The HKH Snow Update 2025 highlights a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence 23.6% below normal — the lowest in 23 years. This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people. All twelve major river …
This paper deals with agricultural development and policies in mountains and hills in the Himalayan region. Mountain agriculture (instead of being confined to field crops as in the case of the prime land in plains) is an integrated system of resource usage, linking various land-based activities. As a result, the …
This paper was prepared as background to the workshop in SEA, held in Hanoi, Vietnam from January 19 to 21, 2009. The paper is intended to identify key development issues relating to land and water management in the less developed countries of the Himalayan and SEA regions, and how these …
The greater Himalayan region and its water resources play an important role in global atmospheric circulation, biodiversity, etc while serving more than 1.3 billion people in the basin areas of ten large Asian rivers. This paper discusses these issues, the need to close the knowledge gap, the need for adaptation …
Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) is a perennial cash crop grown under the Himalayan alder (Alnus nepalensis) or mix forest tree species in the hills of Nepal, Darjeeling hills, Sikkim and Bhutan. The cardamom based agroforestry system in the Himalayas has proved to be a sustainable land use practice at the …
Emphasis has been laid since long on the need for integrated catchment management and impactof landuse on catchment hydrology; but the two disciplines have not been amalgmated for creating catchment sensitive 'City Landuse plans'. This study aims at (a) utilizing hydrological modeling to understand the dynamics of an urban Himalayan …
The groundwater resources of India play a major role in the irrigated agriculture. Therefore, expansion of these resources to increase agricultural production received high priority in the development programmes of the country. The area under irrigation by groundwater through wells is continuously increasing. On the contrary, contribution of canals and …
It is vital to protect the fragile Himalayan region, endowed with glaciers, forests, and rich biodiversity, from climate change and other environmental risks. Otherwise, the well being of its remote communities and the conservation of life forms cannot be guaranteed over the long term. Himachal Pradesh, a verdant State with …
This issue is the first in the series of WII ENVIS Bulletin that deals with specialized habitats and threatened species covering various Biogeographic Zones of the country. India harbours nearly 45,000 species of plants, about 11% of the world
The impacts of climate change are already becoming evident in the Himalayan region in the form of a higher incidence and intensity of natural disasters. It is increasingly clear that the lives and livelihoods of the people of this region are at risk. Access to water, biodiversity, and environmental services …
The most important practical and critical problem related to the performance of reservoirs is the estimation of storage capacity loss due to sedimentation process. The problem to be addressed is to estimate the rate of sediment deposition and the period of time at which the sediment would interfere with the …
A comparative study was conducted on plant diversity in Panchayat forests and their adjoining reserve forests of three districts, viz, Pauri, Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts of Garhwal Himalaya since April 2003 to December 2004. Total 15 sites were studied.
In this latest paper, ICIMOD provides a concerted review of climate change assessment with specific focus on biodiversity impact areas on the mountain ecosystems of the Eastern Himalayas. The information content is based on credible sources as well as current level of understanding advanced through application of science in climate …
As a region of great geographic, ecological, social, and cultural diversity, the Himalayas are a true global heritage. They are also the source of some of Asia
Political boundaries do not limit the movement of biological resources and knowledge. Countries in the Himalayan region share common biological resources and traditional knowledge, and protection and sustainable use cannot be planned effectively by single countries in isolation. The unsustainable exploitation of wild flora and fauna is continuing through cross-border …
The recent Kosi megaflood, caused by a breach in the Kosi embankment in Nepal on August 18, 2008 and a sudden change in the course of the Kosi River, was one of the most significant and damaging flood events ever to hit Bihar. The Kosi disaster also ranks as one …
Aerosols above the Himalaya may alter regional thermostat nano-sized pollutants were for the first time found reacting with each other above the Himalaya. Scientists from the Universite Blaise Pascal, France, said these ultra-fine pollutants are combining to form aerosols
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI Nov. 26: Expressing concern over the receding Himalayan glaciers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said all resources must be mobilised to protect the Himalayas and its eco-system. "There is evidence that the Himalayan glaciers are receding, but studies have been inconclusive on the extent …
One of the most serious problems resulting from the brown haze that envelopes vast areas of Asia, the Middle East, southern Africa and the Amazon Basin, is the retreat of the glaciers in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush and in Tibet, according to lead researcher Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a professor of …
The strategy of building embankments to constrain river flow and to prevent floods in north Bihar has proven to be questionable and flawed. Reliance on a dam-and-reservoir system for that purpose only offers limited protection and even greater risks of flooding in case of damage. Learning to cope with floods …
The glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, a large number of them may disappear by 2035 because of climate change, warn Indian and foreign environmentalists and geologists. The Himalayas have the largest concentration of glaciers …
