Regional programme framework developed for biodiversity management, livelihoods development, and climate change adaptation

Representatives from China, India, and Myanmar gathered in Myanmar from 21 to 23 December to plan the transboundary management of a biologically rich Himalayan ecosystem shared by the three countries. The programme framework for a regional Brahmaputra-Salween landscape initiative was formulated at an expert consultation held in Nay Pyi Taw, organised jointly by the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, Government of the Republic of Myanmar, and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

The Brahmaputra-Salween landscape comprises several remote but key protected areas in the eastern Himalayas, including Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve in China, Namdapha National Park in India (also a tiger reserve), and Hkakaborazi National Park in Myanmar. The area is important not only from the national perspectives of the participating countries, but also globally; it is home to a number of wildlife species of global importance such as takin, red panda, snub nosed monkey, hollock gibbon, and Namdapha flying squirrel, as well as many endemic flowering plants. These globally important species are distributed widely across the landscape, irrespective of the national boundaries. Therefore, noted Dr David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD, “a regional approach is required to manage this mountain landscape, to enhance the livelihoods of the people living there, and to conserve its natural resources and ecosystem services for future generations”.

The consultation to develop a future strategic programme for transboundary biodiversity management and climate change adaptation in the Brahmaputra-Salween landscape was inaugurated by His Excellency U Win Tun, Minister for Environmental Conservation and Forestry, Myanmar, who urged the participating countries to focus on both research and development to take this initiative further. Other speakers included U Nyi Nyi Khaw, Deputy Director, Department of Forest, Myanmar and Chair of the Board of Governors, ICIMOD; Dr Li Dezhu, Director of the Kunming Institute of Botany, China; Dr LMS Palni, Director of the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, India; and Dr Eklabya Sharma, Director of Programme Operations, ICIMOD.

The 30 participants drafted a programme framework whose highlights include collaborative and multidisciplinary research, regional capacity building, and policy and institutional support. Planned interventions will promote transboundary biodiversity management, cultural conservation, sustainable economic development, and enhanced ecosystem and socio-economic resilience in the Brahmaputra-Salween landscape. (Source: http://www.icimod.org/?q=6233)