The Himalayas has the largest concentrations of glaciers outside the polar region, with nearly 33,000 km² of glacier coverage. These "Water Towers of Asia" contribute crucially to the water supply of hundreds millions of people during dry season, feeding seven of Asia's great rivers: the Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Huang He. The region also includes rare and endangered species like rhinos, tigers and elephants in the plains, to snow leopards, red pandas, and Himalayan black bears, higher up in the Himalayas.


Some of the glaciers in the Himalaya are receding at an average rate of 10 to 15 meters per year. As glaciers melt, many glaciers form lakes at their end which are held together only by frozen mud dams. The dams can break and cause flash floods of water, rocks and gravel, destroying villages and fields downstreams and phenomena termed as Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF).

As glaciers retreat, water flows are expected to be affected during the dry season, leading to freshwater scarcity in the summer months when melt waters contribute up to 75% of the river water.
The region's agriculture and power generation are partially dependent on this water supply. In the Ganga, one of the two biggest rivers in India, the loss of glacier melt water is expected to impact downstream water flows, causing water stresses for several million people and also affect irrigated land in the Ganga basin.

In Nepal, landslides and floods cause about 400 deaths annually and destroy infrastructure worth USD 2.5 millions.


In order to manage the impacts of climate change on glaciers in the region itself, the impacts of individual glaciers on drainage basins need to be understood. WWF is studying the effect of climate change on 5 glaciers in the Himalayas.

WWF is examining the effect of glacier retreat on the downstream freshwater regime and their implications for canal irrigation systems, hydro-electric power, water quality, and vulnerable species.

WWF and local communities jointly develop and facilitate a Community Driven Management Response for a particular community and economic sector, as a model for replication.