In Nepal’s Madhesh Province, widely known as the nation’s ‘Grain Basket’, an unprecedented monsoon failure in July 2025 has led to a severe drought, disrupting rice transplantation and threatening food security. ICIMOD’s Earth Observation analysis reveals over 40% of rice fields under stress, with potential losses of up to 450,000 metric tons, posing a nationwide economic and food crisis.
Mountain biodiversity and human life are inextricably intertwined. Biodiversity directly supports ecosystem resilience, sustainable development, and human well-being, especially through critical services, including water, food, medicine, and climate regulation. Human activity has a clear and significant impact on mountain biodiversity in manifold ways.
Earlier this July, I had the opportunity to engage with thought leaders working at this vital intersection through my work supporting ICIMOD’s subforum on ‘Mountain Biodiversity and Our Life’ at the Eco Forum Global 2025 Guiyang, in Guizhou Province, south-west China. It was fascinating to see the drafting and release of the Guiyang Recommendations, reflecting our Regional Member Countries’ commitment to ecological sustainability.
Guizhou province, where the forum took place, is a land of hills and valleys, distinguished by its karst landscape of limestone caves, cliffs, and winding underground rivers. Unlike the imposing peaks of neighbouring Yunnan, Guizhou’s mountains rise gently, hosting diverse ecosystems and rich cultural traditions that have shaped life for generations.
During the forum, I met Yang Jun, a dedicated team member from the Guizhou Institute of Environmental Sciences and Designing stationed in Fatu Village, who works with the local community on rural revitalisation in his hometown. His stories brought to life the challenges and solutions around one of the village’s most precious resources: water.
Living with water scarcity
Fatu Village, located in Zhuhai Town, Liupanshui City (贵州省六盘水市竹海镇法土村), sits at an altitude of 1,800 metres above sea level and spans roughly 15 square kilometres, surrounded by rolling hills and lush greenery that shape the daily life of its residents.
In Fatu Village, water is never taken for granted. With no rivers running through the village, residents have had to face water scarcity head-on, and they rely entirely on spring water for drinking, farming, and livestock. Seasonal droughts, worsened by climate change, have made water supply increasingly unreliable. Between October and March, springs can dwindle, sometimes leaving villagers with five months of extremely limited water.
The effects are clear: crop choices are constrained, harvests are smaller, and daily life becomes more challenging. Hygiene, health, and livelihoods all feel the pressure. In response, local authorities have implemented water transfer schemes, helping the community cope with seasonal shortages.
Managing water, revitalising villages: the case of Fatu
The villagers, however, have gone far beyond these reactive measures. They have shown remarkable initiative: building small reservoirs, embedding water-saving practices into daily routines, and adjusting crops and lifestyles to cope with the changing climate. Each step represents a quiet but determined effort to build water security in their community.
This struggle is shared. The Village Committee and the resident work team collaborate with the community to ensure that drinking water is safe and accessible. They maintain a ‘protective net’ around each water source, conducting careful inspections while teaching practical water-saving techniques in clear, easy-to-understand language. Over time, these repeated lessons and hands-on experiences have reshaped habits, and villagers have come to a shared realisation: water is not just a ‘lifeline’ for farming and daily life – it is the village’s ‘future line’, essential to its long-term survival and prosperity.
Local government support adds another layer of resilience. Through meticulous planning, targeted resource allocation, and coordination with neighbouring areas, authorities help ensure that even during the driest months, basic water needs are met, reinforcing the community’s resilience.
It is this combination of villagers’ self-reliance, neighbourly cooperation, proactive local organisations, and consistent government backing that has transformed a perennial challenge into a story of community strength. In Fatu, the fight against water scarcity has become more than mere survival – it is a blueprint for shared responsibility, resilience, and the most important, a way to hope.
Implications for broader water management
Springs like those in Fatu Village are vital for highland communities across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, yet climate change puts them at risk. Protecting these water sources is crucial, not just for daily life, but for the long-term development of mountain communities.
ICIMOD’s work in the region promotes spring protection, community participation, and sharing of best practices across borders. Fatu Village demonstrates that sustainable water management succeeds when local initiatives, government support, and scientific guidance come together.
Transforming challenges into opportunity
Fatu Village provides a small but compelling example of China’s rural revitalisation, showing how effective water management, community engagement, and proactive governance can transform the challenges of scarcity into opportunities for learning and resilience.
As rural communities around the world confront the impacts of climate change, China’s experience offers valuable lessons in balancing resource management with sustainable development.