High-Altitude Grassland Management and Improvement of Pastoral Livelihoods in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region

The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is the largest mountain systems in the world, spanning over 4.3 million km2 and covering 3500 km long fragile environment. Grasslands in the HKH region are the source of livelihoods for approximately 25 to 30 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. High altitude grasslands play a significant role in storage and regulation of water; storage of carbon in soil and peat lands; permafrost storage; and stabilization of climate, soil, and nutrients. They foster a rich biodiversity with endemic species of fauna and flora; provide clean air and open spaces for recreational purposes, and bolster a rich cultural diversity. However, this asset is encountering many challenges, not the least of which are climate change, globalization, land use change, and land degradation. It remains under-recognized in terms of research for development, enactment and government planning and conjecture for sustainable development, which are largely to be the main reason towards grassland degradation. There is an urgent need for managing both the grassland ecosystems and the pastoral livelihoods in the HKH region. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), as the regional center dedicated to sustainable mountain development of the HKH, is promoting the management of grasslands in six countries of the region with a view to identify opportunities for improving strategies for pastoral livelihoods. Comanagement approaches and community-based conservation initiatives are the basis for the sustainability of the grassland resource management. These initiatives have led to better regional cooperation and understanding among the HKH countries on the issues of grassland management, particularly on transboundary issues. Mountains and high altitude grasslands deserve greater attention and higher investment in future

A multi‐methods approach for assessing how conserving biodiversity interacts with other sustainable development goals in Nepal

Achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) requires a context-specific understanding of how actions to achieve one goal interact with others. We analyzed statistical data, and conducted online surveys and interviews with conservation professionals to understand how terrestrial conservation goals (SDG 15: Life on land) influence and are influenced by other goals in Nepal. Our findings suggest that SDG 15 synergized with economic growth (SDG 8), gender equality (SDG 5), water access (SDG 6), sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12), and climate action (SDG 13), but traded off with food security (SDG 2), energy access (SDG 7), poverty alleviation (SDG 1), and infrastructure development (SDG 9). Increased multi-sectoral collaboration between conservation and development stakeholders is urgently needed to address the negative impacts of other goals on SDG 15. Additionally, conservation measures in Nepal can benefit from being more people-focused, participatory, and contextualized to mitigate negative impacts on socioeconomic goals

A Multiscale Transdisciplinary Framework for Advancing the Sustainability Agenda of Mountain Agricultural Systems

Mountain agricultural systems (MASs) are multifunctional andmultidimensional sociocultural systems. They are constantlyinfluenced by many factors whose intensity and impacts areunpredictable. The recent Hindu Kush–Himalayan AssessmentReport highlighted the need to integrate mountain perspectivesinto governance decisions on sustaining resources in the HinduKush–Himalayan region, emphasizing the importance ofsustainable MASs. Our reflective literature review identified 3barriers to advancing the agenda for sustainable MASs: (1) thedisconnect of normative orientations for sustainability at differentscales, (2) inadequate alignment between stakeholders’sustainability orientation and scientific evidence, and (3) weakintegration of scientific evidence into the formulation of mountain-specific solutions for sustainability. To address these barriers, wepropose a conceptual, regional (mountain specific),transdisciplinary framework with an interscale science–policyinterface. This will help scientific evidence to be incorporated infuture policies and programs on sustainable MASs while beingresponsive to the needs of mountain farming communities andstakeholders who benefit from broader services. The frameworkemphasizes the connection between normative orientations for sustainability, science evidence, and solutions for sustainabilitythrough the use of iterative transdisciplinary knowledge-generationand knowledge-integration multiscale feedback processes. Thus,the key to advancing the agenda for sustainability of MASs lies inaligning scientific evidence with existing normative orientations forsustainability at local, subnational, national, regional, and globallevels. The alignment triggers sustainability-oriented solutions. Thisshould highlight MASs globally, increasing investment whileacknowledging MAS specificities and niche opportunities. In turn,this will strengthen national policies and programs specific toMASs and facilitate integrated farm management throughinterdisciplinary extension and delivery services

Traditional knowledge systems in large cardamom farming: biophysical and management diversity in Indian mountainous regions

17-22Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) is a perennial cash crop grown under the Himalayan alder (Alnus nepalensis) or mix forest tree species in the hills of Nepal, Darjeeling hills, Sikkim and Bhutan. The cardamom based agroforestry system in the Himalayas has proved to be a sustainable land use practice at the landscape level supporting multiple functions and ecosystem services. Large cardamom agroforestry is a mountain adaptive slope land management and production system that helps conserving soil and water, maintain soil fertility and high rate of carbon sequestration than any other land use systems in the region. The system is a major contributor of sustainable development in the mountain region by providing socio-ecological sustainability, watershed functions, and cultural, educational and recreational values in additional to the employment opportunities in ecotourism. Some of the ecological functions of the system are habitat and corridor for wild animals, conduit of water, energy, gene flow, seeds, etc. barrier for wind, nutrients and animals, etc. while the system also help augmenting sustainability and well being of the upstream and downstream communities

Advances in Community-based Natural Resource Management in the Hindu Kush- Himalayan Region Rangeland Specialist Natural Resource Management Programme, ICIMOD

Abstract The Hindu Kush-Himalaya

Linking Spatio-Temporal Land Cover Change to Biodiversity Conservation in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

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