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Hindu Kush Himalaya is home to many cultural and religious sites
. The literature on the valuation of cultural sites in the mountain terrains is thin. Hence, their development and sustainability are often ignored. Using primary survey data from three different sites in the Kailash Sacred Landscape of India and Nepal, the cultural value of religious sites to the visitors and households living in the surrounding areas was estimated using a modified travel cost method. As visitors travel by foot and offer donations at the religious sites, the estimations account for these aspects in travel cost calculations. For the sample sites, the per year average use value of cultural services was estimated to be USD 2.9 million. Excluding the use value to the outside visitors, the annual estimated use value of cultural services to the approximately 200,000 households of the entire KSL area, which covers 31,252 km2, is over USD 22.6 million, which is over 7% and 15% of the per capita income of Indian and Nepali households, respectively, indicating the importance of the natural-cultural environments in rural livelihoods. The estimated values will help planners manage these cultural sites sustainably for improving the livelihoods of the people living in the area
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With its towering peaks, majestic landscapes, rich biodiversity and cultural heritage, the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) has long drawn visitors and pilgrims from the Indian sub-continent and across the world
. The IHR attracts those who seek vistas, adventure, cooler climates in the summer, sport, spiritual solace, peace, and the many cultural assets of mountains. These dynamics have turned tourism into a key driver of socioeconomic development. For local mountain people, tourism provides valuable economic and business opportunities and jobs, and for state governments and private entrepreneurs it brings revenues and profits. The 11th Five-Year Plan of India’s Planning Commission states, “Tourism is the largest service industry in the country. Its importance lies in being an instrument for economic development and employment generation, particularly in remote and backward areas (e.g., in IHR)”. Tourism and hospitality sector directly contributes about US$ 71.5 billion to the GDP (www.ibef.org). Moreover, the 12th Five-Year Plan clearly recognizes pro-poor tourism for inclusive growth
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Biological invasion is a major component of global environmental change and it has negative impacts on native biodiversity, ecosystem services, infrastructures, agriculture production, and human and animal health
. Direct and indirect economic costs of biological invasions amount to several hundred billions of dollars annually. Lowlands with high urbanization, industrialization, and other economic activities are adversely affected by biological invasions, whereas mountain regions were considered to be relatively less affected by this phenomenon. However, recent research and meta-analyses have revealed that biological invasions are occurring in mountain regions at an alarming rate. Management of invasive alien species (IAS) is more challenging in mountains due to the rugged topography
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The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) supports regional and transboundary cooperation to meet challenges of climate change, disaster risks, and sustainable development in the Hindu Kush?Himalaya (HKH)
. Action to sustain the HKH has the potential to directly improve the lives of more than one fourth of the world's population. However, facilitating cooperation and policy coherence among the countries sharing HKH resources is a persistent challenge in a region that is prone to conflict and is highly variable regarding development. At ICIMOD, we work across HKH countries to help attain common goals related to sustainable development, using our skills in bringing together different groups within programmatic transboundary approaches covering topics such as river basins or transboundary landscapes. In addition, the Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme and the Himalayan University Consortium have made strides in promoting regional and transboundary cooperation among HKH countries, particularly emphasizing research synthesis and the role of academia
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Using behavioral economic theory and statistical methods, this study estimates the use value of ecosystem services that the households living in the three watersheds and visitors to the Patal Bhuwaneshwar Cave Temple of the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) area derive from the sites under consideration
. The selected watersheds (Hat-Kalika and Chandak-Aunla Ghat of India and Gwallek Kedar of Nepal) are the pilot sites of the Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI) of the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Nepal and India. The present study mainly focuses on estimating the value of the cultural services and the water provisioning services of the forest ecosystem along with assessing a possibility of designing an incentive payment for an ecosystem services (IPES) scheme for provisioning drinking water to one of the pilot sites. We interviewed a total of 1,418 respondents for the study, making it inclusive where women’s share is about 50% of the respondents
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The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) supports regional and transboundary cooperation to meet challenges of climate change, disaster risks, and sustainable development in the Hindu Kush?Himalaya (HKH)
. Action to sustain the HKH has the potential to directly improve the lives of more than one fourth of the world's population. However, facilitating cooperation and policy coherence among the countries sharing HKH resources is a persistent challenge in a region that is prone to conflict and is highly variable regarding development. At ICIMOD, we work across HKH countries to help attain common goals related to sustainable development, using our skills in bringing together different groups within programmatic transboundary approaches covering topics such as river basins or transboundary landscapes. In addition, the Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme and the Himalayan University Consortium have made strides in promoting regional and transboundary cooperation among HKH countries, particularly emphasizing research synthesis and the role of academia
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Bubb, P.; Soesbergen, A. V.; Bisht, N.; Singh, G.; Joshi, S.; Aryal, K.; Danks, F. S.; Rawat, G. S.; Bhuchar, S.; Wu, N.; Kotru, R.; Yi, S.
This Operations Manual provides a practical method for including ecosystem management in sustainable development planning and implementation at the site and landscape levels and present’s six steps for planning management for ecosystem services
. It is primarily designed to support the work of ICIMOD and its partners in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), but is of use in most terrestrial environments of the world. Currently, there is a lack of operational guidance for development practitioners, natural resources managers, and conservation professionals to put ‘managing for ecosystem services’ into practice. As a result, many natural resources management activities that are intended to work with ecosystem services are still ‘old wine in new bottles’. This publication aims to reduce the gap in understanding, planning, and managing the environment for ecosystem goods and services, thereby strengthening existing development and livelihood activities by using established knowledge on ecology and ecosystem sciences. For more information and training in the use of the Manual please contact Yi Shaoliang, Yi.Shaoliang@icimod.org and Philip Bubb philip.bubb@unep-wcmc.org
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Crop genetic diversity has been an important source of subsistence livelihoods and nutrition in the remote Himalayan region for local communities
. This study documents the crop diversity, their current status and farmer 's knowledge and practices, Study was based on analysis of one local crop diversity fair, 18 key informant surveys, nine focus group discussions and 195 individual household surveys 1,vith set questionnaires. The community structure in the study area has female dominance (52%) with average family size of 7.1. The study documents 78 species of various crops which were used as food, vegetables, fruits, medicine, and spices. Highest varietal diversity, vas recorded in, Maize (15). Paddy (12) wheat (11) and beans (10). However, a number of crop varieties are being lost and threatened over the time. Both anthropogenic and natural drivers of changes were reported as the major reason of such loss. Despite loss of crop varieties farmers have been maintaining a wide range of crop and varietal diversity in situ on farm by their own initiatives and experiences. Our study showed that self-saved seed contributed as the major source of planting material through which they are maintaining the crop diversity. However, a detailed study on t lie seed supply system is needed to support easy access to the farmers. More awareness rising program as well as empowerment of farming communities is essential for tl1e continuation of conservation and management practices
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Traditional knowledge (TK) is very important for sustainable development
. However, it faces the risk of loss in many parts of the world, including Nepal. There are only a few studies on the determinants of the use and erosion of TK and practices in the Kailash Sacred Landscape. The present study documents traditional practices and the factors determining its erosion in the Gwallek-Kedar Area of Baitadi district, Far Western Nepal. The Gwallek-Kedar Area, which spreads across eight Village Development Committees, is rich in biodiversity and cultural diversity. People who live in the vicinity of Gwallek-Kedar use the resources for medication, livelihood support, and livestock feed. The study documents traditional practices in the area, especially on agriculture and forest-based herbal remedy, and empirically determines the factors behind the erosion of such traditional practices
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This paper explores possible ways to integrate conservation and development in transboundary landscapes of HKH region based on review of various documents across the region
. Acknowledging trade-offs for achieving twin goals sets the stage for negotiation and collaboration amongst multiple stakeholders to draw agreements on particular strategies. The strategies include engaging stakeholders and political organizations at different scales, their capacity building, establishing nested collaborative structures, strengthening existing institutions and institutional linkages within and across international borders, developing market based incentives for local communities, building trust amongst stakeholders and partnerships with the private sectors.
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