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Conclusion

The report has presented an overview of some of the

current and possible future extent of threats to the wa-

ter resources and biodiversity in the region in the con-

text of piecemeal development, growing populations,

water shortages and climate change.

The growing problems:

Desertification is – beyond the natural cycles and

the effects of potential climate change – strongly in-

fluenced by land use practices along road corridors

including overgrazing, salinization of irrigated land

and deforestation as an effect of logging, grazing

and over-spenditure of water.

Growing numbers of sedentary livestock near settle-

ments and road corridors have led to overgrazing, de-

forestation and subsequent erosion and increase in

human vulnerability to flash floods and land slides.

Erosion and dust storms are widely associated with

overgrazing and abandonment of traditional migra-

tory practices. Land slides are primarily associated

with unsustainable land use practices such as de-

forestation or abandonment of terraces, and further

enhanced by tectonic activity and climate change.

Deforestation is mainly concentrated along road

corridors and lead to increased erosion and growing

silt contents in rivers.

Infrastructure development lead to growing resource

exploitation, local pollution such as tailings from

mining operations, logging and construction of dams

with further impact on downstream populations.

Infrastructure development has led to new and

intensified settlement patterns and also substantial

growth in poaching.

Piecemeal development associated intensified land-

use and subsequent secondary uncontrolled immi-

gration has resulted in increased human vulnerabil-

ity. The increased human vulnerability is the result of

combined actions of settlement in high risk areas and

growing interactions between unsustainable land

use, intensified development, water consumption,

ecosystem and wetland deterioration and climate

change. Exposure to flash floods, glacial outbursts

and periodic desertification from natural or anthro-

pogenic driven desert cycling must be seen in the

context of growing populations and piecemeal and

intensified land use, not merely natural disasters.

There are very few, if any, effective regional poli-

cies in place to counter resource degradation and

cumulative environmental impacts. There are many

promising national and local initiatives, but the fun-

damental challenge is to unite policy efforts across

different management contexts.

The positive responses:

Many of the countries in the region, and particularly

Bhutan, Nepal and China, are now rising to meet

the environmental challenges.

However, a substantial increase in resources al-

location, coordination and long-term planning is

needed for the entire region to reverse the very seri-

ous trends identified here. International collabora-

tion is required to address the large-scale changes

threatening watersheds.

Local participatory programmes have been suc-

cessful in many areas, such as Nepal, to reverse

the environmental degradation. However, such pro-

grammes have been insufficient for coping with the

large-scale development changes depicted.

The development of protected areas in Tibet and

increased enforcement has been among the most

significant environmental advances in the region.

The trans-boundary collaboration between local

scientists and international and foreign research

institutions should be further strengthened.

Other progress includes successful programmes to

reverse and combat desertification and deforesta-

tion in some local regions, particularly in Nepal and

China. This progress clearly demonstrates that if

adequate resources and well-coordinated efforts are

invested, many of the potential devastating threats

can be overcome. Bhutan is one of the few coun-

tries that have managed to protect its cultures and

biodiversity against unchecked industrial develop-

ment up until recently, although this may be rapidly

changing.

Perhaps the most significant finding here is that the

Greater Asian Mountain region and associated lowlands

will most likely experience increasing environmental

pressures as a result of growing interactions between

climate change, intensified and expanding land-use

along the infrastructure network and exacerbated by

growing populations.

In spite of the tremendous diversity in cultures, climate,

governance and population density, the region has two

major things in common: The sharing of the water re-

sources and the growing threat from unchecked piece-

meal development in the watersheds. This development

will increasingly – if no policy is implemented – interact

with growing populations and climate change to pro-

duce previously unprecedented impacts on biodiversity

and billions of people in this region by impacting the

ecology and capacity of the water sheds to provide se-

cure water. This challenge must be met.

To reverse the development in established infrastructure,

associated exploitation and subsequent settlement is at

best extremely difficult. Hence, further development of

protected areas and channeling of necessary resources

to enforce such areas are needed. This includes funds

to combat deforestation, poaching and desertification.

Protected areas in the mountain ranges and high altitude

plateaus may be the most rapid and effective policy ac-

tion to be implemented to reverse the trend of biodiver-

sity loss and growing risks to water resources.