Himalaya: Mountains of Destiny

This book highlights the different ways of seeing and engaging with the natural world and underscores the need to acknowledge and honour the ways that indigenous peoples have done for generations. Mountain regions occupy about one-fourth of the Earth's terrestrial surface and they are home to almost one-tenth of the global population and offer goods and services to more than half of humanity. Consequently, they received attention at the highest level during the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro's “Earth Summit”. Mountain environments are crucial to the survival of global ecosystems, many of them are experiencing degradation in terms of accelerated soil erosion, landslides, and rapid loss of habitat and genetic diversity, etc. Hence, proper management of mountain resources and the socio-economic development of the people deserves immediate action. Unfortunately, the capacity of mountain ecosystems to provide continued resources is threatened due to the increasing stress of human impact at the global level in general and the Himalayan region in particular. The Himalaya, a highly complex and diversified mountain system in terms of bio-physical attributes, is considered a life support system for millions of people in the uplands and many more in lowland areas of India. It acts as a climate regulator for much of Asia and is globally recognized for its sacred, spiritual, and philosophical values. The richness and uniqueness of bio-physical and socio-cultural diversity and the rich heritage of Indigenous Knowledge and Practices (IKP) have earned the Himalaya global recognition. Being young and geotectonically active, this system remains inherently unstable, fragile, and prone to natural disasters. Also, the vulnerability of this mountain chain to human-induced disturbances is now well established. Therefore, being a special and sensitive system, and more importantly due to its life support values, the Himalaya deserve special attention. It requires conservation and development interventions in a sustainable manner, which do not ignore the imperatives of mountain specificities. Thus, calls for evolving new paradigms of long-term conservation and sustainable development that help restore a complex balance between economic interests    and    ecological    imperatives     in     the     region     and     country     in     general. Understanding that the Himalaya are important for the Ecological Security of the region, there is a need for its conservation in the 21st century. The present book proposal has been decided to document the Himalayan priorities to achieve sustainable development goals. The book is consisting of four sections, which will deal with the different dimensions of the Himalaya.  The present book is conceptualized with an idea to collect case studies on various aspects and applications of conservation measures to value their knowledge, and wisdom and to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Prof. Suresh Chand Rai is a Professor and Former Chair of the Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. He did his Master’s in Geography (1979) and Doctor of Philosophy (1984) from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. His research expertise includes watershed management, mountain hydrology, ecotourism, biodiversity conservation, wetland hydrology, etc. His significant contributions are in the field of land and water resource management. Professor Rai has received international recognition for his pioneering studies on various topics in the Eastern Himalayas. Professor Rai won in the category of "Scientific Achievement" for the prestigious international award known as "Crystal Compass" which was given by the Russian Geographical Society, Russia, 2024. His work has been outstanding in the Integrated Watershed Management in the Sikkim Himalaya have been recognized through the Soil and Water Conservation Society of USA, Award, 1999. The extensive studies made by Prof. Rai on various aspects of mountain hydrology have not only helped in understanding the structure and function of the systems but also in finding out means of how to make the system sustainable. He has published more than 150 research papers in various impact factor/peer-reviewed journals and books (Scopus h-index- 24). He served as Secretary General of the National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI), the largest society of Geographers in India, from 2010 to 2022. Prof. Rai is elected vice-president of the Asian Geographers Association, Beijing, P.R. China. Prof. Rai has been an Editor of the Journal of the National Association of Geographers, India since 2023.