The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region and its four biodiversity hotspots face significant threats from land-use change, habitat degradation, climate change, pollution, and invasive species. Despite advancements in biodiversity research across HKH countries, there is a notable gap in awareness, capacity, and the importance of open access biodiversity data. This gap is particularly evident in the underutilization of platforms like GBIF and its regional nodes, such as the Hindu-Kush Himalaya Biodiversity Information Facility (HKH-BIF) hosted by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
To address critical capacity needs in the HKH Region, the project features a collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and key biodiversity institutions in other HKH countries. A regional workshop hosted by ICIMOD will bring together experiences from all collaborating institutions and give participants comprehensive insights into the GBIF infrastructure and data publishing platforms. This will be followed by a series of in-country online webinars to disseminate knowledge widely. These webinars will target biodiversity enthusiasts, experts, students, researchers, and citizens, emphasizing the advantages of using GBIF for data access and reuse.
Project progress
In January 2025 the project released a “Call for participation: Mobilising open access biodiversity data in the Hindu Kush Himalaya”, inviting institutions and individuals working on biodiversity in the Hindu Kush Himalaya to participate in a survey by 28 February 2025. This survey helped the project understand challenges and opportunities in biodiversity data mobilization, as well identify participants for the project’s “Regional training on Biodiversity Data Mobilisation” which was held in May 2025.
