1. Research at ICIMOD - mountain biodiversity in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

As part of my PhD at the University of Bergen in Norway, I got the opportunity for a 3 months research stay at ICIMOD (International Centre for Mountain Development). ICIMOD is an intergonvermental organization located in Kathmandu that works at the interface of science and policy and hosts a wide range of projects focused on sustainable development, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region.

ICIMOD main building

The Hindu Kush Himalaya region spans eight countries —Afghanistan, Banghladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan— which are also all member countries of ICIMOD. I am working within the "Resilient Economies and Landscapes" strategic group which is one of several that build the structure of the organization. Each group includes more focused "Action Areas", and mine is responsible for biodiversity and landscape-level conservation. My supervisor here is Sunita Chaudhary, who leads all biodiversity-related projects in this group.

During my time here I am working on two main projects:

Assessing mammal diversity and threats in the Hindu Kush Himalaya:

The HKH supports a rich diversity of mammals, but many of these species are now facing increasing threats. A combination of of climate change, land use change and steadily growing tourism is putting intense pressure on HKH mammals and their habitats. These threats interact in complex and sometimes unpredicatable ways. For example, rising temperatures are pushing some species to higher elevations in search for climatically suitable habitats. At the same time, expanding agriculture and infrastructure development are destroying or fragmenting habitats and force species to shift their ranges or compete for shrinking resources. As a result, human-wildlife conflicts are becoming more and more frequent. Particularly in remote mountain communities where predator species like the snow leopard or the Himalayan black bear are moving closer to villages and increasingly coming into contact with people and their livestock.

Currently, there is neither an assessment of all mammals across the entire HKH region, nor a clear overview of which species are officially classified as threathened in each of the eight member countries. Yet this kind of regional assessment is crucial to inform transboundary conservation efforts and design protective mesures- not only for vulnerable species and ecosystems, but also for local mountain communities.

My task is to contribute to the development of this regional overview. As part of my PhD, I have worked with regional experts on biodiversity assessments in mountain regions around the world (including the HKH). I am now building on this work and incorporating more detailed, regional specific information on the current protection status of mammals in the region. The goal is to identify which HKH mammals are threathened within and across borders and to highlight those that would benfit most from coordinated, cross-border conservation strategies.

Exploring the potential for transboundary OECM between India and Nepal:

The second part of my project zooms in on one particular case: the possibility of creating a transboundary OECM (Other effective area based conservation measure) between India and Nepal, focused on the conservation of the endangerned Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens).

OECMs are areas that are not formally protected like national parks but still contribute to long-term biodiversity conservation for examphe through indigenous land or community managed areas.

In this part of the project we will assess whether such an OECM could be established in the eastern Himalaya, where Red Panda populations occur on both sides of the India-Nepal border. This will involve field visits in both countries and I will share more about this project once it gets started in the beginning of June!