Mountains
of Asia - A Regional Inventory
As the International Centre for Integrated
Mountain Development, ICIMOD's foremost focus has been
and is the Hindu Kush-Himalayas. Notwithstanding, the
Centre has always acknowledged the linkages and interfaces
that exist between these mountains and other ranges
in Asia. For this reason, the Centre had, with the help
of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), established
the Asia Pacific Mountain Network (APMN) in early 1996.
It is through this network that the Centre maintains
important linkages through meaningful interfacing with
other Asian mountain regions. One example of this has
been the successful Council for Sustainable Development
of Central Asia (CoDoCA) conferences on the mountainous
countries of Central Asia.
This current document is a result
of ICIMOD's search for linkages—ways of reaching
out through partnerships to other mountain areas in
Asia, so that we can share the most useful areas of
our work with the mountain peoples on this continent
and beyond. It provides a useful overview and insight
into the mountain regions as dynamic entities in themselves.
A glance through its pages gives readers some idea of
the immense variety and richness of species, including
the human species, that inhabit these interesting and
challenging areas of the earth's surface. They have
much in common and much that is unique to specific ranges.
ICIMOD would like to thank Dr. Harka
Gurung for agreeing to take on such an unwieldy task
in such a short period of time. I would also like to
take this opportunity to thank the APMN programme of
ICIMOD for helping to facilitate its publication in
print and on the APMN section on Internet. The ICIMOD
Publications' team has responded to the idea of having
a printed version ready for the Mountain Forum conference
in Cuzco, Peru, by working with alacrity to edit and
process the document for printing.
We hope to show that all mountains
of Asia have their commonalties, but we also hope to
emphasise their uniqueness and the value they do bring
and will bring to life on earth in the 21st century.
Egbert Pelinck
Director General
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
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