International Center for Integrated Mountain
Development
Author: Karki, Archana
Source: Mountain Research and Development, 20(1) : 90-91
Published By: International Mountain Society
URL: https://doi.org/10.1659/0276-
4741(2000)020[0090:ICFIMD]2.0.CO;2
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90
International Center for
Integrated Mountain Development
A Partner in Sustainable
Mountain Development
The International Center for Inte-
grated Mountain Development (ICI-
MOD) is the first and, so far, the
only international center devoted to
integrated mountain development.
It was established in 1983 out of
widespread concern for the alarm-
ing environmental degradation of
mountain habitats and the poverty
of mountain communities in the
Hindu Kush–Himalayan (HKH)
region. While international in
scope, its main geographic focus is
the Hindu Kush-Himalayas, a moun-
tain chain extending for more than
3500 km, which is the home of over
140 million inhabitants and encom-
passes the mountain areas of parts
or all of Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar,
Nepal, and Pakistan.
In pursuing its mandate, ICI-
MOD works mainly at the interface
between research and development
and acts as a facilitator for generat-
ing new mountain-specific knowl-
edge that is relevant to mountain
development. At the same time, ICI-
MOD attempts to ensure that new
knowledge is shared among all rele-
vant institutions, organizations, and
individuals in the region. Its primary
functions are to serve as a multidis-
ciplinary documentation and infor-
mation center, a focal point for
applied and problem-solving
research activities, a focal point for
training, and a consultative center.
ICIMOD has a staff of 140, of
whom 30 are internationally recruit-
ed professionals representing sever-
al nationalities. They bring to the
Center expertise in a wide range of
areas, including agronomy, agro-
forestry, farm economics; common
property resources management,
land-use planning, and hazard and
rangeland management; soil conser-
vation; communications and infor-
mation management; and alterna-
tive energy systems and water
resources.
Regional collaborative program
In an attempt to address the issues
highlighted by Chapter 13 (Moun-
tain Ecosystems) of Agenda 21, ICI-
MOD embarked, in January 1995,
on a dynamic and ambitious 4-year
Regional Collaborative Program for
the Sustainable Development of the
Hindu Kush-Himalayas. The pro-
gram was designed after extensive
consultations with partner institu-
tions in ICIMOD member coun-
tries, ICIMOD’s Board of Governors
and Support Group, and many oth-
ers. The experience gained has
been enormously valuable in help-
ing the Center move on to the next
phase (1999–2002) of programming
for sustainable mountain develop-
ment in the HKH in the areas
described below.
Program areas
ICIMOD has designated five major
program areas. These reflect the
Mountain Research and Development Vol 20 No 1 Feb 2000
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91
three principal thematic concerns
in sustainable development of the
HKH and the two main mechanisms
that ICIMOD uses to increase the
capacities of local and national
institutions to apply the knowledge
generated by the thematic pro-
grams, which are
• sustainable livelihoods for moun-
tain households
• gender balanced mountain
development
• sustainable management of the
mountain commons
• capacity building of mountain
development organizations
• information, communication,
and outreach.
Principles of partnership
ICIMOD adopts a decentralized
approach to program implementa-
tion in which national institutions
have the main responsibility to
plan, implement, and finance pro-
grams that are particularly appro-
priate in light of the mountain man-
dates of the respective institutions.
ICIMOD functions as a facilitator,
providing access to knowledge and
advice, and gives a regional perspec-
tive to the national and local activi-
ties undertaken.
Within the overall framework
of cooperation with countries in
the HKH region, ICIMOD enters
into long-term partnership agree-
ments with academic and research
institutions, government develop-
ment agencies, nongovernmental
organizations, and international
organizations with a mandate or an
interest in sustainable mountain
development.
Outreach
ICIMOD annually publishes about
40 monographs on diverse topics,
ranging from mountain agriculture
and mountain risk engineering to
alternative energy systems and bio-
diversity. ICIMOD also produces a
Newsletter and a publication called
Issues in Mountain Development in
order to regularly inform a large
network of institutions and individ-
uals about the results of mountain
research, lessons learned, best prac-
tices, and what works and what
doesn’t in the context of mountain
development. In addition, ICIMOD
also produces CDROMs, posters,
video films, and slide presentations
and organizes or takes part in exhi-
bitions devoted to a range of topics.
At the field level, ICIMOD has 15
test sites in six of the eight ICIMOD
member countries. Trials and
demonstrations of various success-
ful technologies and practices are
carried out at these sites. A dynamic
homepage is maintained at
www.icimod.org.sg.
ICIMOD’s role in
regional cooperation
While it is primarily the responsibil-
ity of national and local agencies to
undertake, organize, and manage
development interventions in their
specific geographic areas, ICIMOD
can play a very important role in
the process, particularly in those
areas where it has a major compara-
tive advantage.
In view of the potential value of
regional cooperation for the man-
agement of many economic and
environmental problems in the
HKH region, ICIMOD has a crucial
role to play in facilitating this coop-
eration with respect to development
of mountain areas. Countries share
common watersheds, flora, fauna,
and cultural resources. Regional
cooperation has been a major com-
ponent in ICIMOD’s programs, and
this will continue to be the focus of
all future activities.
Beyond the Hindu Kush-Himalayas
Since 1994, when FAO convened
the first ad hoc meeting on follow-
up to Chapter 13 of Agenda 21,
“Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable
Mountain Development,” ICIMOD
has played an increasingly impor-
tant role at the regional and the
global levels. ICIMOD coordinates
the Asia Pacific Mountain Network,
and together with The Mountain
Institute and the International Pota-
to Center, it established the Moun-
tain Forum. ICIMOD also has
strong links with institutions and
individuals outside the HKH, some
1000 of which are on ICIMOD’s
mailing list, receiving the Center’s
Newsletter and Issues in Mountain
Development three times per year.
Governance and sponsors
ICIMOD is an international center
with an independent board of gov-
ernors consisting of eight senior
officials of the governments of the
regional member countries and sev-
en scientists and/or development
specialists nominated by the ICI-
MOD Support (donor) Group. By
early 2000, the following seven
European governments had con-
tributed financially to ICIMOD’s
core Regional Collaborative Pro-
gram: Austria, Finland, Germany,
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and
Switzerland. Specific project support
is also provided by some of these
donors as well as another 10 donor
organizations. The governments of
regional member countries con-
tribute both in cash and in kind.
ICIMOD’s Unique Features
Within a clearly defined
ECO-REGIONAL FOCUS,
ICIMOD provides LINKAGES
between
• Environment & Development
• Research & Development
• Policies & Technologies
• Disciplines
• Countries
and serves as a MOUNTAIN
DEVELOPMENT FORUM
MountainPlatform
Archana Karki
Communications Officer, International Center
for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD),
GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel.: 00 977 1 525 313
Fax: 00 977 1 524 509 or 524 317
Web site: www.icimod.org.sg
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