What We Do
Protect the Water Tower
Mountains play a central role in collecting and storing water — the most important element for life on earth. More than half of the world’s population is dependent on the freshwater that accumulates in mountain areas. All the major rivers of the world have their headwaters in the mountains such as the Himalayas. Three of the world’s major river systems — the Indus, the Ganga-Brahmaputra, and the Yangtze — take birth in the Himalayas. Around 1.3 billion people live in the basin of these rivers.
The water yield for a given input of rainfall from the mountains, like Himalayan watersheds, depends on the quality of its forests. The declining health of the Himalayan watersheds has been resulting in water scarcity within the region as well as in the downstream areas. Upstream management of the watersheds strongly affects downstream uses of water resources. Well-managed watersheds contribute to soil erosion control and consequently in reducing the levels of sediments downstream. The poor health of the Himalayan watersheds results in floods during the monsoon season.
Careful management of the sources of water such as the Himalayas has become a global priority in a world moving towards a water crisis in 21st century. The following estimation highlighted by the World Water Council in its report in 1996 presents a terrifying situation of water availability in the world: “In 1950, only 12 countries with 20 million people faced water shortages; by 1990 it was 26 countries with 300 million people; by 2050 it is projected to be as many as 65 countries with 7 billion people, or about 60 percent of the world’s population, mainly in the developing countries”.
Protect a Bio-Diversity Hotspot
Himalayas are the hot-spots of biodiversity and a rich resource of food, medicines, fibers, timber and fuel. Remoteness and inaccessibility of the Himalayas could not shield its rich biodiversity from human-induced biodiversity destruction. In addition to large scale habitat destruction for terracing; mining; road and dam construction, poaching is also responsible for biodiversity loss. The loss in biodiversity has created nutritional imbalances and food insecurity for many communities in the Himalayas. Himalayan biodiversity protection warrant immediate attention from the stakeholders to ensure wise use, allocation and protection of the biological wealth.
Mitigate Climate Change
Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem is one of eight missions of India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change. RACHNA’s programs designed to promote innovative partnerships of stakeholders for conservation action, environmental education and enhanced engagement of locals as well as concerned citizens in nature protection through ecotourism and green businesses can help accomplish this vital mission. Recognizing the urgent need of conservation of the Himalayas, the Government of India in its National Action Plan for Combating Climate Change (2008) has listed the ecological sustenance of the Himalayas as one among its 8 priority missions. The National Action Plan envisages three strategies: Enhancing monitoring and conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems; empowerment of local communities for the management of ecological resources; and promoting sustainable tourism.
RACHNA’s programs are aligned with the three objectives mentioned above. RACHNA is developing Home in the Himalayas (HITH) — a professionally-managed rural eco-tourism initiative, diversified and innovative green businesses, community based conservation plans and a green constituency for policy advocacy.
RACHNA believes that the above mentioned actions may not yield results unless some additional coordinated actions are in place. The major requirement in this regard is that all the major stakeholders such as the government, business sector, NGOs, media and community institutions must work together for developing and implementing the programs of awareness and understanding, and practicing ethics, rules and regulations for conservation of water, forests, bio-diversity and soil in the Himalayas. And there is a huge need to build sustainable incentives for the green ideas and businesses so that they grow rapidly.