This report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) acknowledge the importance of the mountains as an important source of water, energy and biological diversity and identifies them as the areas most sensitive to all climatic changes. Hence, it lays down the programme areas, the basis of action, the activities and the means of implementation for managing mountain ecosystems that allow sustainable mountain development.

The publication seeks to explore the ways to maintain balance as well as develop integration between conservation and other relevant factors, such as poverty eradication and community development. The various articles address the issues of displacement, restriction on resource access, ecological impact of the rich, livelihood and conservation, and highlight the need for pro-poor and people centric conservation. They also identify the major ethical considerations for policy and actions and the possible way ahead.

The livelihoods of majority of the people in the Hindukush Himalayan Region revolve around agriculture. The paper elucidates the major challenges of the mountain people in the region with particular reference to Nepal, the status of natural resources and food-security. It lays down the requirement of a multi-pronged strategy to improve food security and livelihoods.

This technical paper tracks both the reported as well as possible future consequences of climate change in the greater Himalayan region with special emphasis on high mountain cryogenic phenomena – such as glaciers, permafrost and avalanches, possible effects on water supply, ecosystems and hazards, and the eventual threat for regional populations. The assessment highlights key policy areas and the urgency to improve the relevant knowledge to reduce scientific uncertainties and implement the strategies to enhance adaptive capacities of communities at risk.