Climate warming in the Himalayas threatens biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services in the 21st century: is there a better solution?

Abstract

Biodiversity losses can lead to global environmental crisis. Humans utilize biodiversity for a variety of ecosystem services. However, what drives biodiversity losses have become a critical question during the 21st century. Lately, the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region in Asia, one of the world’s pristine habitats with the origin of majestic river systems including Brahmaputra, Indus, Mekong, and Yangtze, has witnessed rapid climatic warming. The unprecedented rates of climate warming in HKH has threatened biodiversity losses, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services, and consequently the existence of mankind in the region. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) highlight the risks to humanity arising from unsustainable use of natural resources and loss of biodiversity worldwide under rapid climate warming condition. In addition, the growing economic transformation in HKH can have high environmental costs and biodiversity losses. By realizing this fact, the Convention on Biological Diversity addresses the key issues of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the HKH by liaising with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Paris Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, the challenges of biodiversity losses, poor ecosystem functioning followed by reduced ecosystem services posed by climate warming and anthropogenic impacts needs to be addressed urgently by countries and multilateral agencies in HKH by identifying threatened ecosystem services and by providing better sustainability solutions. Here, I have outlined the current state of Himalayan biodiversity and ecosystem function and developed a framework for resilience management with an integrated approach of science and society to advance knowledge through learning. The resilience framework offers practical solutions comprising a robust and harmonized monitoring of climatic data, the use of multi-indicator approaches and modelling, and to make collaborated efforts among policy makers, implementers, and analysts to tackle evolving losses of biological diversity and reduction in ecosystem services in the HKH region.