Bhutan, India, and Nepal agree on a regional cooperation framework for conservation and development in the Kangchenjunga Landscape

Press Release: 

(25 February 2015, ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal)

Participants at the 3^rd Regional Strategic Consultative Meeting for the Kangchenjunga Landscape stressed the need for greater collaboration to protect the region’s rich biological and cultural diversity through strengthened partnerships and increased participation of people in the landscape.

About 60 representatives, including high-level government officials from Bhutan, India and Nepal — the three member countries of the Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and strategic development partners Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), met for the conclusion of the one-and-a-half year preparatory phase of the Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KLCDI). The meeting, jointly organized by the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MOFSC) and ICIMOD, was held from 23 to 24 February at the ICIMOD Headquarters.

During the meeting, partners consolidated the activities of the initiative’s preparatory phase and apprised country delegates of the outputs and content of a draft framework for regional cooperation, which takes into account the need for greater collaboration across borders, as well as opportunities for socioeconomic development at the landscape level. “Having taken these key steps, we can now move into the implementation of coordinated activities for the conservation and sustainable development of this important landscape”, said Nakul Chettri, KLCDI Programme Coordinator.

”It is very important for us to generate on-the-ground impacts to support adaptation and resilience among the communities living in the Kangchenjunga landscape”, said David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD. He also encouraged the initiative partners to use the knowledge and data resources ICIMOD has made available, in particular for geospatial and cryosphere analysis.

The three member countries proposed an area of about 25,000 km², covering parts of eastern Nepal, Sikkim and the northern part of West Bengal in India, and western Bhutan, to be included in the Kangchenjunga landscape, one of the seven transboundary landscapes identified by ICIMOD with its regional partner countries for prioritizing conservation and development programmes in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.

The landscape is one of the richest areas on earth in terms of plant and animal species. There are 19 protected areas in the landscape covering 30% of the total area. More than 4,500 species of flowering plants have been recorded from the region, and there are more than 400 varieties of orchids and 40 varieties of rhododendrons. This region is also home to charismatic wildlife species such as the snow leopard, musk deer, red panda, Asian elephant, one-horned rhinoceros, and Bengal tiger. Many of these wildlife species are endangered and, if proper conservation mechanisms are not put into place, vulnerable to extinction.

”Nepal is privileged to be part of this transboundary landscape initiative, which will provide a platform for the collaborative efforts needed to address regional issues such as human-wildlife conflicts and the illegal trade of threatened species”, said Sharad Chandra Paudel, Secretary at the MOFSC.

Dr JR Bhatt, Advisor at the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Government of India highlighted binding factors for people living within the Kangchenjunga landscape: the commonality of their cultures and their respect for nature. ”We need to shift to a more participatory approach and involve communities so that they have more ownership and responsibility for managing their biodiversity resources”, he said. He also emphasized the strength of the landscape approach being applied in this initiative, and the opportunities it would provide in creating important transboundary corridors to connect not only large and charismatic wildlife species, but also many small mammals and plant species.

Reaffirming the commitment of the Royal Government of Bhutan to the Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative, Dasho Tenzin Dhendup, Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests said, ”Biodiversity, wildlife, and nature do not recognize political boundaries; therefore, all the countries in the Kangchenjunga landscape need to work together to ensure that we can hand over a well-conserved landscape to our future generations”. Mr Dhendup also highlighted the need to use new and scientific knowledge in conservation and development efforts, but not without forgetting the traditional knowledge of the people in the landscape.

”The regional framework for cooperation prepared during this meeting will be the basis for implementing the subsequent phases of the Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative. Through this collaboration, we will be able to produce positive outcomes”, said Basanta Shrestha, Director of Strategic Cooperation, ICIMOD.

“We need to be innovative in order to adapt to a changing environment”, said Dr Eklabya Sharma, Director of Programme Operations at ICIMOD, adding, “Cooperation in transboundary landscapes like Kangchenjunga provides us with an opportunity to work together to find new solutions to emerging challenges”.

During the workshop, the book Kangchenjunga Landscape Nepal from Conservation and Development Perspectives – published by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation in collaboration with the Research Centre for Applied Science and Technology and ICIMOD – was jointly launched by  Mr Sharad Chandra Paudel, Dasho Tenzin Dhendup, and Dr JR Bhatt.

Himalayan Tourism in India, today’s journey with sorrows and joys

The 03 day state mourning declared by the Uttarakhand Government came to an end day before yesterday. Several roads have opened and the Indian Forces, mainly ITBP is in the forefront of the entire rescue operations. The legendary Kedarnath Temple Complex, which had grown into a small town, along with the lower areas like Govindghat, Rudraprayag etc, has seen thousands stranded and hundreds missing. Every soul connected to the Indian Himalaya is heartbroken and many of them have reached the disaster areas to support rescue and relief.

Those who live in the East Himalaya will remember the Himalayan Earthquake in Sikkim on 18^th September, 2011, the disaster which has still to heal up. Official report says that pilgrims will not be able to pay their homage to Kedarnath for the next 03 years. All this is probably due to too much interference of human beings to capture the Indian Himalaya in the name of development. If we look closely, most of the disaster is based around the water bodies, lakes and rivers, the source for the entire country. Water is nature’s strongest factor; water has the capacity to cut rocks and create gorges or even flood large landscapes. Water is the life maker.

We in India have regarded all the Himalayan Landscape as the “Abode of the Gods” or the “Sangrila”. We prayed to every bit of nature as our providers for all we have to live and have never lived as “masters of nature”, a human culture which in greediness of economy has forgotten the necessity of social and environmental aspects of life for sustainability. We still have the time to go to the Himalaya, which is almost 16% of total India’s area with about 73% of the Himalaya being in India. A close survey will show that almost 100 districts in 12 states of India are under the Indian Himalaya. The states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The idea of 06 states in the Indian Himalaya was considered for many years, till several scientific organizations like the ICIMOD, GB Pant Institute, Indian Mountain Initiative, GTZ etc concluded that the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) spread across 10 states fully and 02 states partially with a total area of 500,000 sq kms between latitudes 26^o20’ and 35^o40’ North, and between longitudes 74^o50’ and 95^o40’ East. Asia today holds the largest, highest and most populated mountain system, the Hindu Kush Himalayan system, which was formed because of the collision of India and Eurasia during the plate movement about 50 million years ago. This also became the first land based trade route to connect continents, popularly known as Silk Route. Along with trade, the culture of the people moved and religiously the Himalaya became the “Pavitra Bhumi”, the holy or the sacred land as the nearest meaning.

Both trade and religion brought thousands and millions of visitors to the Himalaya. Some made it a point of their transit, some settled down and many migrated across passes following the rivers. This millennium is dedicated to tourism, the philosophy of travel that binds the guest and host community. With the strong lobbying of the ATOAI (Adventure Tour Operators’ Association of India), headquartered at New Delhi, the Minister of State with Independent Charge of Tourism, Government of India, Dr.K.Cheeranjeevi has announced the campaign “777 days of the Indian Himalaya” on the 20^th of June, 2013. The mission as he explained is promoting ‘Incredible Indian Himalaya’ to attract International tourists during lean season and reminding the world that 73% of Himalaya is in India.

The regional tourism associations also have decided not to miss the bus, Travel Agents Association of Bengal (TAAB) with its headquarters in Calcutta and Eastern Himalayan Travel and Tour Operators Association (EHTTOA) with their headquarters at Siliguri have got together for the Himalaya 02 days ago. Based on the invitation of the Principal Secretary of West Bengal Tourism to ATOAI, to hold their annual convention in West Bengal, the 02 associations have decided to use the occasion to promote Siliguri as the Adventure Base Station for the East Himalaya Region, which includes the entire Northeast India and parts of South and Southeast Asia. Also, West Bengal being the largest source market for tourism in the Indian Himalaya, the 02 associations wishes to open a dedicated “Rescue and Relief” cell for visitors to the Himalaya.

Better places for people to live in and visit, can we not elaborate, Host to make a better home in the Himalaya and the Guest to make it better through visit. Here ‘better home’ is a perfectly conserved Himalayan Destination and the role of the visitor is through a missionary journey of how the same can be conserved for better. Yes, every person concerned to take up the responsibility. A process where we should know how to take responsibly from the Himalaya, as Himalaya is here to give and contribute. The eldest Pandava brother, Yudhistir in Mahabharata, after completing the post death ceremonies for all relatives and friends he had lost in the War of Kurukshetra, left his Kingdom, left all his joys and sorrows back and left for Mahaprasthan, the eternal journey to the Himalaya, accompanied by his brothers and wife. While on your journey to the Himalaya, leave all that you have which makes you feel like a king, as you should be prepared to receive more during your visit.

Many a campaigns are undertaken, but for the tourism campaign to the Indian Himalaya should be more inclusive. Several extraordinary campaigns like the UN campaign on water etc have to be included in the initiative through institutionalization. Ending here with a proposal of an immediate need to form a ‘Himalayan Tourism Resource Foundation’ with the initiative of ATOAI and India Tourism. The same to be partnered by as many organizations as possible. TAAB and EHTTOA to start with the Bengal chapter of the same. The Foundation to support research for right tourism products for the Himalaya, promote the same, support capacity building, support responsible destination campaigns, develop a rescue and relief cell, develop opportunities of International Cross-Border tourism and be the guiding force for the right kind of tourism in the Indian Himalayan Region. 

China, India, and Myanmar design collaboration for sustainable development in the Brahmaputra-Salween landscape

Representatives from China, India, and Myanmar gathered in Myanmar from 21 to 23 December to plan the transboundary management of a biologically rich Himalayan ecosystem shared by the three countries. The programme framework for a regional Brahmaputra-Salween landscape initiative was formulated at an expert consultation held in Nay Pyi Taw, organised jointly by the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, Government of the Republic of Myanmar, and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). 

The Brahmaputra-Salween landscape comprises several remote but key protected areas in the eastern Himalayas, including Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve in China, Namdapha National Park in India (also a tiger reserve), and Hkakaborazi National Park in Myanmar. The area is important not only from the national perspectives of the participating countries, but also globally; it is home to a number of wildlife species of global importance such as takin, red panda, snub nosed monkey, hollock gibbon, and Namdapha flying squirrel, as well as many endemic flowering plants. These globally important species are distributed widely across the landscape, irrespective of the national boundaries. Therefore, noted Dr David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD, “a regional approach is required to manage this mountain landscape, to enhance the livelihoods of the people living there, and to conserve its natural resources and ecosystem services for future generations”.