UPSC Express

About Kachenzenga landscape

• The Kangchenjunga Landscape (KL) is one of the six transboundary landscapes identified by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region.
• It stretches along the southern side of Mount Kangchenjunga.
• It covers an area of 25,080.8 km2 and spreads across part of eastern Nepal (21%), Sikkim and West Bengal of India (56%) and the western and south-western parts of Bhutan (23%).
• At the heart of this landscape, lies Mount Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), the third highest peak in the world, and sustains many of the vital Himalayan rivers and crucial watersheds.
• The KL is part of a ‘Himalayan biodiversity hotspot’ harbouring a significant portion of the world’s biodiversity.
• With 19 established protected areas, comprising 30% of the landscape, it contains more than 4,500 species of plants, more than 160 mammal species, 580 bird species, and 600 butterfly species.
• It is also home to 7.2 million people, some of whom are from unique ethnic groups found nowhere else in the world such as the Lepchas, the Walungpas, and the Lhop Doyas.
• This important transboundary area provides valuable ecosystem services that support the wellbeing and livelihoods of people living in the landscape.

About the Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KLCDI) 

• It is a transboundary conservation and development programme jointly implemented by the government of Bhutan, India and Nepal, facilitated and supported by ICIMOD.
• The initiative emphasises the transboundary landscape approach, advocated and promoted by the Convention on Biological Diversity, which recognises the importance of-
  • Establishing habitat linkages among the protected areas
  • Managing the ecosystems in entirety,
  • Supporting the livelihoods of communities living in the KL.
• The initiative was conceived in 2012 to collaborate on common objectives towards effective conservation and sustainable use of resources within the landscape.
• A Regional Cooperation Framework was prepared for implementing the subsequent phases of the KLCDI.
• As an outcome from the process, a 20 years strategic programme has been developed with five years operational plan (2016-2020).
• The framework is as follows:

• The current initiative of joint task force is under the third phase of the programme where the countries are agreeing for creating and implementing the joint task force.
• The KLCDI Focuses on five main intervention areas:
  • Livelihoods and climate change adaptation (socio-economic development).
  • Community-based participatory ecosystem management (ecosystem wellbeing).
  • Resources governance.
  • Long-term monitoring.
  • Regional cooperation.

South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN)

• It is an inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement support body of South Asian countries.
• The members include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• SAWEN was officially launched in January, 2011 in Paro Bhutan.
• It promotes regional cooperation to combat wildlife crime in South Asia.
• It focuses on-
  • Policy harmonization
  • Institutional capacity strengthening through knowledge and intelligence sharing.
  • Collaboration with regional and international partners to enhance wildlife law enforcement in the member countries.
• SAWEN operates its activities from the Secretariat based in Kathmandu, Nepal.