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IUCN engaging local communities to restore water flow in the Himalayan region

19.03.2012

Across the Himalayan region in India springs are drying up, owing to changes in precipitation patterns and decline of the watershed’s forests. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with the support of mobile phone company Nokia, launched a project to restore water flow in the Balkila watershed, in India's Uttarakhand State. The Forest Department of the Uttarakhand State is also responding by promoting soil and water conservation with local farmers, and communities are replanting local species, like the deodar (cedar) and oak lost in past decades. “Coping with change will mean that communities in the Balkila, as in all high mountain regions around the world, will have to ensure they organize themselves to adapt,” says Dr Mark Smith, Director of IUCN’s Water Programme.

Photo (c) baswallet / Flickr