Transcript Slide 1

INDIAN HIMALAYAN REGION
(IHR) ECOSYSTEM
Climate Change: Key Issues and
Challenges
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
OUTLINE
1. BACKGROUND
2. CC IMPACTS AND KEY CHALLENGES
3. RESPONSE MEASURES
4. GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE
5. FUTURE APPROACHES AND
PROSPECTS
6. KEY QUESTIONS
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IHR GEOGRAPHIC AREA
Source: G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan
Environment and Development
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Indian Himalayan Region
• 16.2% total geographic area of Country with 40 million population.
• Accounts for one third of the forest cover of India
• Rich in endemic species attributed to its geological, climatic and
altitudinal variations
– nearly 50% of the total flowering plants in India are located in the
IHR, of which 30% are endemic
• 17% area under permanent snow cover and 30 – 40% under seasonal
snow cover
• Annual run off Himalayan Rivers approx.
1, 600, 000 million m³- source of freshwater
for irrigation, drinking and hydropower to
local
as well as downstream people
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Issues of Mountain Environment
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Remoteness and
isolation
Long distance from
market limits the
livelihood options
Prone to natural
disasters
Conflicts over natural
resources
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS AND
KEY CHALLENGES IN IHR
• The resilience of IHR ecosystem
is likely to be exceeded this
century by an unprecedented
combination of climate change,
associated disturbances (e.g.,
flooding, drought, wildfire,
insects, ocean acidification), and
other global change drivers (e.g.,
land-use change, pollution, overexploitation of resources)
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
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CHANGE IN ANNUAL LINEAR SNOW COVER 1990-2001
This map of the change in annual linear snow cover from 1990 to
2001 shows a thick band (blue) across the Himalayas with
decreases of at least 16 percent while a few smaller patches (red)
experienced increases
Source : DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
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CLIMATE PROJECTIONS FOR REGION
• All of Asia is likely to warm (around 4 °C above baseline )
• Global warming and climate change is impacting IHR and the impact of
CC on avg. occurs at a much higher rate than the rest of the Asia
– the rate of temp. rise from 1991 to 2007 was 0.76°C per decade in
the Himalayan region as compared to the global average of 0.14°C
since 2000
– West Himalaya (WH) significant decrease no. cold days; WH and
North East decrease in no cold nights pre-monsoon season
• Extreme rainfalls as well as drought events are likely to increase.
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SECTORAL IMPACTS & KEY CHALLENGES
FORESTS & BIODIVERSITY
• Provide a multitude of “goods and services”
• Traditional crop-livestock mixed farming in the Himalaya, for example, is
highly dependent on forests for fodder and manure prepared from forest
leaf litter and livestock excreta
• CC poses a risk to the uncertainty of these services, with a predicted
large scale shifting in range and composition of forest biomes (e.g.
upward shift in Himalayan Pine, affecting productivity and ecological
health
• Loss of biodiversity of Medicinal and aromatic plants which provide the
traditional and alternative system of medicine in the region
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SECTORAL IMPACTS& KEY CHALLENGES
WATER SECURITY
• Increase in temp. will reduce the amount of snowfall,
reducing the water flow in snow-fed rivers during the summer
months
• 21% decrease glacierized area IHR, with glaciers less than 1
metre square retreating faster (WWF, 2010)
• Uttarakhand, rainfed re-charge decreased 25% – 75% past
50yrs (Report of the Task Force, 2010)
• During the monsoon period, excessive rainfall leading to
more intense flooding and landslides
• Affect agriculture production and livelihoods of both mountain
communities as well 407 million people living in the Gangetic
Basin
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SECTORAL IMPACTS & KEY CHALLENGES
FOOD SECURITY:
• Traditional crops replaced by cash crops leading to loss agro
biodiversity and increasing vulnerability to climatic and market
changes
• LUC lead to reduction of high altitude pastoral lands, reducing
capacity to produce food on marginal lands
• All four dimensions of food security are predicted to be affected by
climate change: food availability, food accessibility, food utilization
and food systems stability
• Increasing temperatures have resulted in a change in the agricultural
zones and shift in the growing seasons, for example, decreasing yield
in mid-altitude apple growing areas of HP, with cultivation shifting to
higher altitudes
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SECTORAL IMPACTS & KEY CHALLENGES
Energy Security
• IHR, the main source of energy at
the household level is biomass,
majority of which is provided by
fuelwood, sourced from forests
• Shortage of fuel wood and the high
price of imported conventional fuels
result in a situation of high energy
vulnerability
• Ecosystem based approach for
energy security
• Improved cook stoves for reducing
BC
and other non C02 gas emission
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Table 3 Source of household energy in the
IHR
SOURCE COOKING
ENERGY
% TOTAL IHR
HOUSEHOLDS
Firewood
64.8
LPG
23.8
Kerosene
4.6
Cow dung cakes
3.6
Crop residue
2.1
Source: G-SHE, 2009
KEY CHALLENGES
Community Vulnerability
• Not everyone has same capacity to adapt
to CC
• Poor communities are more vulnerable,
in particular those concentrated in highrisk areas as they tend to have more
limited adaptive capacities, and are more
dependent on climate-sensitive resources
such as local water and food supplies
• Policies and programmes need to
address such issues as
• loss of livelihoods with changes in crop outputs,
• provision of alternate livelihood options.
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DRR - CROSS-CUTTING ISSUE
DRR
• Inhabitants of IHR are exposed to many natural hazards such
as floods and flash floods, GLOF’s, landslides, and
earthquakes.
• At least 130 people were killed when flash floods triggered by
torrential rains struck Leh, Ladakh on August 6, 2010
• Remoteness and isolation deprive mountain population from
accessing essential information about climate risks.
• Ecosystem based approach for DRR is of importance from the
perspective of adaptation as well as for addressing the
challenges of development and poverty alleviation
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OPTIONS FOR CC ADAPTATION IN
THE INDIAN HIMALAYAN REGION
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
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RESPONSE MEASURES
GLOBAL
NATIONAL
• Agenda 21
• UNFCCC
• Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
• NAPCC, 2008
• National Mission for Sustaining the
Himalayan Ecosystem under the
NAPCC
• Green India Mission
• National Plan for Environment
•
Roundtable on Climate Change in Himalayas and several other
Networks
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RESPONSE MEASURES CONT..
Traditional Knowledge
• Traditional societies over time have developed cultural wisdom to deal
with nature and natural resources
• The Apatani Tribe of AP has a sound traditional ecological knowledge of
forest, land and water management which has assisted in the
development of valley cultivation of rice. The wet rice is integrated with fish
cultivation in terraces and with finer millet on the risers and regular water
supply is maintained naturally with healthy forest cover, also managed by
the community (G-SHE, 2009)
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GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE
• UN's climate science panel acknowledged that a
grim prediction on the fate of Himalayan glaciers
that featured in a benchmark report on global
warming had been "poorly substantiated" and was a
lapse in standards.
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Lack and inadequacy of research efforts,
complimented with the gaps in the data collected at
the local level render the formulation of sciencebased policy interventions difficult.
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WAY FORWARD
• Science, policy and action to address the vulnerability of the mountain
ecosystem and its social capital
• Need to build equitable, long-term partnerships between local communities
and research institutions to ensure this knowledge and traditional coping
strategies are assessed, recorded and integrated into policy responses
• Ecosystem goods and services that support ecological functions of the
landscape and the livelihood requirements are to be appropriately
accounted
• An integrated and pragmatic approach is needed to identify multistakeholders and participatory processes for the selection, implementation
and appraisal of adaptation strategies
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WAY FORWARD
• Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) approach should be incorporated for
sustainably managing, conserving and restoring ecosystems so that they
continue to provide the services that allow people to adapt to climate
change
• Women in the rural mountain communities are key stake holders of the
natural resources and therefore it is essential to assess their role and thus
provide them with better facilities and policies that can help them to better
adapt to the changing climate.
• Requirement for regional cooperation to ensure a joint strategy that
incorporates an integrated, time-bound approach to the issue of CC
adaptation and supports regional knowledge sharing
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KEY QUESTIONS
• What are the additional potential impacts of CC in the IHR, both positive
and negative?
• Can the issues be addressed for the IHR in one common strategy or
several i.e. Western and Eastern Himalaya?
– If similar, can similar policy measures be applied?
– If different, then how?
• What are present and emerging approaches to deal with climate change in
the IHR ecosystem, generating co-benefits of mitigation, adaptation and
development (for ensuring food, DRR, livelihood, water, energy and social
security of communities)?
• What kinds of systems are required for effective execution of existing and
future policies?
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Institutional Mechanisms
Financial Mechanisms
R&D
Role of key stakeholders (communities, private, government, global)
RECOMMENDATIONS
• REGIONAL COOPERATION
• BETTER UNDERSTANING OF THE SCIENCE OF CC AT
REGIONAL LEVEL
– Models
– Monitoring on ground
– ID most vulnerable regions within Himalaya
• BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
– Afforestation programmes
– Linking Pas
– Conservation of cultivars
• STRENGTHENING OF HIMALAYAN CLIMATIC DATABASE
– Micro-climatic level
– Hydrological cycle
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RECOMMENDATIONS CONT.
• SCIENCE SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES FOR ON-GROUND
ACTION
• INVESTMENT AND CAPACITATION FOR COMMUNITY
INNOVATION FOR ADAPTATION
– Better understanding local experiences / strategies
– Linking community to science
– Learn from ‘failures’, not just ‘successes’
• COMMUNITY INCENTIVES INTEGRATED IN POLICY
• CAPACITY BUILDING AND INVESTMENT FOR CULTIVATION
NEW CROPS, SOIL&WATER CONSERVATION (LOCAL-LEVEL),
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RECOMMENDATIONS CONT.
• NEED FOR CROSS-SECTORAL PLANNING IN THE MOUNTAIN
LANDSCAPES
• MOVE AWAY FROM ‘AREA CENTRIC APPROACH’ TO THE
MANAGEMENT OF ECOSYSTEMS AND STRESS ON
FUNCTIONALITY AS A YARD STICK FOR MANAGEMENT
EFFECTIVENESS
• PROMOTE LOCAL ACTION BUT NEED TO HARMONIZE WITH
NATIONAL POLICY / PROGRAMMES / IMPERATIVES
• DISTINCTION FOREST AND NON-FOREST AREAS
• REDUCTION EMISSIONS BLACK CARBON AND OTHER NONCO2 GASES AS MITIGATION STRATEGY
• WOMEN KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN ADAPTING TO CC
• SHIFTING CULTIVATION
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