Carbon Management of the Livestock Industry in the HKH Region

Abstract

Human livelihoods in the HKH rely heavily on livestock husbandry, as this sector supplies essential animal products for the local and surrounding areas. This sector also takes on a dominant role in the anthropogenic disturbance in the carbon cycle in this region due, in part, to the extensive grazing and browsing of the livestock. In the HKH, livestock biomass use contributes towards the first step of the human appropriation of net primary production, which has an estimated value (3.69 ton/cap per year) higher than the Asian average. Methane emissions from the main sources, that is, enteric fermentation and manure, amount to 3.77 million tons per year, while the high emission zones are found in the mixed livestock cropping systems. It could be concluded that there is high potential of carbon emission mitigation in the livestock production sector.