23 - Nepal's Legal Initiatives on Land Use for Sustainable Development

Summary

LAND USE PROBLEMS IN THE HINDU KUSH–HIMALAYAN REGION

Nepal is one among eight countries in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan mountain region. The other countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan. The Hindu Kush–Himalayan region covers an area of 3.4 million square kilometers and extends 3,500 kilometers from Afghanistan to Myanmar. It has more than 150 million people living in a geologically young and unstable topography, a fragile and deteriorating environment, in small and ever-decreasing landholdings. The population continues to grow at a considerable rate. The mountain people in the region occupy 11 percent of the total area and depend upon agriculture for their livelihood. Their area is gradually shrinking because of new human settlements, urbanization, industrialization, and the building of infrastructure for new developments. Thus, there is a big gap between the growing needs of the people and the land resources available for meeting these needs.

Another problem in the region is that the ecosystems are susceptible to soil erosion, landslides, and land degradation, leading to the rapid loss of habitat and genetic diversity. Mountain dwellers are facing problems of unemployment, poverty, poor health, and bad sanitation. Many areas are either seriously marginalized or turned into dry lands as a result of increasing desertification. Land degradation in the mountain region has caused many adverse impacts not only on the people at its source but also on people living downstream. Climate change has caused the melting of snow and the overflowing of lakes and frequent and intense floods.