This publication is an important step in establishing effective long-term environmental and socio-ecological monitoring in the region, which will support efforts by ICIMOD and its partners to fill critical data gaps in the Hindu Kush Himalayas.
The LTESM framework is a long-term transdisciplinary monitoring framework designed for implementation in ICIMOD’s Transboundary Landscapes Regional Programme together with the Centre’s partners in the region. It focuses on improving understanding of spatial and temporal changes to the biodiversity of the HKH, the drivers of these changes, and the consequences of these changes on human wellbeing in the region. By encouraging research institutions, organizations, and individual experts across disciplines to work together, it will support a more holistic understanding of the dynamic mountain ecosystems of the HKH and provide support for evidence-based decision making in the region. The approach also encourages experts to work on long-term collaborative programmes in line with rapidly growing international research networks such as Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA), International Long Term Environmental Research (ILTER), and Global Earth Observation Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO-BON).