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5 – 11 February 2024 | KATHMANDU, NEPAL
Once protected by its remoteness, the astonishing biodiversity for which the Hindu-Kush Himalayas (HKH) are world famous is being lost at an extraordinary speed as a result of climate change, land-use change, and pollution.
70%
%
A staggering 70% of plant and animal species in the region, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, has been lost over the last century, and wildlife, rivers and springs, forests, rangelands and wetlands are in crisis.
85%
With up to 85% of rural communities in these areas directly reliant on nature for food, water, flood control, as well as cultural and artistic value, the impacts of these losses extend beyond nature: compounding the existing socio-economic vulnerability of the 271 million people who live in the mountains of the HKH.
Without action, this outlook is set to worsen very soon: the degradation of nature, especially through species and habitat loss, is accelerating – driven by extreme events such as fires, glacier melt and significant changes in snow and rainfall from climate change, and through other human activities such as land-use change and the direct exploitation of organisms.
At this critical moment for the region, 130 leading IPBES scientists will travel to ICIMOD, the headquarters of the leading body for the study of the region, in Kathmandu, Nepal, to finalise the draft of the IPBES thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, food, water and health (the nexus assessment) – a landmark report on the interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food, and health and climate change.
The experts are authors of the highly-anticipated nexus assessment from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent body of 145 member States working to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.
ICIMOD and the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE), Government of Nepal are co-hosting the third authors meeting for the IPBES Nexus Assessment.
About the event
ICIMOD and the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal are co-hosting the third authors meeting for the IPBES Nexus Assessment. The Nexus assessment is a thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food, and health, which is currently being prepared for consideration by the Plenary at its eleventh session in 2024.
The nexus assessment is currently being prepared for consideration by the IPBES Plenary at its eleventh session, to be held later this year in Windhoek, Namibia.
The third author meeting will be followed by a meeting to advance the summary for policy makers of the report, from 10-11 February 2024, also at ICIMOD Headquarters, Kathmandu, Nepal.
The main objective of the assessment is to provide governments and decision-makers at all levels with scientific information and options that they can use to develop biodiversity policies and actions that address the complex interlinkages between the nexus elements – biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change.
Related
This book presents 10 efficient, cost-effective and custom-made solutions that have been tested in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region and are suitable for up-scaling and out-scaling to other regions. Each solution can contribute to several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and thus help ensure a better future for all. The 10 solutions showcased here are examples of a large number of diverse, nature-based solutions that provide long-term benefits to local communities, their environment and livelihoods by increasing their resilience to change.
This publication was developed as a part of the Resilient Mountain Solutions (RMS) initiative in collaboration with GRID-Arendal, Norway. The RMS Initiative is implemented by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in collaboration with local partners and is funded by the governments of Norway and Sweden.
The Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HI-WISE) report draws on recent scientific advances to map for the first time the links between the cryosphere, water, biodiversity, and society in the region, charting the impacts of rapid changes in glaciers and snow on people and nature.
Based on an assessment of the literature, this peer-reviewed report shows that the HKH cryosphere is undergoing unprecedented and largely irreversible changes over human timescales, primarily driven by climate change. The impacts are becoming increasingly clear, with increased warming at higher elevations, the accelerated melting of glaciers, increasing permafrost thaw, declining snow cover, and more erratic snowfall patterns.
The report also provides recommendations for policymakers on addressing the cascading impacts of climate change in the critical mountain biome, which will affect a quarter of the world’s population.
The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011–2020), formally adopted by COP in 2010 in Aichi, Japan provided an overarching global framework on biodiversity whose vision is to value, restore, and conserve biodiversity for the benefit of all people by 2050. This retrospective analysis of progress against the 20 Aichi Targets based on the Sixth National Reports and the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) provides a comprehensive overview of the efforts made by HKH regional member countries in implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. The study is also expected to contribute to the CBD process when the parties review progress during CBD COP15. It will also strengthen the mechanisms that can support implementation and monitoring of targets in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
This book enumerates the diversity in the prevalence and use of vegetables in parts of Myanmar. It draws on our field studies in Myanmar, where we encountered people consuming interesting plant species as vegetables. For example, we saw parts of the moorva dregea (Wattakaka volubilis), belonging to the family Apocyanaceae, and jengkol (Archidendron pauciflorum), belonging to the family Fabaceae, being consumed as vegetables. These plants are generally considered poisonous by scientists. Likewise, the roots of the winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) and the seedlings of the wine palm (Borassus flabellifer), which have a pungent taste, are very popular vegetables in the dry season in Myanmar. Tea is a globally well-known and widely-consumed beverage. However, in Myanmar, Pu’er tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) is consumed as a beverage and a vegetable. The leaf that is consumed as a vegetable is fermented and preserved.
The Godavari-Phulchoki landscape is extremely rich in biodiversity. Over the years, researchers and nature enthusiasts have documented the incredible diversity of its birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and flora. This book documents in amazing detail the incredible diversity of orchids in the landscape, including a new generic record for the orchid flora of Nepal. This is the result of a four-year survey and in situ photo documentation effort. In highlighting the diversity, it also raises conservation concerns and reminds us that much more needs to be done by way of survey, documentation, and conservation of this diversity.
This report is an important milestone towards recognising the Hindu Kush Himalaya’s global significance under the World Heritage Convention, which fosters international cooperation.
The report lists seven broad areas in the HKH where new natural World Heritage sites could be found. It also identifies possible extensions of existing World Heritage sites, as for instance the area north of Mount Everest, situated in China, which could complete the already-listed Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal, to the south.
Some of the areas with World Heritage sites include the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape (HKPL) region shared by Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Tajikistan; Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion in north-eastern India; both the eastern and western Himalayan broadleaf and conifer forests; the eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows; parts of the “northern triangle” forests of northern Myanmar; Shey Phoksundo National Park and Upper Dolpo in Nepal; Sanjiangyuan and the Yaluzangbudaxiagu Nature Reserve in China; Central Karakoram and Hunza Valley in Pakistan; and Band-E-Amir in Afghanistan. One possible new river-specific site has also been proposed - the Ayeyawady River Corridor in Myanmar.
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.
Sunita Chaudhary
Ecosystem Services Specialist, ICIMOD
Note: The IPBES Nexus Assessment meeting is being hosted by the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal, ICIMOD with support from the Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP).
