ICIMOD Assessment On The Hindu Kush Himalaya

Context:

Recently, experts from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) called for ‘bold action’ and ‘urgent finance’ to prevent the collapse of nature in High Mountain Asia.

Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment

• 130 global experts from ICIMOD arrived in Nepal for the Third Lead Authors meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) nexus assessment.
• This is the first time an IPBES assessment meeting is being held in South Asia.
• Mountains cover 22% of Earth’s land surface but hold 50% of the world’s global biodiversity hotspots. Given mountains’ acute vulnerability to climate change, ICIMOD researchers have called for IPBES to consider a dedicated Global Mountains assessment.

Concerns Raised By Experts On Hindu Kush Himalaya

• Interconnected Catastrophic Losses in the Hindu Kush Region: The summit examines the linkages between food and water security, health, biodiversity, and climate change and the researchers described the speed and scale of losses in nature and habitat in the HKH region as ‘catastrophic’.  
  • It is estimated to be warming at nearly two times the average rate of warming in the Northern Hemisphere.
• High Biodiversity Loss: 70% of the original biodiversity has been lost over the last century. 
• High Impact on Humans: The declines in nature are so advanced and accelerating so fast that they now pose a threat to human societies too. 
  • 241 million people live in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, of whom 31% are “food-insecure” and “half of whom face some form of malnutrition”.

Recommendations By Experts

• Urgent Prioritization of Investment: HKH must be urgently prioritized for investment to fund the fight to reverse nature loss and species extinction. 
  • It must be ensured that funding rises at an exponential rate before these fragile and crucial ecosystems collapse, by building nature into all investment and action.
• Increase in Integrated Global Finance: There is a need to push for a much more rapid increase in integrated global finance, especially for high value and vulnerable regions like the HKH.
• Reforms: There is a need to accelerate policy, institutional and market reforms to make the positive changes happen.

About the Hindu Kush Himalaya Region

• A Large Extent: Hindu Kush Himalaya Region stretches 3,500 kilometers and spans eight countries- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. 
  • 85% of mountain communities remain dependent on this biodiversity for food, water, flood control and cultural identity.
• A Biodiverse Region: It is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. Four of the world’s 36 global biodiversity hotspots are in this region. Two of the global 200 ecoregions, 575 Protected Areas, 335 important bird areas.
• Third Pole: It is known as the Third Pole, as it contains the largest volume of ice on earth outside of the Arctic and Antarctica.
• Water Tower of Asia: Hindu Kush Himalaya Region is the source of 12 Asian river systems and is called the ‘Water tower of Asia’. It provides essential ecosystem services such as clean water for a third of the world’s population.
  • Syr Darya and Amu Darya towards the now-dead Aral Sea
  • The Tarim toward the Taklamakan
  • The Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra towards the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal
  • The Yellow river towards the Gulf of Bohai
  • The Yangtze towards the East China Sea
  • The Mekong towards the South China Sea
  • The Chindwin, Salween and Irrawaddy towards the Andaman Sea
• Hindu Kush Mountains in India: The entire territory of 11 mountain states (Assam, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh)  and Darjeeling district of West Bengal state are included in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region.

News Source: Down to Earth