For billions of people, mountain meltwater is essential for drinking water and sanitation, food and energy security, and the integrity of the environment. But today, as the world warms, glaciers are melting faster than ever, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme. And because of glacial retreat, floods, droughts, …
Mountains are among the most fragile environments on earth but, at the same time, are also rich repositories of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and the sources of much of the water that sustains life on the planet. The influence that mountain ecosystems exert on their neighbouring environments extends far beyond …
This workshop examined the threats that climate change and the fragmentation of natural ecosystems pose to mountain environments. The focus was on mountains, and specifi cally those conservation connectivity corridors which include transboundary protected areas. The workshop endeavoured to assist the Convention on Biological Diversity
The inventory and assessment of biodiversity resources have become essential for policy-making and management strategies as well as for developing and testing scientific hypotheses. There is an increasing need to compile mountain biodiversity databases and to make them available on-line. At the forefront of this work is an initiative lead …
The one-day workshop aimed at discussing how the GLOCHAMORE (Global Change in Mountain Regions)research strategy for mountain biosphere reserves and other mountain protected areas could be implemented. Protected area managers and scientists alike were invited to attend the workshop to discuss how the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy could be implemented at …
This research aims to investigate change and transformation of open pastoral social-ecological systems in Mongolia and develop climate change adaptation options for pastoral communities with participation of herders, local and national governmental officers and scientists. A social survey among herders on local climate change observation and its impact on pastoral …
Mt. Cameroon, part of the Cameroon Highlands ecoregion, is the highest peak in West/Central Africa. The Cameroon Highlands is a biodiversity hotspot and its fertile volcanic soil has also made it a hotspot for both subsistence and commercial agricultural activities since the late 19th century. The inhabitants
This paper discusses the effects of global change in African mountains, with the example of Mount Kenya. The geographical focus is the northwestern, semi-arid foot zone of the mountain (Laikipia District). Over the past 50 years, this area has experienced rapid and profound transformation, the respective processes of which are …
Diversity and refuge function for indigenous fauna and flora in anthropogenically influenced habitats in tropical regions under global change on Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
Scientists have gained new insights in the exact timeline of events that led to the rise of the Tibet plateau, described as the 'roof of the world'. US scientists who pieced together the geological puzzle say the rise of the plateau, due to collision of India with Asia about 50 …
BY CHRISTOPHER BODEEN China is planning a major cleanup operation for Mount Everest in 2009 and may limit the number of climbers and other visitors, Tibet's environmental protection chief was quoted as saying on Monday. The cleanup and new measures are planned for the second half of 2009, Zhang Yongze …
When was Everest discovered as the worlds highest mountain? In 1847, Andrew Waugh, the British surveyor general of India, found a peak in the eastern end of the Himalayas which was higher than Kangchenjunga
India may finally have an answer to China's rail link to Tibet. Inspired by the rail link to Lhasa in their backyard, the Himachal Pradesh government is now planning one right through Manali into Leh. The state's Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has written to the PMO to help develop …
This cave of crystals, buried around 300 metres below Naica mountain in Mexico's Chihuahuan desert, contains some of the largest natural crystals ever found. The cave (10 metre wide, 30 metre long) is a horseshoe-shaped cavity in limestone. Its translucent beams, jutting out from crystalline floor and blocks, measure up …
scientists have always been puzzled by hills mysteriously rising from the sea floor in the Arctic Ocean. A paper recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters (Vol 34 No 1) offers an explanation: methane bubbling through seafloor sediments is the source of the swellings. These hills are called
In Reclaiming Nature, leading environmental thinkers from across the globe explore the relationship between human activities and the natural world. The authors draw inspiration and lessons from diverse experiences ranging from community-based fishery and forestry management to innovative strategies for combating global warming.They advance a compelling new vision of environmentalism, …
even as the Union ministry of environment and forests has come out with an environment impact assessment (eia) notification to reconfigure the eia regime in September 2006, three task forces are working on eia. (see:
