After the North and South Poles, the Third Pole is the highland core of Asia, and includes the Hindu-Kush, Karakorum, Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau and all the mountain ranges that surround it. This region provides the water resource and ecosystem services to billions of people in Asia. It is well accepted that the regional environmental change will have huge implications for millions of people living in the Third Pole region and downstream areas. Understanding the mechanisms of the earth system multi-sphere (atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere and anthroposphere) interactions in the Third Pole is becoming one of the hottest topics for global environmental research, and it is also an urgent task for the scientific community to support the sustainable development of the Third Pole region.
A presentation about ‘inclusive biodiversity conservation’ in the Sanjiangyuan region, authored by Drs Foggin and Tashi (from the University of Central Asia (UCA) and Tibet University (TU), respectively), was delivered by Gongbo Tashi at the Third Pole Science Summit held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, on 10-12 July 2017.
The presentation also is available as a case study on the ICCA Consortium website.