From today (Tuesday 24th June) until Thursday 26th June, a conference is being held in Leh on Sustainable Resource Development in the Himalaya. Delegates and participants are expected from across the Himalayan region –including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Furthermore, international delegates will come from across the UK, USA and beyond. Topics will include the geology of the region, natural hazards, water resources, renewable energy and geotourism.
This conference comes at an important time for the region, with reports that the newly elected Indian Prime Minister considering establishing a Ministry for Himalayan Affairs. The Himalayan region (including and beyond Ladakh) is a unique place, with many challenges due to geographic isolation, extreme topography and climate, growing tourism and scarcity of resources. Many of these factors are amplified due to climate change. The conference will be bringing together scientists and key stakeholders from governments and local institutions with the hope that discussions will result in the strengthening of sustainable policies to support development.
GfGD Director Joel Gill and Himalaya Programme Officer Rosalie Tostevin will be presenting posters at the event, in the section on hazards and disasters. Joel’s relates to his PhD work on improving our understanding of hazard interactions to inform management priorities. Rosalie is second author on Sumeet Khullar’s poster on the Leh cloudburst of 2010. Sumeet is an MSc student at the University of Jammu.
Having both sat on the organising committee for the event for the past 14 months, we’re delighted to have arrived at the start of the event, and are looking forward to a fruitful and interesting three days.
