View this email in your browser

Protect the pulse.

The Hindu Kush Himalaya is the pulse of the planet. Being at the top of the world, changes happen here before they happen anywhere else and the beat of this place vibrates across the globe. We are ICIMOD. Together with our partners, we protect the pulse. 

Read More

A flood of challenges

The ICIMOD family has been working from home since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides the deluge of news about the virus and its impacts across the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, we have also been witnessing rain – and lots of it. April and May are normally dry, but here in Kathmandu we had an unusually wet pre-monsoon period, and monsoon has brought torrential and unceasing rain.

In many ways this has been a blessing. The skies look beautiful and clear, peppered with soaring clouds, and we are treated to occasional glimpses of the snowy Himalaya. We are surrounded by lush greenery, biodiverse forests, and beautiful, productive agricultural fields. But the rainy season also spells danger, especially during intense heavy rainfall events.

Announcements

COVID-19 impact and policy responses in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life in the HKH and compounded the vulnerabilities of mountain communities already impacted by climate change.

Read More

ICIMOD Annual Report 2019

The stories in this annual report provide a summary of our accomplishments over the last year. They showcase key aspects of our work on multiple fronts – from working with communities, engaging policymakers, acilitating regional...

Read More
HKPL Webinar Episode 1

Building a resilient Bam-e-Dunya: Untold stories, lessons and opportunities

Missed attending our recent webinar? Watch the recording.

Watch on Youtube

Vacancies

 
 
STAFF ARTICLES

How healthy and biodiverse ecosystems safeguard us against zoonotic diseases

Read More
STAFF ARTICLES

Migration and climate change in South Asia: What happens when spatial diversification of livelihoods is not an option anymore?

Read More
PRESS RELEASE

HKH post COVID-19 resilient recovery plans must consider mountain realities

Read More
FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL

ICIMOD’s work and the COVID-19 crisis

Read More
View All

Featured news/articles

STAFF ARTICLES

Working together even when apart: Lessons from SWaRMA’s remote partnership work


Read More
NEWS

Third UIBN RSC meeting: Reflecting on shared lessons and expanding collaborative research in the UIB

Read More
STAFF ARTICLES

Towards enhanced disaster risk reduction in the Koshi River basin: A look at the downstream reaches of Bihar in India

Read More
NEWS

Interpreting and applying numerical weather prediction in Pakistan


Read More
View All

Featured dataset

Clean ice and debris covered glaciers of HKH region

The comprehensive baseline information on the glaciers of the HKH region was generated semi-automatically using more than 200 Landsat 7 ETM+ images of 2005 ± 3 years with minimum cloud and snow coverage. The glacier outlines were derived by using object-based image classification method separately for clean-ice and debris-covered glaciers with some manual intervention. The attribute data were assigned to each glacier using 90m resolution SRTM DEM. This data does not cover the China part.

Read More

Publications

ICIMOD Annual Report 2019

The stories in this annual report provide a summary of our accomplishments over the last year. They showcase key aspects of our work on multiple fronts – from working with communities, engaging policymakers, facilitating regional cooperation, promoting gender and social inclusion, and generating new knowledge and building capacity – to create positive change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.

Read More

COVID-19 impact and policy responses in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life in the HKH and compounded the vulnerabilities of mountain communities already impacted by climate change. However, it also presents an opportunity for concrete actions toward the transformation necessary for a more resilient and inclusive HKH. In this comprehensive policy paper, we assess the impacts of the pandemic, the risks and vulnerabilities, and provide policy responses and actions required for countries and more robust regional and international cooperation for the mountains.

Read More

Experiences and lessons learnt from HI-AWARE’s climate change adaptation pilots

This Working Paper compiles the experiences and lessons learnt from specific adaptation pilot interventions under the Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE) Research on Glacier and Snowpack Dependent River Basins for Improving Livelihoods.

Read More

Proceedings of the training on the impact of climate change on the Kabul River basin using the JAMS/J2000 modelling system 06-16 November 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal

The Strengthening Water Resources Management in Afghanistan (SWaRMA) Initiative conducted an institutional capacity building training on climate change and its impacts on the Kabul River basin from 6 to 16 November 2019 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Read More

Proceedings of the workshop on gender integrated planning in water resources management in Afghanistan 10–13 March 2019 Kabul, Afghanistan

Water scarcity has been cited as a major problem in Afghanistan. The issue is intricate and involves questions of availability, accessibility, affordability, and safety. Afghanistan’s 2009 Water Law grants equitable right to water to all, but not everybody enjoys this right equally. The division of labour in conservative, rural areas is rigid, constituting several barriers to the equal participation of Afghan women.

Read More

Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process to support decision making on climate change adaptation

This training manual is based on existing literature on the Analytic Hierarchy Process and is set within the Government of Nepal's National Framework on Local Adaptation Plans for Action. It aims to support adaptation decision makers in government institutions, international agencies, and civil society institutions as well as other development partners in identifying and prioritizing adaptation solutions at the national and sub-national levels.

Read More

Journal articles

Chitale, VSMurthy, MSR;  Gilani, H; Ghate, R  (2020). 'Understanding socio-ecological drivers of fuelwood dynamics and their impact in Churia hills of Nepal.' In Tropical Ecology 61: 76-83  DOI: 10.1007/s42965-020-00069-7.

We propose an innovative approach of coupling socio-ecological attributes in Kayarkhola watershed in Churia hills, Nepal, using remote-sensing datasets and field observations to understand the patterns of fuelwood dynamics. Using multi-temporal moderate resolution satellite datasets, we analyse the patterns of land use and land cover change from 1990 to 2010 and assessed the effectiveness of community forestry management. We observed low forest loss in community forests in comparison with those falling outside community forests. We conclude that family size, income levels, and illiteracy are the most significant individual factors. The scenarios developed in this study can be extrapolated in different landscapes to quantify the fuelwood dynamics, which will help in better forest cover management and conservation.

Gupta, NTiwari, V;  Everard, M;  Savage, M;  Hussain, SA;  Chadwick, MA;  Johnson, JA;  Nawab, A; Belwal, VK  (2020). 'Assessing the distribution pattern of otters in four rivers of the Indian Himalayan biodiversity hotspot, 2020.' In Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 30: 601-610  DOI: 10.1002/aqc.3284.

Hamal, K;  Sharma, S;  Khadka, N;  Baniya, B;  Ali, M;  Shrestha, MS;  Xu, T;  Shrestha, D; Dawadi, B  (2020). 'Evaluation of MERRA-2 precipitation products using gauge observation in Nepal, 2020.' In Hydrology 7: 40.

Immerzeel, WW;  Lutz, AF;  Andrade, M;  Bahl, A;  Biemans, H;  Bolch, T;  Hyde, S;  Brumby, S;  Davies, BJ;  Elmore, AC;  Emmer, A;  Feng, M;  Fernández, A;  Haritashya, U;  Kargel, JS;  Koppes, M;  Kraaijenbrink, PDA;  Kulkarni, AV;  Mayewski, PA;  Nepal, S;  Pacheco, P;  Painter, TH;  Pellicciotti, F;  Rajaram, H;  Rupper, S;  Sinisalo, AShrestha, AB;  Viviroli, D;  Wada, Y;  Xiao, C;  Yao, T; Baillie, JEM  (2020). 'Importance and vulnerability of the world’s water towers.' In Nature 577: 364-369  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1822-y.

Mountains are the water towers of the world. They are highly sensitive and prone to climate change, yet their importance and vulnerability have not been quantified at the global scale. We present a global water tower index, which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. We assess each water tower's vulnerability related to water stress, governance, hydropolitical tension, and future climatic and socioeconomic changes. We conclude that the most important water towers are also among the most vulnerable, and that climatic and socioeconomic changes will affect them profoundly. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world’s most important and vulnerable water towers.

KC, B;  Mahapatra, PS;  Thakker, D;  Henry, AP;  Billington, CK;  Sayers, I;  Puppala, SP; Hall, IP  (2020). 'Proinflammatory effects in Ex Vivo human lung tissue of respirable smoke extracts from indoor cooking in Nepal.' In Annals of the American Thoracic Society 17: 688-698  DOI: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201911-827OC.

Rasul, G;  Pasakhala, B;  Mishra, A; Pant, S  (2020). 'Adaptation to mountain cryosphere change: issues and challenges.' In Climate and Development 12: 297-309  DOI: 10.1080/17565529.2019.1617099.

The cryosphere provides multiple services to society, but mountain cryosphere is shrinking at an alarming rate worldwide due to climate change. Adaptation to cryosphere change is essential to avoid irreversible damage. We synthesize adaptation actions currently practised in the mountain ranges of the Andes, Alps, Pamir, Tien Shan, and Himalaya in response to cryosphere change; discuss common constraints; and suggest actions for creating an enabling environment for adaptation. It identifies various adaptation measures adopted by different actors. However, most adaptation measures are autonomous, narrowly focused and short term, without adequate planning and government support. Further research is needed to better understand factors influencing adaptation actions, and the policy options and responses that can overcome existing barriers.

Thorn, JPR;  Klein, JA;  Steger, C;  Hopping, KA;  Capitani, C;  Tucker, CM;  Nolin, AW;  Reid, RS;  Seidl, R;  Chitale, VS; Marchant, R  (2020). 'A systematic review of participatory scenario planning to envision lountain social-ecological systems futures.' In Ecology and Society 25 DOI: 10.5751/ES-11608-250306.

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
LinkedIn
Instagram
Website
Copyright © 2020 International Centre For Integrated Mountain Development, All rights reserved.

You have received this email because you subscribed to the newsletter at www.icimod.org or you requested us to add you to our mailing list.

Our mailing address is:
International Centre For Integrated Mountain Development
ICIMOD, Khumaltar
GPO Box 3226
Kathmandu 44600
Nepal

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.