Conserving Mountain Environment

By Ek Raj Sigdel, Nepal

Having immense natural and cultural value, Nepal's Mountain can be termed as the `Epitome of Paradise' for tourists, trekkers and expeditionary. Fragile mountain environment and subsistence agriculture are contributing to the degradation of the mountain ecosystem. The consequences are aggrandizing the poverty situation in the mountain regions. In order to address these diverse issues, development of sustainable tourism base would be the only viable option for the long-term conservation of environment and thereby contributing to betterment of the mountain communities.

The mountain environment of Nepal, by virtue of their inaccessible nature, has narrow scope for modern development in a cost effective way. Subsistence agriculture and livestock are the main economic source of mountain people. Migratory works elsewhere in Nepal and India is the complementary source of income to these people. The economic condition of the majorities of people in mountain is marginal. Likewise, the agriculture land is limited by the steep topography.
Including the Mt. Everest, Nepal houses eight of the world's fourteen highest mountains. The country has 79% of its area under mountainous topography. Similarly, out of 118 Nepal's ecosystems, 38 are in Mountain region. The mountain region is the meeting point of the major geographical realms of the world - the palaearctic and Indo-Malayan.

The series of the mighty Himalayan ranges separated by some of the deepest gorges are the striking attractions for tourists. While trekking in Nepal, one can see the fantastic snow capped peaks along with the beautiful lakes and smile faced people. Unique flora and fauna are other potential tourist attractions in the mountain environment. Moreover, traditional village, historical sites, culture and architecture of local people deserve special attractions for tourists.

Realizing the higher tourism value, the government of Nepal opened its border for foreigners in 1950s. Since then, the flow of tourists has been in an increasing trend. No doubt, the growing tourist number has contributed a lot to local and national economy of Nepal. For instance, people in Khumbu, Annapurna Conservation Area and Langtang National Park and adjoining areas have been enjoying significant tourism benefits for many years. It has been reported that, because of well­ managed tourism, once declined cultural value of Sagarmatha region has been revived through local initiatives. Monasteries Management Committees, Youth Group, and Youth Club are actively engaged in conserving cultural and natural heritage in this region. Because of the concerted efforts; the environment of Sagarmatha National Park seems to be improving for the last few years.

Yet against this backdrop, concentration of tourism pressure in limited mountain areas has been posing various challenges. Every year hundreds of tons of firewood are used for cooking and campfire. Signs of massive deforestation in some of the trekking sites of Nepal are evident. The destruction of scant vegetation in the alpine regions of Nepal also leads to frequent mudslides, landslides, creep and rock falls as well as silting of the river. The country is experiencing severe inequalities of wealth, low living standards, high unemployment, uneven economic development, as well as heavy dependence on foreign investment and foreign aid. Some high altitude plant species, such as Abies spectabillis, Tsuga dumosa and Rhododendron nivala, are under intense economic pressure aggravated by the tourist pressure. If the present trend continues, the degradation of the mountain environment may cause irreversible damage to the mountain fragile ecosystem and lifestyle of the people.

Recognizing the higher conservation value of mountain ecosystems, His Majesty's Government of Nepal has established 7 Protected Areas (PAs) all along the border of China, covering 78.54% of total PAs in Nepal. These PAs represent 30 on of the 38 ecosystems of the highland. Though, it is relatively less diverse in flora and fauna, they possess a significant number of endemic species. Mountain, endowed with the rich biodiversity, provides an excellent source of revenue for His Majesty's Government of Nepal through eco-tourism management. The most important regions for mountain tourism in Nepal are Annapurna, Khumbu, Sagrmatha and Langtang-Helambu. The three regions, namely Sagarmatha, Langtang and Annapurna Conservation Area combined accounts around 95°l0 of all mountain trekking permits issues and the remaining 5% of trekkers visit Rara National Park, Dolpo, Humla, Makalu and Kanchanjunga. Similarly, about 43% of all international leisure arrivals in Nepal go for trekking.

The relationship between tourism and environment is that of a delicate balance between sustainable community development and safeguarding the environment. Tourism where it has been allowed to run free, has caused more disaster to the natural beauty of the surroundings, destroyed traditional value system, greatly helped accelerating the deforestation and has not really helped population in true, rather it has exploited unmercifully.

To maximize the tourism benefit to the Mountain people and environment, the government should undertake various activities in a planned way. Firstly, locals should be trained on
lodge management, tour guide and interpretation skills. Secondly, in order to develop appropriate tourism facilities and services, a credit facility for local entrepreneurs should be in place. Most importantly, locals should be aware on the importance of maintaining the village architecture, traditions, and wildlife management. Finally, trans-boundary tourism across the trans-border areas, such as Nagpa­la, and Chhentang - Kimathanka should be promoted.

The efforts of HMG of Nepal in establishing the National Parks and Wildlife Reserves in the country are very appropriate strategies towards developing sustainable tourism in Nepal. Integrated mountain environment conservation, community development and tourism promotion is the only option for the betterment of people. It warrants the immediate need of formulating Integrated National Tourism Master Plan and a separate Mountain Development Policy.

Text courtesy: NTTR July 04 - 10, 2005. The Telegraph thanks the publisher of the NTTR.and the author of the article.