Experts have called in a workshop to create a mountain biodiversity information network in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region for mutual benefit and transboundary cooperation.
The two-day workshop "Linking Geodata with Biodiversity Information in the Himalayas" was organized in Nepali capital Kathmandu by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Global Mountain Biodiversity Program (GMBA).
A press release from ICIMOD on Monday said the workshop was attended by representatives from ICIMOD's regional member countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
The workshop emphasized the increasing need for geo-coded information in the inventory and assessment of biodiversity that are essential for management strategies and conservation interventions as well as for developing and testing scientific hypotheses.
Dr. Andreas Schild, Director General of ICIMOD emphasised the importance of geo-coded information in understanding the rapid environmental changes that are taking place in mountain ecosystems.
The workshop participants deliberated on ways of improving the biodiversity database at the national and local levels, the need for standardisation and harmonisation for data exchange, and providing a way to facilitate easy and open access to geo-coded biodiversity information.
The ICIMOD is an independent "Mountain Learning and Knowledge Center", based in Kathmandu, serving the eight member countries of the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas and the global mountain community. The GMBA is a cross cutting research network aiming to establish geo-referenced species databases as a tool for the assessment of mountain diversity.
Source:Xinhua
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