Harmonizing Conservation and Development along the Silk Road; Facilitating a Network of Protected Areas in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Pamir

The Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape (HKPL) is one of the transboundary landscape initiatives being carried out by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The HKPL covers Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Tajikistan, as well as six physically interconnected protected areas (PAs): Wakhan National Park (WNP) in Afghanistan; Taxkorgan Nature Reserve (TNR) in China; Broghil National Park (BNP), Qurumbar National Park (QNP) and Khunjerab National Park (KNP) in Pakistan; and Zorkul Nature Reserve (ZNR) in Tajikistan.

With the objective of strengthening regional cooperation and sustaining the transboundary management of ecosystem services for human well’-being as well as biodiversity conservation in the HKPL region, ICIMOD and Lanzhou University (LU) jointly organized a regional workshop titled “Harmonizing Conservation & Development along the Silk Road” in Lanzhou, China, from 13 to 17 September 2018. Over 56 participants attended the workshop–they included representatives of the HKPL member countries and international experts from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Uzbekistan. There was representation from several government departments, universities and international organizations like the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, Pakistan), the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEPWCMC), the Global Landscape Forum (GLF), University of Central Asia (UCA), Wageningen University and Research (WUR), Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kashi University (KU), and Rivers without Boundaries (RwB).

The goal of the workshop was to bring together park officials from six protected areas – in Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and Tajikistan – and other endorsing partners in order to lead to a commitment to work together and sign a joint declaration on the long-term conservation and sustainable development of the HKPL. The newly formed group of six PAs is to be called Bam-e-Dunya Network, which shall work towards “connecting landscapes along the Silk Route”.