What do the snow leopard in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area in Nepal, flood water diversion on Mount Kenya, waste separation in Manantlán (Mexico), conflict transformation workshops in Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt, law and policy analysis with vigilantes in the Tunari park in Bolivia, and a radio program for Nepali migrants have in common? They are all so-called Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes of Global Change (PAMS)—projects in an innovative research approach developed by the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North–South. This approach merges scientific knowledge and local, tacit or “non-scientific” real-life knowledge in a genuine, grounded research experience.

Livestock production is a key livelihood strategy and a way of life for most smallholders in the Hindukush. Depending on ethnicity, access to land, labor force, and ecological conditions, small to large herds of goats, sheep, cattle and buffalo serve as a primary or secondary source of livelihood. Ongoing deterioration of environmental conditions—frequently due to overgrazing—and the depletion of timber and firewood resources—often linked to demographic and economic pressure both in the highlands and the lowlands—increasingly worsen living conditions. Alternative livelihood strategies and pathways to more sustainable natural resource use are needed. A combined research and development project, based on long-standing local research and participatory development efforts, launched in the North-Western Frontier Province of Pakistan (NWFP), aims to better assess and compare the situations in 3 different valleys, and to test concrete options for improving livestock output. Standard de-worming practices are being combined with a novel method of supplementing locally produced, season-specific, critically deficient nutrients for the animals, based on local environmental needs.

International labor migration is an increasingly important livelihood strategy in Nepal. There is little documentation of the movements of migrant workers or of their remittances. It is estimated that Nepalese migrants send remittances equivalent to about one quarter of Nepal's gross national product. Migrants and their families lack information about safe migration procedures, host countries, their rights as migrants, and awareness about HIV/AIDS. The present article examines two projects that address these migrants' needs in their home country and in one destination. The first project is a Nepal-wide radio program based in Kathmandu that provides information on migration issues. The second is a community outreach project based in Delhi, India, focusing on education of migrants.

Water consumed upstream does not flow downstream. Consequently, upstream–downstream relations along a shared river may entail competitive use or even conflict. What is the role of communication in preventing or transforming such behavior? The present article addresses this question based on lessons learned in 3 Dialogue Workshops carried out between 2002 and 2004 in the Eastern Nile Basin, with participants from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. It indicates that the danger of upstream–downstream relations is not primarily “scorpion-like” behavior (damaging an opponent), but rather “ostrich-like” behavior (burying one's head in the sand, ignoring unilateral developments). Dialogue is shown to be a key determinant in rectifying this situation, as it is the basis for trust-building, exchange of information, and development of mutually acceptable management options. Other key factors to be considered are the balance of power between highland–lowland actors and the legal/institutional framework governing their interaction.

Since 2002, the Peruvian government has allowed the Harakmbut people to conserve and manage natural resources within their ancestral territory. In order to alleviate the difficulties the Harakmbut had in establishing the institutional and operational framework of this protected area, a Partnership Action for Mitigating Syndromes (PAMS) project aiming to strengthen indigenous institutions in the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, has supported training of administrative leaders and forest rangers.

This article presents an empirical interdisciplinary study of an extensive participatory process that was carried out in 2004 in the recently established World Natural Heritage Site “Jungfrau–Aletsch–Bietschhorn” in the Swiss Alps. The study used qualitative and quantitative empirical methods of social science to address the question of success factors in establishing and concretizing a World Heritage Site. Current international scientific and policy debates agree that the most important success factors in defining pathways for nature conservation and protection are: linking development and conservation, involving multiple stakeholders, and applying participatory approaches. The results of the study indicate that linking development and conservation implies the need to extend the reach of negotiations beyond the area of conservation, and to develop both a regional perspective and a focus on sustainable regional development. In the process, regional and local stakeholders are less concerned with defining sustainability goals than elaborating strategies of sustainability, in particular defining the respective roles of the core sectors of society and economy. However, the study results also show that conflicting visions and perceptions of nature and landscape are important underlying currents in such negotiations. They differ significantly between various stakeholder categories and are an important cause of conflicts occurring at various stages of the participatory process.

Initiating a process of informed decision-making for sustainable development requires the following: a) the values and objectives to be pursued need to be negotiated among all concerned stakeholders of a specific territorial unit; b) these stakeholders should have access to a comparable level of knowledge; and c) the decisions taken and the subsequent actions initiated should have a positive impact on all dimensions of sustainability. In the remote Tajik Pamir mountains, a special effort was made to fulfill the above 3 principles by developing and applying a new methodological approach to sustainable development.

The paper presents the results of a multi-year baseline study project in which 10 sectors ranging from agriculture to natural hazards were assessed by a transdisciplinary Swiss–Tajik research team. This knowledge base was enhanced in a development strategy workshop that brought together stakeholders from the local to the international levels. The methodology applied was found appropriate to initiate a broad reflection and negotiation process among various stakeholder groups, leading to a joint identification of possible measures to be taken. Knowledge—and its enhancement through the involvement of all stakeholder levels—appeared to be an effective carrier of innovation and changes of attitudes, thus containing the potential to effectively contribute to sustainable development in marginalized and resource-poor mountain areas.

Much concern has been raised about population increase in the highlands of Ethiopia and its potential to decrease runoff from the upper Nile Basin to the lowland countries of Sudan and Egypt. The present article examines long-term data on population, land use, land management, rainfall, and surface runoff rates from small test plots (30 m²) and micro-catchments (73–673 ha) in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Although the data were generated only on small areas, the results of the analyses can nevertheless be used to draw some conclusions relevant to the highland–lowland water controversies that have persisted in this particular region for many decades. The data indicate that there have been no significant trends over the long term in total annual rainfall in the highlands over the past 30–50 years. Nevertheless, test plot surface runoff rates are clearly influenced by land use and soil degradation, and hence by population density and duration of agriculture. In effect there is 5–30 times more surface runoff from cultivated or degraded test plots than from forested test plots. Analysis and interpretation of data support the hypothesis that surface runoff and sediment yield from the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands into the upper Nile Basin have most probably increased in the long term due to intensified land use and land degradation induced by population increase, when seen in a historical perspective. Rates of base flow, in turn, must have decreased during the same period, but to a much lesser extent, although conclusive empirical evidence cannot be gained from this experimental setting. One can assume that soil and water conservation measures aiming to ensure long-term livelihoods in the humid to sub-humid highlands will, on the one hand, barely affect overall catchment runoff to the downstream areas, though they will considerably reduce surface runoff and soil loss on slopes as well as river sedimentation rates. On the other hand, in a semiarid catchment where intensive soil and water conservation was carried out, reduction in runoff rates was more pronounced. It can be concluded that population increase in the Ethiopian highlands increased overall runoff rates to lowland areas in earlier times, while recent efforts to conserve watersheds might affect total runoff rates in catchments only in semiarid parts, and much less in humid parts of the Ethiopian highlands.

In the past decade, water shortage on the western and northern slopes of Mount Kenya and particularly in the adjoining lowland areas has reached a severity not experienced before. Rapid population growth and rising demand for irrigation are increasing the pressure on water resources, as can be demonstrated by an inventory of water abstractions from the Naro Moru River. A total of 98 abstraction points were documented within a river section of only 30 km, providing water to about 30,000 people. However, about 97% of the abstracted water is used for irrigation of 9% of the total catchment area. In 2002, about 30% of the annual discharge and 80 to 100% of the low flow discharge of the Naro Moru River was abstracted by furrows, gravity pipes, and pumps.

The highland–lowland system of the Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Basin, with Mount Kenya functioning as a crucial water tower, has reached and repeatedly exceeded the limits of water availability in the past decade. In contrast to the heavily decreasing low flow discharge, the mean discharge does not show any decreasing tendency. This is due to higher flood flows, which may be induced by accelerated runoff generation due to land use change. The present study seeks to support Water Users' Associations (WUAs, ie self-help initiatives aiming to mitigate conflicts over the allocation of water) by providing them with up-to-date information about demand, supply and use of river water, as well as tools and methods for improving water management.

Mountains play a crucial role in the supply of freshwater to humankind, in highland and lowland areas alike. Increasing demand urgently requires careful management of mountain water resources in order to mitigate growing water crises and conflicts. Monitored river flow was analyzed for 3 selected catchments (Timau, Burguret, and Likii) on the slopes of Mount Kenya from 1960 to 2004. In the 10 years from 1995 to 2004, the extreme low flow (Q95) of the rivers was found to have been reduced to 10%, 23%, and 71%, respectively, of the values for the decade from 1961 to 1970. Water awareness creation campaigns in 1997 and 2004 revealed that the number of abstraction points had more than doubled, and that there was a two- to eightfold increase in the amount of river water abstracted.

The present article documents increasing water abstraction and the difficulties in establishing limits for low flows such as the Q80 value (flow available on 80% of the days per year). The article also presents the role of Water Users' Associations (WUAs) in mitigating water conflicts related to over-abstraction. Evaluation of the activities of 13 WUAs showed that they solved 45 of 52 conflicts. WUAs are also involved in activities such as environmental education, awareness creation, improved irrigation practices, afforestation, and regulating water. The recent restructuring of the government ministry resulted in a formalized role for WUAs. Long-term data on availability, abstraction, and use of water are needed to mitigate water conflicts within and between WUAs, negotiate water allocation, and establish allocation thresholds.