Kathmandu, Nepal
20 April, 2025
For Nepal, Yak is more than a mountain animal. Yaks are a lifeline for the people of the mountains. They provide meat, milk, fibre, manure for fertiliser, and draught power for agricultural tasks such as ploughing, in some of the world’s most challenging terrains. They play a vital role in the high mountain communities, not just as a source of sustenance, but as a keystone of cultural identity and socio-economic resilience. Their hybrids have enabled access to wider resource areas across altitudinal gradients, helping agropastoralists adapt to their mountain environments. The ‘folk taxonomy’ – or the way people name and organise these generational hybrids is a fascinating expression of deep Indigenous knowledge – scientific, spiritual, and cultural all at once.
Source: ICIMOD Press Release on 20 April, 2025
