Himalayan Wetlands Initiative
Wise use and conservation of Himalayan
Table 1: Summary of functions, values and services
wetlands
provided by wetlands (MA 2005)
The Himalayan wetlands are located at the headwaters
Function, values Examples
and ecosystem
and help regulate the fl ow of ten major rivers, which
services
directly support the livelihoods of some 210 million
Provisioning Food, freshwater, fi bre, fuel
people in the mountains, and impact on a further
Regulating Climate and natural hazard regulation,
1.3 billion people downstream (ICIMOD 2009). The
water, erosion, disease
functions and values of wetlands have been outlined Cultural Spiritual, recreational, aesthetic,
in many studies (for example Trisal and Kumar 2008;
educational
Novitzki et al. 2001; NIE 2008) and are summarised
Supporting Primary production, soil formation,
nutrient cycling
in Table 1. Wetlands support high biological and
cultural diversity: they are important staging points for
migratory birds and many are breeding and nursery
extraction and diversion of water for agriculture and
places for birds, fi sh, and amphibians. Wetlands store
human use, disposal of waste and increasing pollution
water, feed groundwater aquifers, trap sediments, and
due to changes in the lifestyle of the local inhabitants,
recycle nutrients, thereby enhancing both the quantity
overgrazing by livestock, and increased tourism (NIE
and quality of water in the water cycle. Wetlands also
2008; ICIMOD 2009). Furthermore, climate change
foster vegetation growth, which lessens soil erosion,
and variability may dramatically affect wetlands and
and thus contribute to reduction of risk of disasters by
their services, as the water cycle on which they depend
landslides and fl oods.
will change. The temperature in the Himalayan region
appears to be increasing faster than the global average;
As elsewhere, Himalayan wetlands are vulnerable the mean maximum temperature of the Nepal Himalayas
to the activities of humans, although the extent of this increased between 0.06°C and 0.12°C per year
vulnerability is poorly understood. Major threats include between 1971 and 1994 (Shrestha et al. 1999),
and the overall changes may be more extreme at high
High altitude wetland on the Tibetan plateau
altitude. But the likely changes in the Himalayan region
are still poorly understood, and the actual impacts of
any climate variability on wetlands have barely been
assessed. The interconnectedness of wetlands within
a watershed means that any changes will fl ow on
to the millions of people downstream who depend
on freshwater originating and fl owing through the
Himalayan wetlands.
Changes in the Himalayan wetlands will affect both
the environment and the economy. There is an urgent
need to increase our understanding of the wetlands
ecosystems, the role they play, and the potential
changes and their impact, so that appropriate plans
for management can be developed. Collaborative
approaches will be needed to address the knowledge
gap and to introduce management action to support
the conservation and wise-use of wetlands, and thus
ensure a sustainable future for the water and biodiversity
resources of the Himalayas.
The Himalayan Wetlands Initiative
The Himalayan Wetlands Initiative (HWI) has
developed since 2002 as a forum for integrated
wetland conservation and wise use and so far has
been endorsed by the Governments of India, Myanmar,
Nepal, and Pakistan. The Initiative was endorsed as a
regional initiative of the Ramsar Convention in 2009
22
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