Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation Initiative

The Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation Initiative is a collaborative effort of ICIMOD, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Governments of China, India, and Nepal. The aim is to engage regional, national, and local stakeholders, in efforts towards improved management of a transboundary biocultural landscape of great significance. The Initiative will develop a framework for cooperation and common understanding on transboundary landscape issues which will provide a basis for an integrated and participatory approach for conservation, adaptation, and sustainable development, within the context of global climate change. The process will be based upon development of an improved regional knowledge base, information and experience sharing, capacity building, and promotion of stakeholder consultation and community participation.
 
The Initiative builds on the experiences gained in the development of transboundary regional cooperation processes initiated within the Everest and Kangchenjunga regions under the integrated transboundary landscape approach for sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation being promoted by ICIMOD (ECES) in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region.
 
The Initiative was preceded by an extensive consultative process, and launched with an Inception Workshop and Regional Consultation in Kathmandu in July 2009. Ecosystem management approaches advocated and promoted by the CBD and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) will be used to identify threats to the environmental and cultural integrity of this unique region, to analyse change processes and drivers of change, and to develop the knowledge base upon which to build the framework and implementation strategy.

Geographical Coverage

Kailash Sacred Landscape, the larger region Mt. Kailash encompassing its cultural geography (including the southwestern portion of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, and parts of northern India and northwestern Nepal)

Duration

Phase I - August 2009 – January 2011
Pre-inception Consultation: April - July 2009

Core Financial Partners

UNEP

Implementing Partners

Ministries from respective governments, scientific institutions, and community-based organisations in the member countries

Ministries

• Chinese Academy of Sciences, People's Republic Of China
  http://english.igsnrr.cas.cn/
• Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), Government of India
  http://moef.nic.in/
• Ministry of Forest & Soil Conservation(MoFSC),  Government of Nepal
  http://www.mofsc.gov.np/

Lead Institutions

• Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, People's Republic Of China
  http://english.igsnrr.cas.cn/eocg/nr/lmr/
• G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, India
  http://gbpihed.nic.in/
• Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
  http://cdbtu.edu.np/