Mountain Protection Resources and Organizations
The IUCN Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA) covers the region of West Asia including the countries of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Yemen.
Event Update: Starting preparations for the next Regional Conservation Forum in 2010:
After the IUCN 2nd Second West Asia Regional Committee Meeting that was held in Amman on March 30-31, 2009, the committee members called for starting with the preparations for the next IUCN 7th Regional Conservation Forum (RCF) which is proposed to be held in November 2010.
The committee proposed a number of countries to be approached for hosting the event including Bahrain, Kuwait, Palestine, Yemen and Lebanon. IUCN ROWA has subsequently sent hosting request letters to the proposed countries in addition to the other remaining West Asia countries.
International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) - Nepal
Map of important "Biodiversity Hotspots" in the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalaya (HKH) 4mb - The HKH region has 488 protected areas (IUCN categories I – VI, Heritage sites, Ramsar wetland sites and important bird areas, covering more than 1,6 million km2 and representing 39% of the region’s terrestrial area. This is highly significant, even if we have not yet the necessary climatic, hydrological, soil and land use data to understand the variability and vulnerability of biodiversity in a time of climate and environmental change.
Map of Transboundary Landscapes and Transects in the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalaya (HKH) 3.6mb- Taking into account the distance of around 3,500 km from the dry west to the humid east and the difference from the monsoon summer precipitation in the south to the boreal winter precipitation regime in the North over the Tibetan Plateau an efficient, a realistic data-gathering plan for the HKH has been devised. In order to obtain climatic, hydrological, soil and land use data to understand the variability and vulnerability of biodiversity in a time of climate and environmental change, regional conservation partners have decided to focus on these 4 transects and 7 transboundary complexes or landscapes.
Mountain Research Initiative (MRI)
The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative promotes connectivity conservation along a 3200 kilometre extent of the Rocky Mountains in western North America. Underway since 1993, it is one of the most ambitious global efforts to maintain the conditions under which biodiversity will be resilient to changing climatic conditions. Learn more about the Yellowstone to Yukon effort at www.y2y.net.
Resources Himalaya - Award-winning organization in Kathmandu, Nepal. Their mission: to conserve the diversity of life in the Himalaya and to facilitate decisions so that nature in the Himalaya is secured and the benefits of conservation practices accrue to the poorest segment of the society.