Asian cold deserts: unique biodiversity and ecosystem services
United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace
Date and Time 16 October 2012 12:15 - 13:45 Asia covers the
largest area of cold desert in the world covering partly/fully
ten countries viz., Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kyrgyz
Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia and Tajikistan. This
ecoregion harbors some unique biodiversity (e.g., snow leopard,
Marco Polo sheep, yak and a large number of rare and threatened
medicinal plants) with ecosystem services critical for
sustainable livelihoods of 20-30 million people living within
the region and a march larger population in the catchments of
Indus, Ganges, Brahmputra, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, Yellow,
Tarim, Syr Darya, Amu Darya and many other rivers fed by the
region. With global attention to species-rich regions on one
hand and extremely inhospitable climate and poor infrastructure
on the other, biodiversity in cold desert remained only a
marginal agenda in biodiversity research, s