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Climate warming-induced rangeland degradation in arid and semiarid steppe imposes substantial threats to the livelihoods of people. But this dilemma can be solved by combining all sectors of agriculture, animal husbandry and tourism through their complementarity, i.e. by adopting integrated landscape ecosystem-based approaches. A number of experiences and lessons have been achieved in a specific sector for its successful development, but not in the multiple social, economic, and ecological systems. In this study, we uses the perspective of integrated ecosystem management to strengthen crop-livestock integration and innovative livelihoods, and propose a multifunctional Kailash Landscape to activate the inter-linkage among agriculture, animal husbandry, and heritage pilgrimage/tourism in order to achieve multifunction of the socio-ecological system. A case study of Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative in China was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed by land use and land cover change and its consequence on multiple ecosystem services. Integrated landscape management was found to be effective in building resilience of socio-ecosystems by reducing the vulnerability of traditional agriculture in terms of improving crop production and animal husbandry. A multifunctional landscape is expected to be integrated and build a resilient sector complementarity including farming, pastorism, environmental and socioeconomic function. The analyses show that integrated landscape approaches provide an effective perspective for sustainable socio-economic development in this sacred landscape. The findings highlight the importance of landscape-scale ecosystem-based adaptation to environment change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, in the Central Himalaya, the caterpillar fungus collectors collect fuelwood from the alpine shrublands to meet their energy needs for cooking and heating. The fuelwood collection continues unabated, and its long-term impact on the alpine ecology is still less understood. We conducted a questionnaire survey and fuelwood measurements in the summer of 2019 at the 'open-access' and 'closed-access' collection sites of caterpillar fungus in the Kailash Sacred Landscape of Nepal in the Central Himalaya. The ‘open access collection site’ referred to the site being accessible to any Nepali citizen from anywhere upon the payment of the collection fee. The ‘closed collection site’ referred to the site being accessible only to members of a particular community. The study objectives were to estimate fuelwood consumption by fungus harvesters and ascertain if fungus collection time and the number of people in a tent have an influence over fuelwood consumption in two sites. We randomly selected thirty harvesters in each fungus collection site for the study. The study results were supplemented by the satellite images to understand decadal changes in shrub cover at closed and open access collection sites. The open-access site had a more significant number of people in a tent, a longer length of stay, and a greater fuelwood consumption. The duration of stay at the open-access site far exceeded the recommended period of one month for harvesting the caterpillar fungus. On the contrary, the length of stay at the closed collection site was one month. The open-access site had a daily consumption of six kilogram fuelwood, and the closed site consumed four and a half kilograms of fuelwood daily. The decadal decline in shrub cover was higher in the open-access site. The study suggests that the current practices of fuelwood removal may be unsustainable and likely to deplete the alpine shrublands, and ultimately harm the caterpillar fungus, especially at the open-access collection sites. There is an urgency to replace the current fuelwood resource use practiced by collectors with more sustainable energy systems. Moreover, it is imperative to address this issue holistically through stringent policies that regulate the number of people and days spent at collection sites.

Kailash is one of the most important sacred landscape in Trans-Himalayan region and worshiped by multiple nations and religions. The visual construction of this sacred landscape is a complex process of cultural practice, and even in the era of Internet and big data, the burgeoning photo sharing websites, social media have further influenced people's gaze and imagination of Kailash. The research paper focuses on people's visual perception of Kailash Sacred Landscape and proposed a hypothesis that the images of Kailash become a product of viewer's selection of iconic symbols from landscape and then be reconstructed through visual media. The research mainly includes two parts. The first part focuses on the GIS spatial analysis of the complex visual landscape of Kailash. Viewshed analysis reveals the visual prominence of Kailash in the whole region, and also the change in people's visual perception of this mountain during the kora trek. The second part focuses on of the geo-tagged photos collected form social media. Visual content analysis based on computer vision is adopted to recognize items from collected photos. Most visual elements can be integrated into a higher-level set of 8 visual elements. According to the ratio of each element, hierarchical clustering is adopted to describe the similarity between each photo. The dendrogram of clustering result shows all the photos can be generally divided into 9 groups, which reflects different paradigms of people's visual expression of Kailash. In conclusion, this research reveals how Kailash is represented through filtered images in a web-based context. Also, it explores and extends the applications of GIS and AI technology in cultural landscape research.

Natural fibers have attracted considerable attention in recent years because of their low cost, renewable, and eco-friendly nature. The study investigated the economic, social, medicinal, and traditional use of Himalayan Giant Nettle commonly called “Allo” (Girardinia diversifolia) in Nepal. The fiber extracted from “Allo” is one of the income sources for people living in rural mountainous region of Nepal. The traditional fiber processing techniques, use of locally available materials, and medicinal value helped to preserve “Allo.” Nevertheless, the resource stock is declining from its natural habitat due to changes in traditional grazing practices, rapid expansion of plantation of cash crops like large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) and Chirayito (Swertia chirayita) where “Allo” grows naturally. Cultivation, sustainable harvesting, and policy formulation on “one-door taxation” system are important to preserve this important natural fiber species.

A total of 141 quadrats were sampled using stratified random sampling to study forest, environment and human interactions along an elevation gradient 1800 to 3665 m at the remote Kailash Sacred Landscape, Nepal. Eight forest types were identified, including Laurel-Oak to Rhododendron to Blue pine, comprising 191 species including 60 useful from 166 genera and 87 families. The environmental variables elevation, slope, and temperature were significant (p < 0.001) in determining the composition and distribution of forest types. Records of large numbers of useful plants along with diverse forest and vegetation types suggest a strong association between the culture of local villages and nature conservation. Due to changes in climate, socio-culture and land-use, forest degradation is expected to accelerate, thus forcing government and indigenous community forest management measures to acknowledge human, cultural and environmental variables for sustainable forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Local people in the Himalayan region use a wide range of wild and non-cultivated edible plants (WNEPs) for food, spice, medicinal, and cultural purposes. However, their availability, use, status and contribution to livelihood security are poorly documented, and they have been generally overlooked in recent agro-biodiversity conservation and management programmes. The study aimed to investigate WNEP diversity and current status in a part of the Kailash Sacred Landscape—a transboundary landscape shared by Nepal, India and PR China—in terms of collection, use, management and conservation initiatives. Methods Multiple methodologies and tools were used for data collection. A series of participatory tools (45 key informant interviews, 10 focus group discussions, a crop diversity fair, direct observation of species through a transect walk and rapid market assessments) was followed by a household survey (195 respondents) and complemented by a literature review. Results The study recorded 99 WNEPs belonging to 59 families of which 96 were angiosperms, one gymnosperm and two pteridophytes. Species were used for food, spice, medicine, rituals and income generation. Thirty-five species had multiple uses, including these: 40 species were used for fruit and 31 for vegetables. WNEPs contribute significantly to daily food requirements, especially the vegetables. The use value of Dryopteris cochleata was found highest (0.98) among frequently used vegetable species. The values of informant consensus factor were found maximum for worms in the stomach (0.99) and minimum for skin disease treatment (0.67). Nearly 85% of households depended exclusively on WNEPs for at least more than a month per year. Results on the importance and use of different species, gender roles in WNEP activities and conservation approaches are presented. Conclusions People living in the Kailash Sacred Landscape depend significantly on WNEPs, and this is especially critical in times of food shortage. The WNEPs have considerable potential as an important supplement to cultivated food crops. Farmers prioritise species with multiple use values and popular vegetables. However, there are numerous challenges and interventions needed to ensure conservation and management of species and their continued availability to support food security and local livelihoods.

Invasion of alien species in high altitude ecosystems is a potent threat to the species diversity as well as it can cause severe environmental and economic issues. The invasion of alien plant species can be facilitated by many eco-climatic factors. The present study was conducted to assess patterns and trends of invasion by Ageratina adenophora in major land use and land cover types; in Gokerneshwergad watershed of Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) in western Himalaya. Extensive surveys were conducted to map the species in each season and habitat type. Sites with high biotic pressure and open forest canopy were the most suitable habitats for its growth. A negative correlation was found between distribution and altitude. The highest invasion was recorded in between 1700 – 1800m elevation gradient, between 20° and 30° slope positions and at North (33.33%), whereas, the lowest invasion was recorded between 700 – 800m in South-East directions (3.70%). Several other parameters such as distance from the disturbance site such as road, villages or settlements, drainage and soil texture were also found to be affecting the distribution pattern of this species. Interestingly results reveal that the alien plants also start competing among themselves after reaching their threshold level.

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A plethora of information is available on biomass utilization for household energy need in different parts of world; however such information in cold desert region is very limited. The present study is first of its kind to provide information on biomass utilization, fuelwood species diversity, their regeneration status, and likely impact of fuelwood harvesting in cold desert area of the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) in Indian part. Per Capita Fuelwood Consumption (PCFC) was maximum (5.4 ± 0.30 kg/capita/day) for villages at higher altitude (3800 m) as compared to low altitude (3000 m) village (2.2 ± 0.36 kg/capita/day) for present study. The energy values follow similar trend; maximum for higher altitude (106.4 MJ/capita/day) and minimum for low altitude (43.3 MJ/capita/day). The inhabitants use a total of 14 woody species (3 trees, 11 shrubs) as fuelwood in the cold desert part of KSL. Among these, with high Probability of Use (PU) Juniperus communis (0.86), Pinus wallichina (0.48) and Abies pindrow (0.47) emerged as preferred species and thereby having very high pressure. Likewise, the Resources Use Index (RUI) for fuelwood consumption remained high for Juniperus communis (759.5), Pinus wallichaina (479.2) and Abies pindrow (391). The regeneration status of preferred species and availability (i.e. density) of other species suggested that the long-term persistence of preferred fuelwood species in the landscape is in question. The study provides evidences that the exiting forests, alpine arid scrublands and pasture may face serious problem of degradation in near future if the current trends of fuelwood harvesting continues. This calls for policy and programme level interventions to protect the fuelwood resources and provide better options of energy to poor inhabitants of cold desert area in KSL part of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional knowledge and practices are increasingly recognized in the resource conservation and management practices, however are declining in many parts of the world including Nepal. Studies on the inventory of traditional knowledge are available, albeit limited, and empirical analysis of factors contributing to the decline of traditional knowledge are negligible in Nepal. We thus initiated this study in the Nepal part of the Kailash Sacred Landscape to (i) document traditional knowledge and practices on agriculture, forest-based herbal remedy, and genetic resource conservation; and (ii) identify factors contributing to the decline of traditional practices in the communities. Data was collected during September-December 2015 through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and households survey. The household survey data was used in binary logistic regression analysis to identify factors contributing to the decline of six key traditional practices. The study documented 56 types of traditional practices. The regressions showed that the age of the respondent, distance to the nearest forest, distance to the nearest motorable road, family members’ ill health, and seasonal migration of the household members for jobs significantly influencing to the decline of the particular traditional practices, however, their effects vary within a practice and among the practices. The use of modern medicine, increasing road linkages, decreasing trend of plant resource availability, and agriculture intensification are responsible for the decline of the particular traditional practices. We recommend to recognize their significance in the governing socio-ecological systems and to link the traditional and scientific knowledge systems through policy formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Local people in the Himalayan region use a wide range of wild and non-cultivated edible plants (WNEPs) for food, spice, medicinal, and cultural purposes. However, their availability, use, status and contribution to livelihood security are poorly documented, and they have been generally overlooked in recent agro-biodiversity conservation and management programmes. The study aimed to investigate WNEP diversity and current status in a part of the Kailash Sacred Landscape--a transboundary landscape shared by Nepal, India and PR China--in terms of collection, use, management and conservation initiatives. Methods: Multiple methodologies and tools were used for data collection. A series of participatory tools (45 key informant interviews, 10 focus group discussions, a crop diversity fair, direct observation of species through a transect walk and rapid market assessments) was followed by a household survey (195 respondents) and complemented by a literature review. Results: The study recorded 99 WNEPs belonging to 59 families of which 96 were angiosperms, one gymnosperm and two pteridophytes. Species were used for food, spice, medicine, rituals and income generation. Thirty-five species had multiple uses, including these: 40 species were used for fruit and 31 for vegetables. WNEPs contribute significantly to daily food requirements, especially the vegetables. The use value of Dryopteris cochleata was found highest (0.98) among frequently used vegetable species. The values of informant consensus factor were found maximum for worms in the stomach (0.99) and minimum for skin disease treatment (0.67). Nearly 85% of households depended exclusively on WNEPs for at least more than a month per year. Results on the importance and use of different species, gender roles in WNEP activities and conservation approaches are presented. Conclusions: People living in the Kailash Sacred Landscape depend significantly on WNEPs, and this is especially critical in times of food shortage. The WNEPs have considerable potential as an important supplement to cultivated food crops. Farmers prioritise species with multiple use values and popular vegetables. However, there are numerous challenges and interventions needed to ensure conservation and management of species and their continued availability to support food security and local livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife is used for a range of purposes such as food, healthcare and ornamentation. Most wildlife trade is legal, contributing to livelihood and income generation for many people including some of the world's poorest. However, the part of wildlife harvesting and trade occurring outside the laws is considered the biggest threat to conservation after habitat loss and overexploitation. Although illegal wildlife trade has received attention from the conservation and biological perspectives, there have been few studies on the root causes and socio-economic context influencing this activity. This paper studied illegal wildlife trade in and around the Kailash Sacred Landscape (Nepal, Western Himalaya), an area bordering both India and China. The causes identified were high demand for wildlife items (mostly in China), limited other livelihood opportunities for local people, open or porous borders, weak patrolling due to limited resources, and ineffective law enforcement. Efforts to tackle illegal wildlife trade should focus on awareness raising programs, mobilization of local people to gather intelligence, increased patrolling, and transboundary cooperation. Major trade routes and junctions identified in this study could help deploy patrolling and conservation efforts where they count. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use and land cover change (LUCC) is an important driver of ecosystem function and services. Thus, LUCC analysis may lay foundation for landscape planning, conservation and management. It is especially true for alpine landscapes, which are more susceptible to climate changes and human activities. However, the information on LUCC in sacred landscape is limited, which will hinder the landscape conservation and development. We chose Kailash Sacred Landscape in China (KSL-China) to investigate the patterns and dynamics of LUCC and the driving forces using remote sensing data and meteorological data from 1990 to 2008. A supervised classification of land use and land cover was established based on field survey. Rangelands presented marked fluctuations due to climatic warming and its induced drought, for example, dramatic decreases were found in high- and medium-cover rangelands over the period 2000–2008. And recession of most glaciers was also observed in the study period. Instead, an increase of anthropogenic activities accelerated intensive alteration of land use, such as conversion of cropland to built-up land. We found that the change of vegetation cover was positively correlated with growing season precipitation (GSP). In addition, vegetation cover was substantially reduced along the pilgrimage routes particularly within 5 km of the routes. The findings of the study suggest that climatic warming and human disturbance are interacted to cause remarkable LUCC. Tourism development was responsible land use change in urban and pilgrimage routes. This study has important implications for landscape conservation and ecosystem management. The reduction of rangeland cover may decrease the rangeland quality and pose pressure for the carrying capacity of rangelands in the KSL-China. With the increasing risk of climate warming, rangeland conservation is imperative. The future development should shift from livestock-focus animal husbandry to service-based ecotourism in the sacred landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]