People and Mountain Environments: Interconnectedness for Sustainable Development in the Himalayas

People living in the mountains maintain a unique relationship with their surrounding environment. Humans have settled in mountainous regions all across the globe for centuries, adapting to the challenging terrains and establishing exceptional cultural practices and lifestyles. Till today, they depend on their immediate ecosystems for their everyday necessities while also conserving those environments through their own traditional practices and belief systems. Understanding and addressing the ease and complexities of the relationship between people and mountains is essential for sustainable development through overall conservation and well-being of both the environment and the communities living in these regions. The mountain communities in the Himalayas and their interconnectedness with their surroundings could provide important insights in this regard. For instance, the interaction between humans and mountainsin the Himalayas is diverse, spanning across various cultural, economic, political, environmental and recreational dimensions and parameters. As sustainable development is a core goal of the world today, it is both interesting and pertinent to explore these various aspects and locate possible learnings in the present-day global environmental scenario. Accordingly, this book is an attempt to situate the interconnected between people and the mountains in the Himalayan landscape towards tracing learnings for sustainable development. Our aim is to edit a holistic volume where aspects ranging from ecosystem services to cultural and spiritual significances of the mountains for the local communities and from contributions of the Himalayas in relation to water, agriculture and food practices to the challenges associated with haphazard infrastructural developments and environmental justice implications are adequately addressed. We acknowledge that balancing the human needs of the mountain communities while ensuring environmental conservation is a major challenge. Ecologically fragile and biodiversity rich the Himalayan region is no exception. Further, mountain communities in the Himalayas are facing tremendous challenges in adapting to changing climate conditions, such as altered precipitation patterns and increased frequency of extreme weather events. Unsustainable economic activities in the form of chaotic tourism practices and infrastructural developments among others add to the emerging challenges. Accordingly, it is important to put research efforts towards active sustainable development practices where human needs are met while minimizing undesirable impacts on the Himalayan mountain ecosystems. The Himalayas are critical for global ecological balance. Therefore, this book will not only be helpful for the countries situated in these mountain regions alone, but also will provide useful insights for environmental sustainability at a much larger global scale.