GRID-Arendal: Annual Report 2011

Lawrence Hislop, www.grida.no/photolib

Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme The Hindu-Kush Himalaya region contains the larg- est amount of snow and ice found outside the Polar Regions and is the source of ten of the largest rivers in Asia. It lies in the geographic centre of the largest and most densely populated region in the world and is home to an extremely fragile environment vulnerable to global warming. The Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme (HICAP), implemented in collaboration with CICERO and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, aims to enhance mountain communities’

resilience to change, particularly climate change, by im- proving the understanding of vulnerabilities and oppor- tunities for adaptation. • The findings of a 3-week field mission in the north- ern region of Mustang Province in Nepal were high- lighted in the Rapid Response Assessment (RRA) Women at the Frontline of Climate Change: Gender Risks and Hopes . • Prior to the launch of the RRA, HICAP partners and the Mountain Partnership Secretariat of FAO organised a Mountain Day event at the UNFCCC COP 17: “High- lighting the Critical Role of Mountain Ecosystems for Climate Adaptation and Sustainable Development”.

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