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Designing Water Resource Use for Poverty Reduction in the HKH Region: Institutional and Policy Perspectives

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Carbon Management for Promoting Local Livelihood in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) Region

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Abstract

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region covers over 4 million km2 (about 2.9%) of the global land area and approximately 18% of the mountain area. These mountains are headwaters of ten major river systems that provide livelihood to 210 million people living there, and indirectly provide goods and services to 1.3 billion people downstream. Despite local people being safeguards of this valuable water resource, many inhabitants are amongst the poorest of the poor, many being marginalized subsistence farmers of diverse ethnic groups and minorities, not benefiting from these vast resources. Available water resources in the HKH could be used for economic prosperity in the region by maximizing the benefits of this renewable resource. This chapter reviews the water resource use for poverty reduction, and pertinent institutional arrangements and policy provisions amidst sustainable development agendas, underlining the needs of international cooperation, institutional framework, and regional thinking.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Madan Koirala, Udhab Raj Khadka, Sudeep Thakuri & Rashila Deshar

Authors
  1. Madan Koirala
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  2. Udhab Raj Khadka
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  3. Sudeep Thakuri
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  4. Rashila Deshar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Madan Koirala .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China

    Zhanhuan Shang

  2. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

    A. Allan Degen

  3. Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Khalid Rafiq

  4. University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Victor R. Squires

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Koirala, M., Khadka, U.R., Thakuri, S., Deshar, R. (2020). Designing Water Resource Use for Poverty Reduction in the HKH Region: Institutional and Policy Perspectives. In: Shang, Z., Degen, A., Rafiq, M., Squires, V. (eds) Carbon Management for Promoting Local Livelihood in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) Region. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20591-1_14

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