
The Sacred Himalayan Landscape is a large trans-boundary landscape in the eastern
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
encompassing
temperate broadleaf and
conifer forests, alpine meadows and grasslands, which harbour more than 80
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
and more than 440
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
. It extends from
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
's
Langtang National Park
Langtang National Park is a national park in north-central Nepal. It was established in 1976 as Nepal's first Himalayan national park and the country's fourth protected area. It covers an area of in the Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Sindhulpalchok Dist ...
through
Sikkim
Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...
and
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
to western
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
's
Torsa Strict Nature Reserve
__NOTOC__
The Torsa Strict Nature Reserve
(officially Jigme Khesar Strict Nature Reserve)
in Bhutan covers 609.51 square kilometres in Haa District, occupying most of its area. Founded along with other national parks in 1993 by decision of the ...
. More than 73% of this landscape is located in Nepal, including
Sagarmatha National Park
Sagarmāthā National Park is a national park in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal that was established in 1976 and encompasses an area of in the Solukhumbu District. It ranges in elevation from and includes Mount Everest. In the north, it shares ...
,
Makalu Barun National Park, and
Kanchenjunga Conservation Area
Kanchenjunga Conservation Area is a protected area in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal that was established in 1997. It covers in the Taplejung District and comprises two peaks of Kanchenjunga. In the north it adjoins the Qomolangma National Nat ...
. About 24% is located in India, encompassing
Khangchendzonga,
Singalila and
Neora Valley National Park
Neora Valley National Park is a national park in Kalimpong district, West Bengal, India that was established in 1986. Spread over an area of , it is a rich biological zone in eastern India. It is the land of the red panda in the pristine undisturb ...
s as well as
Fambong Lho,
Maenam,
Senchal,
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuaries,
Shingba and Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuaries and
Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary.
It links the
Qomolangma National Nature Preserve
The Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP), also known as the Chomolungma Nature Reserve (QNP), is a protected area 3.381 million hectares in size in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. Located on the Roof of th ...
in
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
, one of the largest protected areas in Asia, with the
Kangchenjunga Landscape in India and the Bhutan Biological Conservation Complex in Bhutan.
Climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
threatens the flora and fauna of this area. Trans-boundary protection of its biological and ecological connections is critical for the survival of such species as the
snow leopard
The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...
and the
red panda
The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...
that are threatened throughout the world.
Sustainable livelihoods for the people
The area covers nine and a half million acres and includes five million people of diverse cultures who speak 40 languages.
[ Most face abject poverty][ and are in need of ]sustainable
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
livelihoods.[
SHL is part of an initiative of the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) that "taps into the spiritual beliefs and conservation ethics of local communities to restore essential habitats and protect endangered species such as the ]snow leopard
The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...
."
WWF has cooperated with the three governments of Nepal, India and Bhutan to preserve the fragile "complex mosaic of biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
" and "achieve conservation while creating
sustainable livelihoods in the Sacred Himalayan Landscape". The mountains in the SHL contain the future water supply, in the form of glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s, for the huge population on the Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
but are susceptible to natural disasters such as landslides, forest fires and flash floods that are caused by poor land management.[
]The Mountain Institute
The Mountain Institute (TMI) is an international non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., and operates regional field offices in the Andes, Appalachians, and Himalayas. Respectively, these are the longest, the oldest, and the ta ...
(TMI) has worked with farmers in the SHL by teaching them to cultivate medical plants, having trained over 12,500 since 2001.Conserving the Sacred Himalayan Landscape
/ref>
References
{{coord missing, Nepal
Protected areas of Nepal
Himalayas