Foreword
Over the last few years, ICIMOD’s long-term work towards its vision – that the mountain population of the greater
Himalayas enjoys improved well-being in a sustainable global environment – has increasingly incorporated activities with
a bearing on the impact of climate change. As this impact affects people’s livelihoods in the mountains and downstream,
it becomes necessary to seek ways to support people’s ability to adapt to the current and forthcoming changes – some
related to changes in climate and some related to changes in society.
To this end, changes are not new to people of the greater Himalayan region. People have been living with challenges
related to large seasonal differences in the climate, particularly water availability, for generations. Similarly, the region
has seen many changes in society over time. The question is whether the resilience that people have developed over time
is sufficient in the current world of rapid change. The pace of ongoing climate change is probably unprecedented, and
globalisation makes the world smaller, as local markets, once isolated from the outside world, are suddenly linked to global
market prices.
To be able to answer this question, we believe that there is a need for better first hand information. We need to document
current local adaptation strategies to be able to assess whether these will be functional in a world of accelerated changes.
The findings presented in this report indicate that people rely on a range of responses when exposed to floods and water
stress, some responses are merely short-term coping and not sustainable in the long term. Other responses actually prove to
be robust in a longer time perspective.
It is important that governments in the region and other key actors in climate change adaptation have access to improved
knowledge regarding which responses to floods and droughts are successful. They can then support appropriate responses
and develop them into sustainable strategies for adaptation to change.
ICIMOD’s work towards improved knowledge of the impact of climate change and of communities’ adaptation to these
changes is best done through national partners in the region and recognised international knowledge centres. The current
study is the result of such a consortium of national, regional, and global institutions, that has enabled us to reach a level of
understanding considerably higher than if each had undertaken the study on their own.
We think that the findings in this report provide a sound beginning for a comprehensive, more full scale understanding of
climate change impact and adaptation in the greater Himalayan region, which encompasses water availability, disasters,
biodiversity, human health and wellbeing, and livelihoods at large.
Andreas Schild
Director General, ICIMOD
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