The G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Develoopment (GBPNIHESD) was established in 1988, the birth centenary year of Bharat Ratna Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant as an autonomous Institute of The Misinstry of Environement , Forest amd Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Govt of India. The Institute is mandated to devise suitable R&D strategies to maintain intricate balance between socio-cultural, Ecological , Economic and Physical Systems that could lead to enhance quality of life and physical systems and ecological sustainablility of Himalayan ecosystem. To achieve this, the institute follows a multidisciplinary and holistic approach in its R&D Progrmees with an emphasis on interlinking natural and social sciences keeping in view the fragile mountain ecosystems, indigenous knowledge systems and sustainable use of natural resources. A conscious effort is made to ensure training,capacity building and participatoin of local inhabitants for long-term sustainability of various programmes. The R&D activitis of the institute are multi - disciplinary in nature and revolve around three groups and ten the matic areas and executed in a decentralized manner through its HQs (Kosi-Katarmal,Almora, Uttarakhand) and five regional Units, viz., Northeast Unit (Itanagarm Arunachal Pradesh), Sikkim Unit (Pangthang, Sikkim), Garhwal Unit (Srinagar-Garhwal), Himachal Unit (Mohal-Kullu, H.P.) spread across the IHR, and the fifth unit( Mountain Division) that functions from MoEF&CC, New Delhi.