WSDS 2026 Thematic Track: Strategic Conservation Planning for Climate‑Resilient Landscapes in the Eastern Himalayas

The Eastern Himalayan region connecting mountains, forests, rivers and mangroves faces escalating climate risks, biodiversity loss and land degradation. Addressing these challenges now requires more than isolated restoration and protection projects, it calls for Parivartan, a transformational shift in how landscapes are envisioned, governed and invested in.

Transformation begins with the vision of moving from fragmented, short-term interventions to integrated, landscape-scale strategies rooted in science and climate resilience. It depends on diverse voices, from local communities and practitioners to policymakers and researchers, working together across ecological and political boundaries. Equally important is a change in values, recognising restoration as a strategic investment in biodiversity, livelihoods and long-term development.

In this context, data-driven tools and spatial modelling offer powerful means to align priorities, guide finance and enable coordinated action. Initiatives such as the Mountains to Mangroves Atlas illustrate how evidence can translate ambition into impact.

This WSDS 2026 Thematic Track explores how the Mountains to Mangroves program, an initiative by Conservation International and consortium partners like TERI & ATREE in India, BES & BTF in Bhutan, Friendship NGO in Bangladesh, and Red Panda Network in Nepal, approach and catalyse transformational protection and restoration across the Eastern Himalayas.

This track aims to:

• Showcase how data-driven and modelling approaches can inform restoration and conservation strategies in the Eastern Himalayas.
• Foster collaboration among research institutions, NGOs, private sector, and government agencies.
• Develop a path forward for scalable, evidence-based interventions.

Expected outcomes:

• Shared understanding of data-driven restoration and protection opportunities in the Eastern Himalayas.
• Strengthened partnerships among participating organizations.