Although ICIMOD has been working in Bangladesh for a long a time, the people of Bangladesh are not very familiar with this important organization. Could you please tell us briefly, what ICIMOD is and what its mission and vision are?

ICIMOD is the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development which was founded in 1983. We’re based in Kathmandu, Nepal. It has eight member countries and Bangladesh in one of them. The others are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. The vision of ICIMOD is to help the men, women and children of the Hindukush Himalayan region enjoy improved wellbeing and a healthy mountain environment. So our organization is about mountain environments but also very much about livelihoods of mountain people. Then our mission is to enable sustainable mountain development for resilient and equitable livelihoods through knowledge and regional cooperation. The knowledge sharing part is very important for us.

But Bangladesh is not known for lofty mountains. Why is ICIMOD in Bangladesh?

There are two big reasons behind the presence of ICIMOD in Bangladesh. One is the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), because the issues of hills here are very similar to the hills in other countries in this region. And other is that, Bangladesh is very dependent on the water that comes down the Himalayan Mountains. So what I found is people of Bangladesh are very curious about what happens in mountains and how that affects this country.

You have been with ICIMOD for last five years. In terms of climate change, what are the most conspicuous changes that you have noticed in South Asia during your tenure?

I have been in this region for many years. I was in Nepal in the 90’s. The climate change is very evident in the mountains; the melting glaciers and the changes in river flows. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, people are suffering from water shortages due to drying up of water sources and an increase in weather-related disasters. But the other big change that I have seen is the out migration of people. People are migrating from villages into cities, so the cities are growing. People are even migrating out of the countries, for example, to The Middle East or Malaysia, which has tremendously changed the countryside. The scenario is same almost all over South Asia. So, Because of the adverse effects of climate change people are losing their livelihoods at home and migrating to other places. I would not say climate change is the sole reason of people’s migration in this region but it’s playing a significant role.

How do you find the Bangladesh government’s political willingness to face the challenges of climate change?

I think Bangladesh has been a leader in addressing climate change. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in the face of climate change for being a low lying area. Hills and mountains are vulnerable as well to climate change. I think Bangladesh has led the way both in the voice of climate change as well as the actions and adaptations that have been taken.

Even if Bangladesh take all the right measures, success in combating climate change is very much dependent on the global response to the threat of climate change. Paris Climate Agreement was an important step in this regard. What is the biggest challenge, in your view, of implementing Paris Climate Agreement?

I think the real challenge is to move faster than we’re currently moving. We really have to take some urgent actions, firstly on mitigation front, to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. Secondly, to move on adaptation because people in all those countries I have mentioned are really facing serious challenges from climate change.

What are ICIMOD’s focus areas in CHT?

Our big focus in CHT is livelihood. Improving the livelihoods of the people of CHT. We call it alternative livelihood strategy. Basically asking the question, how people can get more income from really the niche products that hill tracts has to offer. Therefore, part of that is looking for agricultural products; let’s say fruits, vegetables and honeybees as example. We also feel there’s great potential for eco-tourism. So, one of our big activities in the area is supporting to set up eco-tourism. In addition to that, we look at issues of how people manage land. Shifting cultivation has been a tradition in hill tracts. So we’re looking at ways to make this transition from shifting cultivation to say, agro forestry or high values crops for the people of hill tracts.
I do want to say, in addition to what we’re doing in the CHT, ICIMOD also has been working on the big river systems of Bangladesh; looking at hydrology and looking at flood warning systems and training in remote sensing and GIS.

Considering the land dispute and history of conflict in the CHT, do you think it’s especially challenging to work in the CHT area? If so, how do you address these challenges?

We are very much led by the government that has taken a keen interest in the CHT. So we are taking a lead from the priorities of the government and doing our best to support in those efforts in the hill tracts.

In ecologically fragile areas, economic development and protection of the environment are often perceived as competing aims. What do you think is the best way for the Bangladesh government to address this challenge when it comes to formulating economic development policy for those areas?

It’s a very challenging job indeed. The most important task is to improve coordination among all the stakeholders. It’s never wise to take up policy measures which do not reflect the desires of the people of the land or are not sensitive to the environment and ecosystem. Traditional knowledge must be recognized and integrated in policy-making process in order to formulate policy that creates a balance between environmental protection and economic growth.

ICIMOD is known for knowledge-sharing efforts. Do you have any plan to collaborate with Bangladeshi researchers and academicians?

In terms of collaboration with Bangladeshi researchers and academicians, we have this initiative called Himalayan University Consortium where we have 50 universities from these eight countries and beyond, including Bangladesh, working on issues of mountain and building a dynamic mountain knowledge partnership among universities, ICIMOD, and regional member country partners to promote research and learning.

The media has a critical role in changing the public’s perception on climate change. Do you have any suggestion to Bangladeshi media to address the climate change issues in the CHT?

The request I would have for Bangladeshi media is to look closely at the challenge of hill tracts because it’s a very different climate change challenge. The Adaptation challenges of the hills are going to be different than the plains. So because we know people there are facing very special challenge the media should give it a special attention. I always think the media has a very important role to play to making sure these messages reach to the people of Bangladesh.

This Interview was conducted by Muhammad Imran and  published in The Asian Age daily newspaper in December, 2016.