QUES . Describe how ecosystem services of the Himalayas are essential for Highland-Lowland sustainability in Asia.
HINTS:
The ecosystem of the Himalayas is fragile and diverse. West east extension of the highland of the Himalayas spread from the Hindukush region in the west to Mizo Hills in the east, and the north-south extension of the Himalayas extends from the Karakoram in the north to the Shivalik ranges in the south.
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From the perspective of the ecosystem, there is a hilly area ecosystem in the Himalayas. The lowland of the Himalayas includes the plain area of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and China.
The ecosystem services of the Himalayas are essential for Highland-Lowland sustainability in Asia. The ecosystem of highland (hilly ecosystem) and low-land (plains ecosystem) are inter-dependent for the sustainability of the region.
The following ecosystem services are provided by the highland Himalayas to lowlands areas:
The highland of the Himalayas is a storehouse of water, many perennial rivers such as Indus, Ganga, Satluj, Brahmaputra, etc rivers originate from the Himalayan region and supply water to the plain region for the whole year. Nearly 1.3 billion people of Asia are dependent on the Himalayan river for their livelihood.
Himalaya has a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna and also have forest; it provides the following benefits to the plain regions:
Forest prevents soil to erode and prevent flooding in plain regions.
Lots of medicinal plants are also there.
It acts as a carbon sink and minimizes the impact of greenhouses gases that are emitted by plain areas people.
It is an attractive place for many tourists in a variety of ways. As per the estimate, Uttrakhand state alone provides $ 2.4 billion of services per year to the plain region.
Himalayan rivers are the source of hydroelectricity. A huge chunk of the money of Nepal and Bhutan’s economy comes from hydroelectricity.
We can not imagine such diverse culture and very big population in the plains region of Asia, without the eco-services support that we are getting from the Himalayas.
And thus, we can say that the ecosystem services of the Himalayas are essential for Highland-Lowland sustainability in Asia.
The following services are provided by lowland to highland Himalayas:
Most of the food production is done in the plain areas and they provide the agricultural produce to people living in the highland areas, in this way it prevents the shifting cultivation activities in the Himalayan region.
