The landscape of the Karakoram, Pamir Mountains and the Wakhan along the China-Pakistan- Afghanistan and Tajikistan border area represents a highly fragile alpine ecosystem with unique biodiversity that is currently under threat from increasing anthropogenic pressure and drivers of global change. The Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape (HKPL) Initiative is a transboundary effort aimed at addressing cross-border challenges and opportunities through the development of a regional framework for cooperation and understanding. The framework will provide a basis for an integrated and participatory approach for conservation, adaptation, and sustainable development. The process will be based upon the development of an improved regional knowledge base, information and experience sharing, capacity building, and promotion of stakeholder consultation and community participation.

The HKPL Initiative seeks the support and collaboration of various stakeholders, including the Governments of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Tajikistan; international development agencies; local organizations and community members to formulate a long-term conservation and development plan. The participation and involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, including local agro-pastoral communities, is essential for the development of a plan that balances the objectives of conserving this fragile ecosystem and fulfilling the needs of communities reliant on the area’s natural resources.

The Initiative builds on the experiences gained in the development and implementation of transboundary regional cooperation processes initiated within the Kailash and Kangchenjunga regions under the integrated transboundary landscapes approach for sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation being promoted by ICIMOD in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Ecosystem management approaches advocated and promoted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (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.

*Disclaimer: Tajikistan in not a part of the HKH member country but important when looking at the landscape in a holistic manner.