Bangladesh

The Himal region - the Hindukush-Karakorum-Himlayas (HKH)- is the world's largest mountain region extending 3,500km from Myanmar in the east to Afghanistan in the west, from the Tibetan plateau in the north to the Indo-Ganges basin in the south. To develop an IUCN Bangladesh mountain programme for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in this region, a two-day workshop was organized.

The South Asian region can be considered a herpetofaunal "hotspot" with its high degree of species richness and diversity of amphibian and reptilian fauna. Unfortunately, high population density and population growth are putting enormous pressure on the region's natural resources and ecosystems, and as a result five amphibian species and 31 reptilian species from this region are listed as globally threatened in the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Numerous initiatives are now underway to deal with the prevention, control, eradication and management of invasive alien species. A regional workshop was held in 1999 to discuss the problem in South and Southeast Asia. This publication contains the country and status reports presented at the workshop and the recommendations for action in the region.

A regional workshop was held to develop a shared understanding of the IUCN global Red List criteria, threat categories and the process of listing species according to the threat of extinction with an emphasis on lessons learned, key constraints and priority needs. The report presents country status reports from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, plus conclusions and recommendations.