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Celebrating the International Day for Biological Diversity
The HKH region is endowed with a significant and very rich biodiversity The complex and diverse ecological systems are an integral part of the culture and traditions that form the basis of the livelihoods of more than 200 million people. However, the biodiversity of the region is facing multiple challenges through drivers such as change in land use and cover, globalisation and economic growth, and socioeconomic and demographic changes. The major challenge is to balance ecosystem conservation with sustainable use of biodiversity resources, especially for poor and marginalised mountain communities.
Andreas Schild
1 min Read
ICIMOD is celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) 2010 with various activities including bringing its experience in biodiversity conservation and management in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region to global conferences and meetings, and organising regional and national events.
This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity, with its theme ‘Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation’, provides an especially important opportunity for raising public awareness. ICIMOD joins the world in celebrating the day from 22-24 May to increase awareness of biodiversity issues; and help people understand the Centre’s conservation activities and the importance of biodiversity for sustainable mountain development in the region. As a part of the celebrations, ICIMOD is organising an e-discussion on ‘Biodiversity and Gender’, and a regional photo contest on ‘Mountain Biodiversity’ reflecting the themes of the International Year ‘Biodiversity is Life Biodiversity is Our Life’ and of the International Day. A special programme will be organised at the Centre on 24th May. The winners of the photo contest will be announced and the photographs exhibited; a draft summary from the ongoing e-discussion on ‘Biodiversity and Gender’ will be shared; and the regional ‘HKH Conservation Portal’ will be launched. A street drama will be performed on the theme ‘Water and Biodiversity’ by a local youth organisation at three public venues in the Kathmandu Valley.
ICIMOD is also promoting the IYB in the run up to the Day, by participating in the Fourteenth Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-14) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) from 10-21 May in Nairobi, Kenya.
The theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity is important for us as it directly reflects ICIMOD’s concerns and approach, as seen in the conservation and sustainable development initiatives of the Centre. ICIMOD is integrating biodiversity into the development agenda at the regional, national, and local levels. The initiatives include promotion of transboundary conservation by regional collaboration, promoting value addition interventions for non-timber forest products and medicinal and aromatic plants, and promoting pro-poor trade and tourism activities. We hope that this Day will help to increase awareness and motivate many people to take initiatives that consider biodiversity as a source for sustainable livelihoods in the mountains.
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近期的空气质量寿命指数（AQLI）报告标题为：“空气污染是地球上人类预期寿命面临的最大外部威胁”。这一严厉警告应该足以激励全球采取行动应对这一最严重且无处不在的威胁。然而，目前还没有专门针对这一“沉默杀手”的全球合作框架或公约。据世界卫生组织称，每年有 700 万人过早死亡与空气污染有关，这比迄今为止死于 Covid-19 的人数还多，而且根据该报告，空气污染对普通人的健康危害比吸烟或酗酒还大。为纪念今年国际清洁空气蓝天日，我紧急呼吁全球和地区领导人建立应对空气污染的全球合作框架。该框架应与解决“三重地球危机”的其中两个要素——气候变化和生物多样性丧失——的框架保持一致。 兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区受到的空气污染的严重影响，根源有很多，包括：机动车辆、工业、焚烧固体生物燃料、农作物秸秆和家庭废物。重要的是，这类受污染的空气并不是某个城市、地区或国家特有的，而是整个印度河-恒河平原和喜马拉雅山麓——横跨北印度次大陆和山脉的数十万平方公里的区域——所共有的。该地区空气中的悬浮颗粒经常超过安全水平，影响着居住在这里的大约十亿人。 正如联合国空气污染倡议所解释的，颗粒物是微小的污染颗粒，这些微小、肉眼看不见的颗粒污染物会深入我们的肺部、血液和身体。约三分之一的中风、慢性呼吸道疾病和肺癌死亡病例以及四分之一的心脏病死亡病例都因这些污染物造成。阳光下许多不同污染物相互作用产生的地面臭氧也是哮喘和慢性呼吸道疾病的原因之一。 美国芝加哥大学能源政策研究所发布的空气质量寿命指数报告显示：“如果污染水平将持续，孟加拉国、印度、尼泊尔和巴基斯坦的居民预计平均寿命会缩短约 5 年。” 报告继续指出，“亚洲和非洲负担最重，但缺乏关键基础设施”。尽管如此，我们还是有理由希望在我们的地区找到可能的解决方案，因为中国在空气污染防治的努力仍然取得了显着成功，而且工作仍在进行中。正如该报告所述，“自 2013 年（即中国开始“反污染之战”的前一年）以来，中国的污染已下降了 42.3%。由于这些改善，如果减排持续，中国公民的平均寿命预计会延长 2.2 年。”
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山地被广泛认为是生物多样性的发源地，其陡峭的斜坡孕育了各种繁复的生命形式。这些地区作为自然的庇护所变得愈发重要：虽然它们只占据了地球总面积的四分之一，却容纳了地球上85%的两栖动物、鸟类和哺乳动物。这种丰富的自然资源在联合国教科文组织的738个全球生物圈保护区中得到体现，其中明显超过一半位于山区。 然而，令人担忧的是，这些自然资源的非凡丰富正面临威胁。过去，由于偏远或地形困难，山地得以免受人类干扰，但如今这种状况逐渐减少。曾经被视为大自然摇篮和避难所的山地正在逐渐转变成墓地。在兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区，上个世纪就已经失去了70%的生物多样性。这些损失，包括物种的灭绝，如今正以加速度增长，正如ICIMOD的重要评估报告《兴都库什喜马拉雅的水、冰、社会和生态系统》（简称《HIWISE报告》）所指出的那样。 在公众、政治和外交层面，人们越来越认识到自然是我们当前危机中最重要的解决方案之一。联合国已宣布2021-2030年为生态系统恢复十年，去年，《昆明-蒙特利尔全球生物多样性框架》的指导下，全球100多个政府承诺在2030年之前将30%的陆地和海洋保留给自然，其中包括兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区。今年，在联合国全球气候大会COP28上，自然首次成为讨论的核心议题。 这些努力，以及今年国际山岳日的“生态系统恢复”主题，为恢复和保护山区景观提供了迫切需要的推动力。那么，我们的八个成员国离实现“30x30”目标有多近呢？到目前为止，不丹是唯一一个实际超额达标的国家，其51.4%的土地面积已经属于各种保护区类别。 尼泊尔只有不到24%的土地受到保护；中国仅为16%，略高于目标的一半；巴基斯坦占12%；印度为8%；缅甸为7%；孟加拉国为5%，阿富汗为4%。 令人担忧的是，在整个兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区，自然资源仍然丰富的关键区域仍处在保护之外：67%的生态区、39%的生物多样性热点、69%的关键生物多样性区域以及76%的重要鸟类和生物多样性区都没有得到保护。 现有的保护区域犹如在人类改变过的景观中的“孤岛”，缺乏与其他保护区域的连通走廊，无法满足广泛分布的物种需求，并且面临非法捕猎、侵占和资源开采的压力。现有的保护区域不足以确保成功保护我们地区的象征性物种，包括亚洲象、独角犀牛和孟加拉虎。 一个尚未尝试的解决方案是建立跨界生物圈保护区，这将允许在景观层面进行综合保护。实现这一目标需要跨越国家边界的共同政治承诺，并在共享生态系统的管理方面展开合作。ICIMOD将积极推动我们区域成员国接受这一解决方案。 然而，底线是，要扭转自然的损失，我们必须对其进行估值并提供相应的资金支持。只要经济学家继续将其价值定为零，就不会引起足够的重视。在进行估值之前，拥有大量自然资本但经济欠发达的国家将因为缺乏3A信用评级而难以以较低贷款利率借款。必须为该地区的国家提供更便宜的资本来促使自然的恢复：这是ICIMOD将与我们的成员、多边开发银行和其他机构紧急合作推进的事项。为了防止地球系统完全崩溃，我们必须为大自然提供一个适宜的生存环境，这一观点从未像现在这样显而易见。
