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Transboundary Landscapes
The Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI) promotes transboundary cooperation and sustainable development to conserve ecosystems, biodiversity, and ways of life across China, India, and Nepal.
At a glance
Long-term environmental conservation, safeguarding of cultural linkages, and enhanced resilience of communities in the landscape
Janita Gurung
Programme Coordinator
Our focus
From Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar to vital rivers such as the Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, and Karnali, people separated by borders are united by the Kailash Sacred Landscape’s cultural and environmental assets. And their shared experiences can be harnessed to ensure the landscape’s long-term sustainable development and conservation.
Our work accordingly transcends geographical boundaries. It involves various actors and stakeholders from the countries that share the landscape: China, India, and Nepal. All three member countries have endorsed the regional cooperation framework, a guiding instrument for developing and implementing KSLCDI.
We strengthen transboundary cooperation by institutionalizing elements of the regional cooperation framework. And we are committed to mainstreaming sustainable ecosystem management approaches and practices in the context of climate change adaptation, pushing for better planning and decision making informed by scientific research and community inputs.
Strengthen transboundary cooperation by institutionalizing elements of the regional cooperation framework
Ensure widescale adoption of sustainable environmental conservation practices for long-term monitoring and socioeconomic research
Establish a regional knowledge-sharing platform to support evidence-based decision making at the regional and national levels
In 2018, the first Cross-border Tourism and Trade Fair held in Limi Valley, Humla, revived the cross-border connect, enhancing economic, cultural and social lifelines in the region. The second iteration of this event – the Kailash Confluence – was organized in Yalbang, Humla, on 23–24 September 2019. The event brought participants from China, India, and Nepal together to celebrate the region’s shared culture, history, and economy and foster transboundary tourism and trade in the region.
News and features
Featured partner
The Friends of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (FEBA) is a network of organizations promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing on nature-based solutions. This annual newsletter exclusively features events and publications, and upcoming activities and knowledge products related to ICIMOD’s Regional Programme on Transboundary Landscapes and its initiatives – HI-LIFE, HKPL, KSLCDI, and KLCDI.
NEWSLETTER
Photobook
In September 2018, Namkha Rural Municipality, Humla, held its first cross-border travel and trade fair – the Kailash Confluence – to celebrate the shared history, culture, and socioeconomy of the populations living in the transboundary areas of Nepal, India, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China. This photo book celebrates and documents this seminal event.
We have a deep history of work across a broad range of issues enabling sustainable development in the complex environment of the HKH. We have been protecting the pulse for over three decades.
Gender refers to the socially constructed roles held by women and men in a specific society, including their responsibilities, behaviours, and attitudes towards each other.
With their steep terrain, fragmented landscape and thermal gradients, mountain ecosystems are host to higher species richness and levels of endemism than adjacent lowlands. Many organisms adapt and specialise in these microhabitats, which can provide islands of suitable habitat isolated from unfavourable surrounding lowlands.
Events around the HKH
KSLCDI components
The major components of the programme have been defined with an output, broad activities, and outcomes.
Photo: Jitendra Bajracharya/ICIMOD
Photo: Jhony Lepcha/IUCN Sikkim
Photo: Subesh Gupta/HIMAWANTI Nepal
Photo: G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE)
Photo: Rishabh Sirkar/Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
Credit: Nakul Chettri/ICIMOD
Photo: WII, India
Building partnerships for conservation and development in the HKH
You will find publications produced or related to this Initiative in HimalDoc, our publications repository. These resources include journal articles, books, book chapters, research reports, working papers, brochures, information sheets, and publicity materials, among other products.
We embrace diversity
Both internally and externally, our multicultural staff and partners are our greatest asset. They provide us with a broad perspective across disciplines and offer us localized knowledge like no other.
Related contents
KSLCDI's work transcends geographical boundaries and involves various actors and stakeholders from the countries that share the landscape: China, India, and Nepal. Read more about our impacts.
