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Alpine   Conservation   And   Climate   Change   Adaptation   A  Community  Approach  In  The  Khumbu  Alpine  Region  

Ang  Rita  Sherpa1  and  Ang  Chiri  Sherpa2  The Mountain Institute, Asian Regional Office, Katmandu, Nepal

INTRODUCTION

The Alpine ecosystem3 in the upper Khumbu region of Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer

Zone is very diverse and provides excellent habitat for some of the world’s most important

plants and animals such as the rare

medicinal plant Blue Poppy (Meconopsis

betonicifolia) known by locals as the

Snow Lotus, and the elusive snow

leopard (Uncia uncial). The foothills

of the world’s highest peak is one of

the most popular tourist and

mountaineering destinations in the

world and is vital to supporting the

livelihoods of both mountain and

downstream communities.

1 Ang Rita Sherpa is the Senior Program Manager at The Mountain Institute 2 Ang Chiri Sherpa is the Vice Chairman of Khumbu Alpine Conservation Council 2 Ang Chiri Sherpa is the Vice Chairman of Khumbu Alpine Conservation Council 3 Alpine ecosystems are characterized by low growing shrubs, cushion plants, and grasslands

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“When I first visited Mount Everest in 1951, what a beautiful place it was. I can remember crossing the pass above Chaurikharka and looking for the first time into the upper reaches of Dudhkosi river and seeing the sacred peaks of Humble towering up in the heartland of the Sherpas. We climbed through dense pine forest up the long steep hill to Namche Bazar. The whole region was dense with greenery, below the villages; giant confiners soared, framing the snow and ice peaks that lined the other side of the valley. We climbed Thyangboche monastery at 13000 feet; it was clothed in forest and surrounded by a ring of superb mountains.” Edmund Hillary, 19841

Glacial Flooding & Disaster Risk ManagementKnowledge Exchange and Field Training

July 11-24, 2013 in Huaraz, PeruHighMountains.org/workshop/peru-2013

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IMPORTANCE OF MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEMS AND THEIR IMPACT

The mountains in the alpine zone4 also

have significant ecological, aesthetic and

socio-economic importance for

thousands of indigenous people with

varied cultures, values, languages and

indigenous knowledge systems. In

addition, the high altitude pastures around

Everest (or “Chomolungma” as the

world’s highest peak is locally known), are

important for yak grazing.

In recent times, these alpine ecosystems

have been faced with various challenges,

many of them due to human-created

factors such as over-grazing and over-

harvesting of medicinal plants, as well as

global climate change.

The highly fragile alpine ecosystems are

highly vulnerable to climate change,

which in turn threaten the lives and

livelihoods of the poor, disadvantaged,

and marginalized communities in the

mountains and also the lowlands.

“Thirty years ago conservation had not really been heard of. On our 1953 Everest expedition we threw our empty tins and

any trash into a heap on the rubble-covered ice at base camp. We cut huge quantities of the beautiful juniper shrubs for fires; and on the South Col at 26,000 feet we left scattered pile of empty oxygen bottles, torn tents and the remnants of food containers. The expeditions of today are not much better in this respect with only a few exceptions. Mount Everest is littered with junk from the bottom to the top”.5

                                                                                                                         4 Himalayas above 13,000 feet (4000 m plus), between the Upper tree line and permanent snowline is consider as Alpine Zone, 5 Hillary Edmund, 1984. Ecology 2000. Micheal Joseph ltd. London

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The degradation of alpine ecosystems is

a serious threat linked to the recent

growth of unregulated adventure

tourism especially from high altitude

trekkers, mountaineering expeditions

and their support teams.

For example, teashops and lodges have

used the slow growing juniper shrubs (J.

indica) for fuel since the first expeditions

of the early 1950s as stated by Edmund

Hillary in 1984. Likewise, porters are

often forced to burn slow growing

alpine shrubs due to the lack of

adequate shelter and cooking

alternatives. “The continuing use of

firewood by inns, however, has

contributed to the thinning of forests in

some parts of the national park and to

the depletion of shrub juniper in the

mostly heavily visited alpine regions.

The long-term impact on alpine ecology

is a serious concern given the extremely

slow growth rates of these shrubs”

(Stan Steven, 2003). The growth of

tourism is immense in the region growing from 3,600 tourists in 1976 to 36,340 tourists in 20126.

“The most visible sign of these impacts on this fragile alpine environment is the lack of trees within a one to three kilometer radius of each villages; but many traditional pasture lands are deteriorating as well, where there are increasing problems of erosion and de-stabilized slopes”. 7

International conservation groups have largely neglected the alpine ecosystems of the Khumbu

as well as local climate change effects. As a result, especially during the last 20 years; the removal

of these soil-binding plants from the fragile and thin alpine soils has resulted in dramatic

increases in soil erosion and has accelerated landscape denudation.

                                                                                                                         6    SNP  visitor  entrance  at  Jorsalle  2012  7 Coburn, B.A. 1984 (Sagarmatha: Managing a Himalayan World Heritage Site). “Parks Magazine” Volume 9, number 2.

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Alpine vegetation and landscapes are particularly sensitive to changes in climate, which can be

seen through glacier recession, upward plant migration, and biodiversity destruction from

changing weather patterns.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEM

In the past, alpine zones were being degraded by overgrazing, and unmanaged tourism. Today,

the problem is different: climate change is becoming one of the major environmental issues in

the Khumbu and Nepal in general. Climate change and retreating glaciers constitute a major

hazard in the Himalayas.

Climate change is considered to be a critical global challenge and recent events have

demonstrated the world’s growing vulnerability to climate change. The Himalayas in Nepal are

geologically young and fragile and are vulnerable to even small changes in the climatic system.

High mountain regions face grave environmental challenges with climate change impacts already

as severe as any place on earth. Glaciers and snowfields are retreating in many areas, increasing

risks of catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods, but also affecting fresh water supplies for

hundreds of millions of people downstream.

Evidence exists that climate

change is melting mountain

glaciers, adversely affecting

biodiversity and weakening the

livelihood assets of poor and

marginalized communities.

The environment and

ecosystem in the highly fragile

mountains are the most

vulnerable to climate change,

which in turn threaten the lives

and livelihoods of the poor,

disadvantaged, and

marginalized communities in

the mountains and also in the

lowlands.

Likewise, the pressures due to increased population and tourism activities in the mountains have

caused people to settle in areas that are highly exposed to natural hazards. High mountain regions

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face grave environmental challenges with climate change impacts already as severe as any place

on earth.

Glaciers and snowfields are retreating in many areas, increasing risks of catastrophic glacial lake

outburst floods (GLOFs), but also affecting fresh water supplies for hundreds of millions of

people downstream. Nepal has approximately 3,252 glaciers and 2,323 glacial lakes, which

provide fresh water for more than 1.3 billion people across South Asia. We are at the point

where we have no other options for survival but to adapt.

Climate change is having severe effects on the people of the Khumbu who are highly dependent

on their local natural resources and lack the resources to properly adapt. In response, The

Mountain Institute has established the High Mountain Glacial Watershed Program (HMWGP) in

partnership with government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international

NGOs, donor agencies, and the trekking and climbing communities.

Project activities, run through the Khumbu Alpine Conservation Council, include the protection

of fragile shrub juniper, establishment of kerosene and stove gas depots for tourists and lodges,

restoration of the porters’ rest house at Lobuche, improvements to wooden bridges,

development of alpine educational materials for schools, establishment of juniper and medicinal

plant nurseries, building of yak-proof enclosures, holding workshops on porter working

conditions, and enterprise development for herders by which they can earn extra income making

and selling juice and jam from the seabuckthorn shrub (locally called akriloo).

COMMUNITY BASED CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN THE KHUMBU

REGION

In 2012, The Mountain Institute established High Mountain Glacial Watershed Program

(HMGWP) to work with park officials and local stakeholders to raise awareness on climate

change amongst local communities.

The HMGWP conducted a series of community consultations in three settlements in Sagarmatha

National Park and Buffer Zone. The three-community consultations were held at Phakding,

Namche-Bazaar and Dingboche with financial support from USAID and Engility in the USA.

The community consultations have been taken as the measure to provide information on climate

change, its vulnerabilities and adaptation to the local communities.

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Since its formation, the HMGWP has:

The communities in the Khumbu

alpine and sub alpine areas are more

or less aware of the man-made and

climate change problems and

effects in the region. Based on local

knowledge, the environment and

ecosystem in the highly fragile

mountains are the most vulnerable

to climate change, which in turn

threaten the lives and livelihoods of the poor, disadvantaged, and marginalized communities in

the mountains and also the lowlands. TMI, through its experience working closely with local

environmental NGOs, has realized that alpine zones and mountain ecosystems are vital for

supporting livelihoods of people both in the mountains and the plains downstream. The local

people have said that the mountains have significant ecological, aesthetic, and socio economic

importance not only for those living there but also home to millions of indigenous people with

varied cultures, values, languages, and indigenous knowledge systems.

The local people also have said that the need to protect and restore the mountain ecosystems and

address the issues of changing

climate in the Khumbu region has

been largely neglected by the

international conservation

communities.

Keeping this in mind, TMI staff in

collaboration with local NGOs

have identified some critical needs

to achieve the goal of restoring heavily impacted alpine areas and also to adapt the climate change

in the region.

This includes the need for (1) detailed ecological and socio economic assessments of the effect of

climate change, tourism related programs, unregulated collection of medicinal plants, and grazing

pressure on alpine vegetation, (2) need for clear mechanisms to ensure that Local Adaptation

Plan of Action (LAPA) are integrated into Village Development Plans, (3) need to ensure that

local people have a voice through which to impart their traditional natural, cultural, ecological

and economic knowledge in the LAPA development process and implementation of the project.

1. Trained  HMGWP  team  and  conservation  partners  on  vulnerability  and  adaptation  (V&A)  

2. Conducted  Community  Consultation  on  Climate  Change  and  Adaptation  in  three  VDCs  of  Khumbu  

3. Assessed  lake  conditions  4. Shared  findings  from  Community  Consultations  among  

the  stakeholders  from  Khumbu  5. Consulted  and  shared  climate  change  and  adaptation  

information  on  a  district-­‐level  in  the  Khumbu  region  6. Reconnected  and  collected  baseline  information  on  

climate  change  from  Khumbu  using  last  year’s  report  2012  

7. In  the  process  of  developing  Local  Adaptation  Plan  of  

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PHOTO CAPTIONS:

1. Alpine Region in Khumbu

2. Pasture land in Thame valley

3. Tourism in Alpine region

4. Yak grazing in Alpine region

5. Shrubs collected by porters

6. Shrubs cut for fuel wood use by porters

7. Imja glacier lake

8. SPCC coordinated meeting at Sagarmatha National Park HQ

9. Community Consultation Program in Namche Bazar, Sept 2011

REFERENCES:

1. A. Byers (2005) Contemporary Human Impacts of Alpine Ecosystems in the Sagarmatha (Mt.

Everest) National Park, Khumbu, Nepal

2. Hillary Edmund, 1984. Ecology 2000. Micheal Joseph ltd. London

3. Stand Steven 2003: Tourism and deforestation in the Mt Everest region of Nepal, (National

Geographical Journal)

4. Stanley F. Steven (1996) Claiming the High Ground

5. Coburn, B.A. 1984. Sagarmatha: Managing a Himalayan World Heritage Site. “Parks Magazine”

Volume 9, number 2.

6. Sherpa AR 2010 No More Research but Action in the Imja valley of upper Khumbu region of

Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone, internal article

7. Sherpa. AR, A. Byers, D. Thapa, T. Bhutia and S.Thing 2004 (Khumbu Alpine Conservation and

Restoration Project. A report submitted to The Mountain Institute, Asian Regional Office,

Kathmandu, Nepal

8. Sherpa, AR and S. Thing (2007): Gokyo Valley Alpine Conservation and Restoration Field

Assessment, Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone, Kathmandu, Nepal. A report submitted

to The Mountain Institute, Asian Regional Office, Kathmandu, Nepal

9. Sherpa. AR and S. Subba (2006) How Tourism Can Help Isolated Communities: National Parks

and Protected Areas: International Bulletin

10. Sherpa. AR (2012): Community-based participatory research in Imja Valley in Nepal’s Sagarmatha

National Park and Buffer Zone, Solu Khumbu, Nepal. Published in Andean-Asian Mountain

Global Knowledge Exchange Workshop Proceedings