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and pharmaceuticals. In the face of increasing human pressures on the
environmental change, these benefi ts could act as powerful incentives
to conserve nature (MA 2005), yet evaluating them has proved diffi cult
because they are mostly not captured by conventional, market-based
economic activity and analysis (Rasul et al. 2011). In the recent years, a
new generation of conservation approaches with economic dimensions is
rapidly emerging. They differ from traditional approaches in three critical
and interrelated ways: a) they emphasize human-dominated landscapes; b)
focus on ecosystem services, and c) utilize innovative fi nance mechanisms.
Such concerns have moved beyond the science community to the global
stakeholder and policy makers with the publication of the Millennium
Assessment (MA 2005). The analysis acknowledges that biodiversity
plays a signifi cant role in directly providing goods and services as well as
regulating and modulating ecosystem properties that underpin the delivery
of ecosystem services. To rationalize the conservation value of biodiversity
and the derived goods and services in the landscapes, ICIMOD developed
an assessment framework paper (Rasul et al. 2011) and also identify and
even quantify the ecosystems goods and services provided by conservation
corridors (Pant et al. 2012). The economic benefi ts generated by the fl ow
of selective forest ecosystem services in the three districts was around
NPR 8.9 billion per annum (approximately US$ 125 million) equivalent to
NPR 30,000 per ha/per year. Almost 80% of the total benefi ts (NPR 7.01
billion per annum or approximately US$ 98 million) was from provisioning
services, i.e., goods from the forests used directly or indirectly. The average
benefi t per household from ecosystem services was estimated to be NPR
60,144 per year. The value of carbon sequestration services was also
considerable at NPR 1.65 billion annually, close to 18% of the total value of
the ecosystem services (see Pant et al. 2012). The study was important in
terms of reconciling conservation and climate change as it rationalizes the
need for enhancing ecological resilience through conservation intervention.
Such studies have been replicated in other critical ecosystems such as Koshi
Tappu Wildlife Reserve in Nepal (ICIMOD and MoFSC/GoN 2014) and
Phobjikha Conservation Area of Bhutan (ICIMOD and RSPN 2014).
Ecosystem Resilience and Community Adaptation Opportunities
While acknowledging the signifi cant diversity of ecosystems in the HKH
region and the existence of a fair understanding of the important drivers
of change, it is recognized that concerted efforts are needed to monitor
and research the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. During the
course of ICIMOD's learning, four priority thematic areas were identifi ed
to strengthen the reconciling process.
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