ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMD) says it has launched a five-year (2008-12) strategy aimed to protect ecosystems and alleviate poverty besides creating public awareness of the importance of mountains in the Himalayan region which also covers northern areas of Pakistan.

The centre would work in the Himalayan belt stretching over 3,500 km in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan with a total population of 150 million.

Speaking in a consultation workshop held in collaboration with the ministry of food and agriculture in Islamabad on Tuesday, Chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research

Council (PARC) M. E. Tusneem highlighted the importance of monitoring the climate change and its effects on the region and development of technologies to cope with the new scenario.

“There is a dire need to protect the ecosystems in the Himalayan region upon which depends the livelihood of millions of people,” he stressed.

He said PARC’s scientists had undertaken research works to monitor glacier melting in the Northern Areas and had discovered six lakes which could outburst in future leading to flash floods.

He said under another joint project with ICIMD, a database of socio-economic indicators of poverty-stricken Northern Areas was being prepared to assist the district governments in better planning and deployment of their resources.

Deputy director general ICIMD Dr Madhv Karki said the organisation had launched various initiatives in Pakistan including range land management, honeybee management, renewable energy and water-related disaster management, which would further strengthen its partnership with public sector institutions.

Talking about the five-year strategy, he said the major aim of the project was to scale up proven technologies in the country to reduce poverty and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr Karki said the ministry of food, PARC and ICIMD had also signed a memorandum of understanding to train some 12,000 poor farmers in bee keeping to increase the production by perfecting pollination.