的恢复:这是ICIMOD将与我们的成员、多边开发银行和其他机构紧急合作推进的事项。为了防止地球系统完全崩溃,我们必须为大自然提供一个适宜的生存环境,这一观点从未像现在这样显而易见。
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