ALM UNDP

Summary:

Karakorum Trust was created by Ev-K2-CNR to consolidate Italy’s nearly 100-year history of exploration, research and mountaineering in Pakistan’s Karakorum Mountains. Building upon the dream of Prof. Desio to see a protected area established around Mount K2, Ev-K2-CNR garnered the support of the Italian government and is coordinating a series of sustainable development initiatives in the area. Working with local communities, NGOs, and local and national government, the capacity to manage the fledgling CKNPE (Central Karakorum National Park Ecosystem) is being reinforced. In line with its other scientific objectives, Ev-K2-CNR is also simultaneously helping communities and institutions understand and adapt to climate change.

Ev-K2-CNR works for developing and promoting scientific, technological and cultural activities related to mountains and high altitude, in particular in the Himalaya-Karakorum regions. Ev-K2-CNR coordinates the activities of the Pyramid International Laboratory- Observatory in the Everest region, Nepal (with the support of the National Research Council – CNR) and has become one of the main international cornerstones of high altitude and remote area scientific research. Besides their scientific activity, Ev-K2-CNR has always been involved in promoting training, cooperation and development activities in the respect of local cultures and traditions.

The Ev-K2-CNR Committee is promoter/participant in most of the Italian cooperation activities being launched or underway in Pakistan’s Northern Areas, and is well-known by the local actors (government, scientific and local authorities and communities).

The project strategy was defined according to UN recommendations which recognize the mountains of this area as fragile ecosystems to be safeguarded. In paragraph 42 of the Implementation Plan of the Johannesburg World Summit for sustainable development, promotion of “programmes, policies and approaches that integrate environmental, economic and social components of sustainable mountain development and strengthen international cooperation for its positive impacts on poverty eradication programmes, especially in developing countries” was encouraged.

The UN further suggested actors “mobilize national and international support for applied research and capacity-building, provide financial and technical assistance for the effective implementation of the sustainable development of mountain ecosystems in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and address the poverty among people living in mountains through concrete plans, projects and programmes, with sufficient support from all stakeholders, taking into account the spirit of the International Year of Mountains, 2002”.

_Source: Karakorum Trust Project and the CKNP, June 28, 2010._