Assessment of benefits and values of protected areas in the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape

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About the workshop

This virtual workshop aims to strengthen the ecosystem-based management of ecologically contiguous protected areas (PAs) in Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape (HKPL) countries. Specifically, the workshop’s objectives are as follows:

• Identify benefits, benefit flows, and value of benefits accrued and anticipated from the six PAs (listed in the “Background” section)
• Discuss the PAs for ecosystem services shared beyond national borders in the HKPL
• Identify opportunities for the joint management of ecosystem services at the landscape level

The following outcomes are expected by the end of the workshop:

• A checklist of benefits and values of the six PAs, covering both economic and non-economic uses/values
• A list of stakeholders – local and transboundary, including but not limited to communities, governments, businesses, etc.
• Information about key changes in PA ecosystems, their drivers, and impacts on ecosystem services
• Suggestions for the joint management of shared PA resources, services, and benefits in the HKPL – a stakeholder’s perspective

Proposed participants

At least 12–15 participants from each country in the landscape, representing the following key groups from each PA, will participate in the workshop:

• Local communities, living inside the PAs or in the periphery/buffer zone – who rely on PA resources for their livelihood and household economy
• Civil society organizations including local community organizations (e.g. Khunjerab Valley Organization, Qurumber Valley Conservation and Development Organization, and Shimshal Natural Trust) and other groups (e.g. herders, beekeepers, hunters, fishers)
• Park authorities – field, supervisory, and managerial staffs
• Local administration – district or provincial governments and their line departments, such as environment, forest and wildlife, water and power, and tourism
• Businesses and enterprises (tourism/ecotourism) and those industries that rely on PA resources, such as water resources that supply hydro-electric power, drinking/bottled water, medicinal and aromatic herbs, and firewood and fodder to the wider population
• Research institutions/universities and local media.

Background

The HKPL is a transboundary complex spread across 67,506 km², covering parts of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. It is a highly fragile alpine ecosystem at the junction of three mountain ranges – the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush, the Pamir, and the Himalaya. The area is home to over one million people from the Wakhi, Kyrgyz, Sarakuli, Kho, Burusho, Shinaki, Yashkun, Pamiri, and Kazakh ethnic groups. The landscape is also rich in biodiversity, including the snow leopard (Panthera uncia), Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus), the Marco Polo sheep (Avis ammon polii) and markhor (Capra falconeri).

The core area of HKPL comprises six PAs shared among the landscape countries that offer tremendous benefits and services to local communities, institutions, and businesses. These PAs include Wakhan National Park in Afghanistan; Taxkorgan Nature Reserve in China; Broghil National Park, Khunjerab National Park, and Qurumber National Park in Pakistan; and Zorkul Nature Reserve in Tajikistan.

Agriculture, energy, fisheries, and tourism are the key economic sectors that benefit most from the ecosystem services that these PAs provide. However, the PA resources are often over-exploited, but the economic gains are usually underestimated, irrespective of their social, economic, and environmental value. At present, there is no proper system of pricing and marketing the high-value ecosystem services offered by the PAs, and nor is the cost of ecosystem degradation considered by concerned planners in resource management decisions. It is not enough to simply say that PAs offer numerous benefits; they need to be economically assessed for wider recognition and consideration by planners and decision makers.

The HKPL Initiative is one of the four transboundary landscape initiatives of ICIMOD. The initiative aims to foster biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the HKPL region through the science–policy–practice connect and regional cooperation among the landscape countries under the banner of the Bam-e-Dunya Network.

Agenda

All the time is in Nepal Standard Time (NPT)