Sustainable Ecological Restoration and Conservation in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region

Book excerpt: "The years 2021 to 2030 have been designated "The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration". Ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation efforts face unprecedented challenges, especially in developing countries and areas, such as the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region. The huge HKH region is a biodiversity hotspot with a vast array of ecosystems, landscapes, peoples and cultures. It is known as one of "the pulses of the world". However, the HKH is also the world's largest and poorest mountain region, where landscapes and environments have been severely eroded as a result of climate change and human activity. The HKH region includes areas in eight separate countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan). Coordinating conservation and restoration policies, sharing knowledge, funds and maintaining livelihoods are major challenges and are in urgent need of improvement. This book details the past and current ecological problems in the HKH region, and the threats and challenges that ecosystems and local people face. It pays special attention to developments of transformative adaptations and gives examples of sustainable conservation and ecological restoration management practices. Three primary questions are addressed: (1) Do the existing conservation strategies of international organizations and government policies really protect ecosystems and solve biodiversity problems? (2) Can these management measures be one-time solutions? and (3) What is the strategic framework and scenario prognosis for the future based on the historical trajectory of ecological conservation and restoration in the region? This book will be essential reading for ecologists and conservation biologists involved in large-scale ecological restoration projects, along with practitioners, graduate students, policy makers and international development workers"--