The Himalaya refer to a large area consisting of large mountains, snow covered peaks, and valleys. From east to west, the Himalaya stretch to more than 2,500 km and have wide variations in climate and precipitation. Since Himalaya have the largest storage of snow outside the poles, they have been rightly named The Third Pole and this implies that global warming will impact the region immensely. Himalayas are also known as The Water Towers and this signifies that changes in the components of hydrologic cycle here will have large impacts on water management, ecosystems and society dependent on them. In addition to climate change, some other changes driven by rising population, land use and cover, and developmental activities such as agriculture and industries, will also impact water, land, and living beings. Thus, adaptation in the Himalayan region will have to address sustainability issues, disasters, restoring ecosystems, and livelihood. Southern slopes of Himalayas straddle across six countries and display large variabilities. Therefore, it will be good to develop adaptation strategies in a regional context by adopting a transdisciplinary approach and by involving local governments, researchers, professional, NGOs and the society.
