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This assessment report establishes the value of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) for the 240 million hill and mountain people across the eight countries sharing the region, for the 1.65 billion people in the river basins downstream, and ultimately for the world. Yet, the region and its people face a range of old and new challenges moving forward, with climate change, globalization, movement of people, conflict and environmental degradation. At the same time, we also see incredible potential to meet these challenges in a sustainable manner.
In spite of its importance, relatively less is known about the HKH, its ecosystems and its people, especially in the context of rapid change. Over the last few decades, there has been more research on the region, but the knowledge gathered is often scattered, reaches a limited audience, is sectoral or based on single disciplines and, most importantly, does not reach decision-makers, whether they be in government, in local communities, or in the private sector.
The rationale for this assessment is manifold. The first is about extending the accessible knowledge base. There has been incredible value in bringing together people engaged in generating knowledge about the HKH to collate existing knowledge. Plus, by working across disciplines and countries, the assessment blends insights from different perspectives about the mountains. Global assessments and programmes like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) can now benefit from an important knowledge source about this region, and the book has great value in informing global debates and discourses. Then, there is a value beyond the assessment report itself, in bringing together a network of people who can work across disciplinary and geographical boundaries in the future.
But the main reason for the assessment goes beyond the collation of knowledge. It is to answer a range of policy-oriented questions we all grapple with. Some of these are quite scientific, such as what will happen with climate change, or what the impact of air pollution is. Others are more targeted to actions that people should take, like pathways to sustainable access to energy, or building resilience. The main objective of the assessment thus is to inform decision-makers with the best science and knowledge we have. This assessment has made important strides in this direction. A very important finding of the assessment is that while we have significant knowledge gaps, we know enough to take action.
The publication of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme’s (HIMAP) flagship piece— The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment: Mountains, Climate Change, Sustainability and People— is an important milestone in a larger process that aims to bring together researchers, policy makers and the public to better manage the HKH so that women, men and children can enjoy improved well-being in a healthy mountain environment.
The HIMAP process will continue to engage in science-policy discussions at country and regional levels to enhance cooperation between communities, states and countries in managing the HKH. It will also develop more targeted assessments about specific areas of concern that emerge as we develop more knowledge about the region. Importantly, the authors of the assessment have laid out mountain-specific priorities consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and this book provides an important baseline in reaching these goals for the mountains and people of the HKH region. Perhaps the greatest good is that we have an expanding community of practice working together to match and rise above the challenges facing the HKH today.
How to cite: P. Wester, A. Mishra, A. Mukherji, A. B. Shrestha (eds) (2019) The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment — Mountains, Climate Change, Sustainability and People Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham.
Assessing the current state of knowledge of the HKH region, through comprehensive, thematic and subregional assessments and topical outlooks;
Increasing the understanding of various drivers of change and their impacts;
Developing evidence-based policy solutions and recommendations; and
Engaging decision-makers across sectors and institutions through a series of HKH Science-Policy Forums.
HIMAP is a platform for long-term collaboration and coordination among a broad and diverse group of more than 350 leading researchers, practitioners and policy specialists working in the HKH. Under HIMAP, experts from the region have come together to develop the first HKH Assessment Report, as the first in a series of monitoring and assessment reports. It deals with major issues such as climate change, biodiversity, energy, cryosphere (frozen water), water, food security, air pollution, disaster and resilience, poverty, adaptation, gender and migration. The assessment addresses the social, economic and environmental pillars of sustainable mountain development and will serve as a basis for evidence-based decision-making to safeguard the environment and advance people’s well-being in the HKH region.
We are deeply grateful and wish to acknowledge the large network that made this first HKH Assessment Report possible. The commitment, rigour and expertise shown by the Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors, with important support by Contributing Authors, all freely contributing their time, are highly appreciated. The Review Editors ensured the integrity of the review process and played a critical role in supporting the chapter teams and improving the overall quality of the chapters. We deeply appreciate the time, rigour and professionalism of the external expert and government reviewers, which has contributed importantly to the credibility of this report. While not being fully exhaustive, we wish to acknowledge the following individuals, institutions and governments for making this HKH Assessment Report possible:
Overall Coordinator : Philippus Wester.
Chapter Coordinating Lead Authors : Arivudai Nambi Appadurai, Ruchi Badola, Soumyadeep Banerjee, Ram B. Bhagat, Tobias Bolch, Nakul Chettri, Dhrupad Choudhury, Shobhakar Dhakal, Lam Dorji, Rucha Ghate, Giovanna Gioli, Chanda Gurung Goodrich, Shichang Kang, Fawad Khan, Raghavan Krishnan, Shiyin Liu, Arabinda Mishra, Eddy Moors, Aditi Mukherji, M. S. R. Murthy, Nusrat Nasab, Hemant R. Ojha, Arnico Panday, Golam Rasul, Guoyu Ren, Bernadette P. Resurreccion, Joyashree Roy, Abdul Saboor, Eri Saikawa, Christopher Scott, Bikash Sharma, Eklabya Sharma, Joseph Shea, Arun Bhakta Shrestha, Mandira Singh Shrestha, Tasneem Siddiqui, Yiching Song, Leena Srivastava, Ganesh Thapa, Ramesh Ananda Vaidya, Yanfen Wang, Ning Wu, Jianchu Xu, Fan Zhang.
Chapter Lead Authors : Bhupesh Adhikari, Lipy Adhikari, Ahsan Uddin Ahmad, Mozaharul Alam, Ghulam Muhammad Arif, Elisabetta Aurino, Mohd. Farooq Azam, Aditya Bastola, Luna Bharati, Pashupati Chaudhary, R. P. Chaudhary, Ganesh Chettri, Netra Chhetri, Zhiyuan Cong, Purnamita Dasgupta, Chao Fu, Yang Gao, Ritesh Gautam, Nilabja Ghosh, Anandajit Goswami, Stephan Gruber, Deo Raj Gurung, Christian Huggel, Abid Hussain, S. A. Hussain, Walter Immerzeel, Michiko Ito, Sanjay Jayanarayanan, Deepa Joshi, Ulka Kelkar, Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Bahadar Nawab Khattak, Rajan Kotru, Nagami Kozo, Anil Kulkarni, Clemens Kunze, Huilin Li, Janwillem Liebrand, Chengfan Liu, Hina Lotia, Brijesh Mainali, Ghulam Mohamad Malikyar, Laura Mapstone Scott, David Molden, Rashid Memon, Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, Seinn Seinn Mu, Daanish Mustafa, Thinley Namgyel, Dev Nathan, Orzala Ashraf Nemat, Rabindra Nepal, Andrea Nightingale, Debajit Palit, Dinesh Paudel, Shi Peili, Manfred Perlik, Bharat Pokhrel, Neera Shrestha Pradhan, Rebecca Pradhan, Sunita Pradhan, S. V. R. K. Prabhakar, Anjal Prakash, Pallav Purohit, Atiq Rahman, Rupak Rajbhandari, Bimal Raj Regmi, Yuyu Ren, Long Ruijun, Sajjad Saeed, Shaheen Ashraf Shah, Upasna Sharma, Ankita Shrestha, Krishna K. Shrestha, Bandita Sijapati, Surendra Pratap Singh, E. Somanathan, Md. Abu Syed, Adnan Ahmad Tahir, Pema Thinley, Prakash Tiwari, Ramesh Vellore, Kul Bahadur Wakhley, Robert James Wasson, Muhammad Arif Wattoo, Philippus Wester, Ying Xu, Tandong Yao, Qinglong You, Guoqing Zhang, Linxiu Zhang, Yinsheng Zhang, Robert Zomer, Eric Zusman.
Chapter Contributing Authors : Acknowledged in the individual chapters.
Review Editors : Sara Ahmed, Jayanta Bandopadhyay, Richard Black, Purnamita Dasgupta, Marc Foggin, Koji Fujita, Enamul Haque, Sarala Khaling, Asuncion Lera St. Clair, Valerio Lucarini, Bikash Pandey, Krishna Prasad Pant, Atiq Rahman, Surendra Pratap Singh, Cecilia Tortajada, Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh, Laurie Vasily, Philippus Wester, Linxiu Zhang, Yan Zhaoli.
External Reviewers : Acknowledged in Annex 3.
Editors : Christopher Butler and Nick Moschovakis.
Copy Editors : Diwas K. C, Beth Duncan, Merrill Feitell, Shradha Ghale, Elaine Monaghan, Beatrice Murray, Amy Sellmyer, Bill Wolfe.
Graphics Design : Amy Sellmyer.
Steering Committee : David Molden, Chair (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development), Yuba Raj Khatiwada (Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal), Atiq Rahman (Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies), Eklabya Sharma (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development), SP Singh (Central Himalayan Environment Association), Tandong Yao (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Linxiu Zhang (United Nations Environment Programme and Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Philippus Wester, Member Secretary (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development).
HIMAP Secretariat : Philippus Wester (Coordinator), Rekha Khatri Thapa, Ritu Meher Shrestha, Bhawana Syangden, Avash Pandey, Nisha Wagle.
Core support for the assessment process leading to the production of this book was provided by the governments of Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, through core funding to ICIMOD.
Authors and reviewers participating in the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment are affiliated with numerous institutions inside and outside the HKH region. Their institutions have contributed to the assessment through the in-kind support of their staff. We wish to acknowledge the contributions of the following institutions, without implying an endorsement of the outcomes of the assessment :
Asian Development Bank; Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit; Aga Khan Agency for Habitat; Aga Khan Development Network; Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal; Agriculture University Peshawar; Appalachian State University; Arizona State University; Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment; Asian Institute of Technology; Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies; Bath Spa University; Bhutan Power Corporation; Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Norway; Carleton University; Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Center for Earth System Science, Tsinghua University; Central Himalayan Environment Association; Central University of Rajasthan; Central Water Commission, India; Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern; Centre for Development Studies, India; Centre for Environment and Development, Bhutan; Centre for Global Change, Bangladesh; Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility, Social Science Baha, Nepal; Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; China Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University; China Meteorological Administration; China University of Geosciences; Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences; Chinese Academy of Sciences; COMSATS Institute of Information Technology; Copenhagen Business School; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia; DNV GL; East West University; Emory College; FAO Regional Office of Asia and Pacific; Forest Research Institute, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education; FutureWater; GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development; George Mason University; Global Change Impact Studies Centre; Goethe University; Grand Canyon Trust; Grantham Institute, Imperial College London; Green Park Consultants GPC Ltd; GRID-Arendal; Heidelberg University; Helvetas Swiss Inter-cooperation Nepal; Hiroshima University; HNB Garhwal University; Imperial College London; Indian Institute of Science; Indian Institute of Science Education and Research; Indian Institute of Technology Bombay; Indian Institute of Technology Delhi; Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati; Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati; Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology; Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France; Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement; Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies; Institute for Global Environmental Strategies; Institute for Human Development, India; Institute for Social and Environmental Transition; Institute of Economic Growth; Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resources Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security, Yunnan University; Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University; Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences; International Centre for Climate Change and Development, Bangladesh; International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis; International Institute of Population Studies, India; International Organization for Migration; International Water Management Institute; Jadavpur University; Japan International Cooperation Agency; Jawaharlal Nehru University; Kathmandu University; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven; Keio University; King’s College London; Kumaun University; Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lahore University; Lahore University of Management Sciences; Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), Pakistan; Li-Bird; Linnaeus University; Management Development Institute; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Massey University; Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Royal Government of Bhutan; Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, Government of Myanmar; Ministry of Economic Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan; Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of Bangladesh; Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India; Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal; Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal; Mountain Research Initiative, University of Bern; Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Government of Australia; Nagoya University; Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology; Nanyang Technological University; NASA Langley Research Center; National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA; National Council of Bhutan; National Environment Commission (NEC), Royal Government of Bhutan; National Environmental Protection Agency of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; National Institute of Hydrology, India; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA; National Technical University of Athens; National University of Singapore; Norwegian Polar Institute; Norwegian University of Life Sciences; Observer Research Foundation; Oslo University; Oxford Policy Management Limited; Pakistan Agricultural Research Council; Pakistan Institute of Development Economics; NITI Aayog, India; PMAS Arid Agriculture University; Population Council, India; Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany; Practical Action; Reading University; RECOFTC—The Center for People and Forests, Bangkok, Thailand; REDD Implementation Centre, Government of Nepal; Research Center for Applied Sciences and Technology (RECAST), Tribhuvan University; Room to Read; Royal Society for Protection of Nature, Bhutan; SaciWATERs; Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge; SOAS University of London; Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies, Nepal; State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science; Stockholm Environment Institute; Sunrise Nepal Food and Beverage Pvt. Ltd.; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Technical University of Denmark; TERI School of Advanced Studies; The Energy and Resources Institute; Tribhuvan University; UN Environment International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP); United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Environment Programme; United Nations University; Universität Innsbruck; Universite Grenoble Alpes; University of Agriculture, Faisalabad; University of Arizona; University of Arkansas; University of Birmingham; University of Bremen; University of Central Asia; University of Dhaka; University of Edinburgh; University of Leuven; University of Manitoba; University of Michigan; University of Montana; University of Moratuwa; University of New South Wales; University of Northern British Colombia; University of Oregon; University of Portsmouth; University of Potsdam; University of Queensland; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Toulouse; University of Zurich; Paris Diderot University , Sorbonne Paris Cité; Utrecht University; Wageningen University and Research; Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Italy; Wildlife Institute of India; Winrock International; World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); World Resources Institute.