About GeoPortal
The International Centre for Integrated
Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a multidisciplinary centre for research
and training on integrated mountain development. The chief commodity that the centre
deals with is information and knowledge on mountain development. Under the overall
framework of Integrated Knowledge Management (IKM), the Mountain Environment and
Natural Resources' Information System (MENRIS) division is promoting the geo-information
science, technology and application for sustainable mountain development. MENRIS
division, which is also recognised as UNEP GRID-Kathmandu was established in 1990
with an aim to bridge the data and information gaps for integrated mountain development
in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region and the portal in its present form is a
part of UNEP's Environment Knowledge Hub (eKH) initiative.
ICIMOD through MENRIS division is one of the first and foremost regional institutions
promoting geo-based solutions for sustainable development in the HKH region which
have now become the trademark of ICIMOD. Today, MENRIS division at ICIMOD continues
to be an internationally recognised resource centre for geo-information and earth
observation applications. The division is pursuing its goal through innovation and
technology transfer, capacity building and up-scaling, development of mountain-specific
applications and decision support systems, and as a clearing-house mechanism for
geo-information within ICIMOD and agencies involved in sustainable mountain development.
The Mountain GeoPortal acts as this clearing house mechanism, where a number of
geo-information services are provided namely: geo-data services, web-mapping services,
training services, application services and metadata services. The portal also serves
as a decentralised and distributed network of user and providers of information
and acts as a regional gateway for number of standardised services. Special focus
is given to build geo-information and knowledge resources on environmental change,
water and poverty and other relevant themes. In this way, the Mountain GeoPortal
continues to develop as a collaborative effort to build, share and disseminate geo-information
and knowledge resources of the HKH region.