MANAGING CLIMATE RISKS IN THE HIMALAYAS A Community-centric Approach EUROPEAN COMMISSION Humanitarian Aid MANAGING CLIMATE RISKS IN THE HIMALAYAS A Community-centric Approach i FOREWORD The Regional Climate Risk Reduction Project (2009-2010), a UNDP- ECHO pilot initiative, spanned across four countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region viz. India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan. In a limited time span of 15 months, the project worked towards generating awareness on climatic variability, and increasing community preparedness against hydro-meteorological disasters. Partnering with communities, administrative authorities, government bodies, civil society organisations, and the media, various measures were undertaken to strengthen the internal coping capacities of these mountain communities. The project also implemented a gamut of disaster risk reduction initiatives to mitigate the risks emanating from climate change/variability in this region. This publication titled “Managing Climate Risks in the Himalayas: A Community-centric Approach” captures the journey, milestones, and achievements of the project. It emphasises the need to focus on locally viable, and easy- to-implement community-centric measures to improve the ability of mountain communities to respond effectively, and recover from the increasing incidences of hydro-meteorological hazards. Community voices find focus in this document as they lend an insight into how the inhabitants perceive the explicit and implicit changes unfolding around them. Regional Climate Risk Reduction Project Team Bureau for Crisis Prevention & Recovery, South and Southwest Asia United Nations Development Programme iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This publication is a celebration of the unrelenting efforts of the RCRRP Team consisting of Amber Masud, Arvind Sinha, Deepak K.C., Devika Loomba, Kinley Penjor, Priyanka Ghosh, and Sarat Panda. Under the leadership of Mr. Rajeev Issar, the Project Manager, the project team played a catalytic role in the formulation and implementation of various initiatives that enhanced the resilience of communities in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region to respond and recover from the effects of climate change/variability. Environment and Disaster Risk Management Units of UNDP Country Offices in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan, the key implementing partners of the RCRRP, were instrumental in the successful completion of the project activities. BCPR’s Regional Centre in Bangkok, under the able leadership of Ms. Nescha Teckle, extended its technical, administrative, and financial support to this endeavour. Dr. Krishna S Vatsa, Regional Disaster Reduction Advisor for South and Southwest Asia, BCPR, provided constant technical and managerial guidance, and constructive feedback on all aspects of the project. Contributions made by Priyanka Ghosh, Communications Officer (RCRRP), Reshmi Theckethil, Regional Programme Associate (BCPR), and research interns Mihika Tewari and Anjali Verma in preparing this document are duly acknowledged. Gratitude is expressed to the people of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region who helped realise the RCRRP through their determination and persistent support. v CONTENTS 1. Managing Climate Risks 1 1.1 Climate Change and Variability in the Himalayas 3 1.2 The Regional Climate Risk Reduction Project 5 2. Sectoral Impacts of Climate Change/Variability 9 2.1 Agriculture and Cropping Practices 11 2.2 Health 14 2.3 Environment 15 2.4 Livelihoods 17 3. Disaster Management Planning & Preparedness 19 3.1 Risk Assessment and Disaster Management Planning 21 3.2 Preparedness and Response 28 3.3 Training and Capacity Building 32 4. Mitigation Measures for Climate Risk Management 39 4.1 Structural Measures for Mitigation 41 4.2 Non-structural Measures 43 5. Knowledge Sharing, Advocacy, and Awareness Raising 47 5.1 Knowledge Sharing and Networking 49 5.2 Sensitising Key Stakeholders 53 5.3 Awareness Raising through Diverse Media 54 6. Community-centric Disaster Risk Reduction 59 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ACORAB Association of Community Radio Broadcasters APRC Asia-Pacific Regional Centre BCPR Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery CBDRM Community-based Disaster Risk Management CCA Climate Change Adaptation CDRMP Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Programme CDMA Code Division Multiple Access CO Country Office CPRP Crisis Prevention and Recovery Practice CRM Climate Risk Management CRM-TASP Climate Risk Management-Technical Assistance Support Project CRR Climate Risk Reduction DAS Data Acquisition System DDM Department of Disaster Management DDMP District Disaster Management Plan DGPC Druk Green Power Corporation DIPECHO ECHO's Disaster Preparedness Programme DMIS Disaster Management Information System DMP Disaster Management Plan DP-Net Disaster Preparedness Network DRM Disaster Risk Management DRR Disaster Risk Reduction ECHO European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office EOC Emergency Operations Centre EWS Early Warning System GB Gilgit-Baltistan GBDMA Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority GCISC Global Change Impact Study Centre GFDRR Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction GIS Geographic Information System GLOF Glacial Lake Outburst Flood GoI Government of India ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS GPS Global Positioning System HKH Hindu Kush Himalayas HVRA Hazard, Vulnerability, and Risk Assessment ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development I/NGO International Non-Governmental Organisation IEC Information, Education, and Communication IT Information Technology KPK Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa MoHCA Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NREGS National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme NRM Natural Resource Management NSDRM National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management NSET National Society for Earthquake Technology PHC Primary Health Centre PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal PRI Panchayati Raj Institution RCRRP Regional Climate Risk Reduction Project RIMES Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System SAR Search and Rescue SOP Standard Operating Procedure ToT Training of Trainers UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNISDR United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction VDC Village Development Committee VERT Village Emergency Response Team VHF Very High Frequency WAPDA Water and Power Development Authority WWF World Wildlife Fund WWFP World Wildlife Fund Pakistan 1. Managing Climate Risks 1 1 2 1. Managing Climate Risks 1.1 Climate Change and Variability With increasing average global temperature, in the Himalayas the Himalayan region has witnessed an increase of 0.15°C-0.6°C per decade in the last three The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is one of decades.2 Impacts of climate change and the most hazard prone regions of the world. climate variability have been well observed in Its fragility stems from its susceptibility to the Himalayas, in particular, with respect to multiple hazards of geological as well as hydro- recession of snowline, formation of glacial lakes, meteorological origin such as earthquakes, and changes in biodiversity in the ecosystems. landslides, floods, flash floods, droughts, Several studies indicate that most of the wildfires, cloudbursts, etc. The physical and glaciers in the Himalayas have been shrinking socio-economic characteristics of the Himalayan at accelerated rates in recent decades. As a region combined with the changing risk factors result of rapid melting of glaciers, glacial runoff such as environmental and climate change, and frequency of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods population growth, and economic globalisation (GLOF) causing mudflows and avalanches have have rendered the region highly vulnerable.1 increased (Bhadra, 2002; WWF, 2005). Extending over 3500 kilometres, the Hindu Kush Large glacial lakes or ice ‘dams’ perched Himalayas (HKH) is one of the most glacierised precariously on the mountain tops are areas in the world outside the polar region inherently unstable by nature. Thus, any with about 15,000 glaciers, which function as geological or hydrological incident can trigger 1 nature’s renewable storehouse of fresh water in a breach, discharging millions of cubic metres the region. The region is also the cradle of nine of water and debris. The increase in size and major river systems in Asia whose basins are volume of glacial lakes and formation of new home to billions of people. It is intrinsically linked lakes have made HKH region more prone to to global atmospheric circulation, hydrological GLOFs, particularly in Nepal and Bhutan. In cycle, biodiversity, and water resources. the Himalayan region, it has been observed that the frequency of the occurrence of GLOF events has been increasing in the second half of the twentieth century.3 There has also been an increase in the frequency as well as intensity of hydro-meteorological hazards in the region such as higher incidences of riverine floods and droughts, secondary hazards like landslides/slope failures, ‘out of season’ occurrences of concentrated rainfall, flash foods, Figure 1.1: The Himalayas and cloudbursts, prolonged drought, torrential 1 http://www.icimod.org/?page=97 2 Bajracharya, ICIMOD 3 http://www.rrcap.unep.org/issues/glof/ 3 rains, etc. Changes in the normal weather patterns, In addition to the direct impact on crops and including shifting of seasons, and variations in livestock, events such as landslides and floods temperatures, timing and periodicity of sunshine, result in economic losses due to disruption of rainfall, and snowfall, have also been observed. transportation linkages with markets, leading Research