International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

Kathmandu, Nepal

Fostering Trans-boundary Cooperation in the HKH

Birendra Bajracharya

Human footprint on Earth

ISS Expedition 45, September 2015, NASA

The Hindu Kush Himalaya

Global asset for food, energy,

water, carbon, and cultural and

biological diversity

ICIMOD’s Mission

To enable sustainable and resilient mountain development for improved and equitable livelihoods through knowledge and regional cooperation

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

• 8 countries

• 210 million

people in the HKH

• 1.3 billion

people

downstream

Source of

10 major Asian

river systems

HKH basins support some of the world’s most populated areas

Diversity in the HKH: Over 1,000 living languages

Common problems

• Impact of climate change on mountain livelihood

• Land degradation, deforestation and loss of biodiversity

• Disasters across the boarders - floods

Working across

boundaries: Transboundary Landscapes

Approach

ICIMOD’s approach

Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience

Challenges in geo-information applications

• Big gaps exist in institutional capacities

• Conservative data sharing policies, data pricing

• Limited regional focus of national space agencies

• Technical limitations to address local scales

SERVIR-HKH Efforts to address the gaps

• Regional Drought Monitoring and Early Warning System

• Regional Land Cover Monitoring Service

• Enhancing Flood EWS in HKH

• Monitoring extreme weather in HKH

http://tethys.servirglobal.net/apps/hydroviewer/

Efforts to address the gaps

Himalayan GEOSS Develop the capacities to promote the use of EO data an

information for mountain specific situations • Develop and implement innovative EO and geospatial

applications and services •

Provide a regional platform for mutual learning and sharing opportunities

Foster regional cooperation for standardized data and information sharing

Conclusion

• ICIMOD as a neutral platform for scientific discourse

• Policy dialogs on transboundary issues and priorities

• Promoting regional collaboration framework between regional countries

• Networking/collaborating with global initiatives to bridge the gaps in

regional capacities