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HI-LIFE

About

The Landscape Initiative for Far Eastern Himalayas (HI-LIFE - formerly Brahmaputra-Salween Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative - BSLCDI) is a collaborative effort of ICIMOD and the Governments of China, India, and Myanmar.

hi-life about

Landscape Initiative for Far Eastern Himalayas (HI-LIFE)

The Landscape Initiative for Far Eastern Himalayas (HI-LIFE – formerly Brahmaputra-Salween Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative – BSLCDI) is a collaborative effort of ICIMOD and the Governments of China, India, and Myanmar. The aim is collaboration among local, national, and regional stakeholders in efforts toward improved management of this globally significant, biodiversity-rich landscape. The partners of the Initiative have developed a framework for cooperation and common understanding on transboundary landscape issues which will provide a basis for an integrated and participatory approach for conservation, adaptation, and sustainable development, within the context of global climate change.

Objectives
  • Foster regional partnerships and capacity for scientific and technical cooperation
  • Scale up best practices and innovations for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem management, and livelihoods development
  • Strengthen community-based approaches valuing traditional knowledge, skills, and practices
Contact

Yi Shaoliang
Programme Coordinator
Landscape Initiative for Far Eastern Himalayas

Bandana Shakya
Associate Programme Coordinator
Landscape Initiative for Far Eastern Himalayas

News from landscape
Transboundary landscape
Date Note URL Address
25/08/2005 Biodiversity and conservation of rhododendrons in Arunachal Pradesh in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. Various in situ as well as ex situ measures like establishment of arboretums, sanctuaries, parks and reserve forests, protected areas through community management, botanical gardens and in vitro research procedures are prescribed to conserve this species for posterity. http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/aug252005/623.pdf
25/01/2013 China plans to dam the Nu (Salween) River, eight years after Premier Wen Jiabao suspended the plans amid environmental concerns. Government effort to promote hydroelectricity as a cleaner alternative in spite of coal. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1135463/ban-lifted-controversial-nu-river-dam-projects
7/02/2013 In fact, China has recently revealed its plans to build dams on both Brahmaputra and Salween rivers. Here is an opinion by Brahma Chellaney in the New York Times on the issue. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/opinion/global/chinas-hydro-hegemony.html?src=recg&_r=0
31/03/2014 First ever video footage of newly discovered Myanmar snub-nosed monkey released by Fauna and Flora International (FFI) in Kachin state, Myanmar. It is a critically endangered species in IUCN Red List. http://www.fauna-flora.org/news/first-video-footage-of-myanmar-snub-nosed-monkey-cap
22/05/2014 IUCN is in the process of awarding or has awarded approximately 70 grants to both international NGOs and local groups in the Indo-Burma hotspot, one of the three global biodiversity hotspots that form parts of the Brahmaputra-Salween Landscape. http://www.amphibians.org/news/new-funding-to-tackle-biodiversity-crisis-in-indo-burma-hotspot/
21/07/2014 Illegal trade on the China-Myanmar border. Although outside of the Brahmaputra-Salween Landscape, this photo essay in the Guardian highlights an important issue for the two countries to collaborate on https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/21/-sp-endangered-species-on-sale-along-burmachina-border
07/2015 Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, initially found in Myanmar and Critically Endangered, is being scientifically studied in the Gaoligong Mountains, Yunnan after it was also found in China. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-014-0425-3
03/03/2016 Poaching and illegal trade of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) are the major drivers of diminution leading to extinction of it. Present poaching hotspots in India are Western Ghats, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There is a clear evidence of increase in poaching of elephants in last few years. http://www.wwfindia.org/news_facts/?15201/Indias-mammoth-problem-Elephants-threatened-by-poaching-and-illegal-wildlife-trade
08/03/2016 61 signatory groups of CSO’s, political parties and religious groups of Kachin state urged to halt resource extraction in Northern Myanmar. Proposed for empowering ultimate management authority on natural resource extraction, taxation and revenue-sharing. http://www.kdng.org/kachin-groups-urge-halt-to-resource-extraction-in-northern-burma/
05/07/2016 Trafficking the Asian Otters for skins in China and India. http://annamiticus.com/2016/07/05/asian-otters-threatened-by-alarming-rise-in-illegal-trade/
07/09/2016 Enticing Birds of Arunachal Pradesh https://www.nelive.in/arunachal-pradesh/travel/enticing-birds-arunachal-pradesh
26/05/2017 Gaoligong Mountains: Yunnan’s largest nature reserve http://www.theindependentbd.com/arcprint/details/96290/2017-05-26

 

Protection in action
Date Note URL Address
15/05/2012 India’s offered for collaboration with the Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve, Myanmar to save big cat in the world’s largest tiger reserve. http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/india-to-help-myanmar-in-tiger-conservation/949448/0
16/07/2012 Conservation of the Critically Endangered, giant tree rhododendron on Gaoligong Mountain, Yunnan, China. Specimens from the herbarium of the Kunming Institute of Botany, CAS suggest for further surveys in northern part of it and Motuo in Tibet for more clarification. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8641236
01/04/2014 A new protected area has been proposed to protect the recently discovered Myanmar snub-nosed monkey. Here is the official word from the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry. http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/kachin-national-park-planned-protect-monkey-threatened-logging.htmlw.irrawaddy.org/burma/kachin-national-park-planned-protect-monkey-threatened-logging.html a>
13/03/2014 Are we focusing too much inside protected areas for conservation of endangered species? The answer may lie outside. “Look beyond the protected areas in hornbill conservation” after a state-wide survey in Arunachal Pradesh being conducted. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?aid=9625706&fileId=S0030605313000781
26/08/2014 Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary bordering China might be the third tiger reserve after survey being conducted by WII, India to confirm tiger presence. 10 pugmarks and 11 scats collected in the sanctuary. http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=aug2614/oth056
10/04/2015 Wildlife Conservation Society, Myanmar and Turtle Survival Alliance efforts to repopulate the wild riverbanks of Myanmar in collaboration with the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry. http://programs.wcs.org/myanmar/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/6677.aspx
27/01/2016 Nepal-China border targeted for combatting cross-border illegal trade of wild animals and forest products http://annamiticus.com/2016/01/27/china-requests-gift-of-two-rhinos-from-nepal/
04/10/2016 Pangolin’s receive the strictest international protection http://www.fauna-flora.org/news/lifeline-for-the-worlds-most-trafficked-mammal/
26/05/2017 Gaoligong Mountains: Villagers found association to protect biodiversity http://www.a1126.org/DispOneMessage.asp?txtOrgCode=CCEF&Category=04-01&ID=CCEF42881350335106&Page=1
19/05/2017 Belt and Road Environmental Cross-border Scheme Initiated https://www.icimod.org/:%22http://english.cas.cn/newsroom/news/201705/t20170519_177220.shtml%22

 

Beyond Conserving Nature
Date Note URL Address
09/09/2013 With the recent efforts in conflict resolution, Christian Samper, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, blogs on how natural resources can play the key role in bringing stability in the Myanmar. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-cristian-samper/in-myanmar_b_3727049.html
25/02/2014 Myanmar’s Northern Forest Complex has been submitted to UNESCO for the World Heritage listing http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5871/
724/11/2016 Kachin national park in bid for UNESCO World Heritage status. https://www.mmtimes.com/national-news/23859-kachin-national-park-in-bid-for-unesco-world-heritage-status.html

 

Integrated development
Date Note URL Address
2014 A recent IIED report on community forest enterprises in Myanmar includes Kachin State as one of the study regions, which makes up a large part of the Brahmaputra-Salween Landscape. http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/13571IIED.pdf
10/01/2014 WWF India partners with Tata Housing for conservation of snow leopards found across northeastern states of India including Arunachal Pradesh. The partnership addresses the snow leopard-human conflicts, building leopard proof structures for livestock. http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/wwf-india-partners-tata-housing-to-conserve-snow-leopards-114011000821_1.html
22/01/2014 Solar energy equipment’s distributed by the Wildlife Trust of India to address the power problems in area and wildlife conservation in Arunachal Pradesh. The trust hopes it will have a positive impact on Hoolock gibbons and Asiatic black bear conservation work. http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/india/%0A%20%20solar-energy-equipments-and-wildlife-conservation-in-arunachal-pradesh
13/06/2016 Dream of trans-boundary Chinese-Myanmar cooperation could become true, if Myanmar follows suit. http://www.theecologist.org/News/news-analysis/2987798/saving_the_Salween_southeast_asias_last_major_undammed_river.html
13/10/2016 China-Myanmar established Biodiversity Research Institute in Nay Pyi Taw. http://english.cas.cn/newsroom/news/201610/t20161013_168593.shtml
31/12/2017 Opportunity for community-based bird-watching ecotourism in Arunachal. https://arunachaltimes.in/index.php/2017/12/31/opportunity-of-community-based-bird-watching-ecotourism-in-arunachal/

 

Discovery
Date Note URL Address
04/06/2013 A new species of Rhododendron in the eastern Gaoligong Mountains has been recognized after morphological and DNA examinations, and it’s endemic to Yunnan, China. http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.114.1.4
01/2016 Discovery of a new Himalayan forest frog clade in China, Myanmar and Thailand. http://search.proquest.com/openview/a731bf8cff5ca73541d2461b6b5bf2b1/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2028705
25/03/2016 Kunming Institute of Botany records new distribution of two bamboo species in Yunnan, China with description of inflorescence for Melocalamus yunnanensis http://phytokeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=7276
17/10/2016 Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) confirmed largest piece of jade ever unearthed in Myanmar at Kachin State. http://www.irrawaddy.com/burma/giant-jade-stone-uncovered-kachin-state.html
06/01/2017 Illegal pangolin trade in northernmost Myanmar. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989416300944/
24/01/2017 Discovery of new catfish in Hponkanrazi Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-01/pp-csd012417.php
24/01/2017 Discovery of impressed tortoise https://phys.org/news/2017-01-tortoise-big-range.html
23/02/2017 Decline of waterbirds in Irrawaddy river. http://www.fauna-flora.org/news/survey-reveals-drastic-decline-of-waterbirds-in-irrawaddy-river/
12/03/2017 Mysterious Cat caught on camera trap video in Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, China. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/marbled-cat-china-endangered-video/
13/06/2017 Updated details of Namdapha National Park. http://natureconservation.in/namdapha-national-park-complete-detail-updated/

 

HI-LIFE

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