Kathmandu

Pokhara Mt Everest

Nepal is a landlocked country between India and Tibet. Its landscape is uncommonly diverse, ranging from the humid and lush Terai in the country’s southern-most region to the lofty Himalayas in the north. It is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, including Chomolungma (Mount Everest) – the traditional Tibetan/Sherpa name for this mountain. This rugged Himalayan terrain is complemented by a mosaic of cultures, ethnic groups and over thirty ethnic-based languages. It is also famous for its beautiful temples and places of worship, natural landscape, trekking and adventure sports, all of which make it one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations.

Nepal is a developing nation facing soaring population growth and enormous economic, social and environmental challenges. Ninety per cent of the 23 million population lives in rural areas and isolated villages. The management of the environment and large amounts of rubbish is a major concern and presents its own challenges. Despite clean-ups of the landscape and villages along the Mount Everest Trek, garbage continues to be a problem. It is difficult for us to imagine that traditional villages and communities with limited, or in some cases no running water or electricity, have extreme difficulty managing contemporary forms of waste.

Country: State of NepalDistrict: Chomolungma (Mount Everest)Capital: KathmanduArea: 140, 800 km2

Population: 23 millionLanguage: NepaliMajor religions: Hindu (80%) Buddhist (10.7%)

Muslim (4.2%) Kirat (3.6%) Life expectancy: 61.2 years (men)

62 years (women)Literacy: 54% of population

Waste Management Projects, Everest Trek, Nepal

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The Garbage TrailDespite massive clean-ups in the Himalayas, garbage continues to blight the natural and urban environment. Villages and monasteries along the Mount Everest Trek lack appropriate garbage management facilities and are unable to cope with contemporary waste. Tourists using the Trek discard garbage they are unable to dispose of in other ways due, in part, to the lack of facilities and ignorance.

To help put this problem in perspective, the Mount Everest Trek is 120 kilometres long, with an elevation gain of nearly 3500 metres. It is estimated that along some sections of the Trek there are nearly two metric tonnes of garbage per kilometre of tourist trail. This increases to 12 tonnes along some sections of the route. As a result, the Trek leading to Mount Everest Base Camp has been nicknamed ‘the garbage trail’.

Although waste production in the region is minimal compared with waste produced in the West (and everything that can be, is reused), this waste is still posing significant problems to the natural environment and wildlife. The mountainous and inaccessible terrain makes removing rubbish extremely difficult, which means that waste must be dealt with on the mountain.

Fortunately, the Sherpa and many local community groups, like the Himalayan Yeti Club, understand the negative impact this can have on the environment and their trekking-based economy.

AWF in the HimalayasAWF volunteers have been assisting Himalayan communities with waste management and community development projects since 2003. The organisation provides funding and volunteers for the development of waste management and education programmes and the construction of waste facilities such as incinerators and rubbish pits. With the help of the Lonely Planet Foundation, AWF has recently been able to offer Nepali communities further assistance.

A grant from the Lonely Planet Foundation, for example, has funded the construction of rubbish pits at Sumjingma, Indingma and Ookpa, the design and construction of an incinerator at the Sherlo Monastery, and the development of waste reduction and environmental education programmes at the Junbesi Primary School (one of the first schools built by Sir Edmund Hillary).

Waste Management Projects, Everest Trek, Nepal

waste management

Ang Tschering Sherpa (pictured centre) at a construction meeting with local villagers in Sumjingma.

Beau BezaAWF’s involvement in waste management projects in Nepal are directly linked to the research of project leader Beau Beza, a landscape architect and founding Director of AWF. The projects are an outcome of his completed PhD which investigated the environment and waste management in the Himalaya.

Beau has led each of AWF’s projects in Nepal and has worked on community development projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Norway, USA, Australia and Jordan. He is also currently the Postgraduate Course Coordinator in the Environment and Planning Programme at RMIT University.

Ang Tshering SherpaAng Tshering Sherpa, pictured at centre, is AWF’s Field Leader in Nepal, and is shown here at a June 2007 construction meeting with local villagers from Sumjingma. Ang Tshering is a villager from Pangkarma and was Beau’s PhD research assistant in 2002–2003. Ang Tshering has also gone on to establish a medical centre at Indingma village, providing much needed medical services for villagers surrounding Pangkarma and the Junbesi Valley.

“We got talking to villagers of Pangkarma and learnt they dispose of their waste in the forest or river, because ‘it goes away’. After discussing this issue with the village elders we came up with the idea of the rubbish pits. Word spread quickly, and more villagers and then monks from nearby monasteries started asking for our help. So what started off as one small project ended up becoming a multitude of works.”Beau Beza

Waste Management Projects, Everest Trek, Nepal

Beau and Ang

The first rubbish pit was constructed in Pangkarma in 2003.

Villagers are paid for their work through financial assistance secured by AWF.

Villagers involved in the construction of the waste disposal pits at Sumjingma in June 2007.

A wall of locally sourced stone is constructed around the pit to keep humans, cattle and wildlife from falling in.

Localising environmental changeThe biggest challenges for AWF in developing these waste facilities are localising environmental change and guarding against harm to humans and animals. A waste management strategy is discussed with the communities to assist management of their household rubbish. The rubbish pits have been designed to prevent people and animals from falling in, as well as to prevent animals from removing rubbish and re-depositing it in nearby forests.

The footprint of rubbish pits and incinerators is relatively small. By borrowing the form of adjacent structures and incorporating local materials and construction techniques, the design aesthetic complements Himalayan landscape.

Waste Management Projects, Everest Trek, Nepal

waste disposal

The effectiveness of any incinerator relies on the proper sorting and management of waste prior to commencement of incineration.

All materials are locally sourced and must be carried to the construction site.

AWF volunteers work alongside local tradesmen.

Local villagers and tradesmen are employed to help with construction.

Local construction techniques are used.

Monks studying at the Sherlo Monastery are taught the principles of waste management from a young age.

Beau Beza, John Bahoric, Ang Tshering Sherpa, Garry Ormston, Chandra Gurung and a Buddhist monk in front of the completed and operational incinerator at the Sherlo Monastery.

Sherlo MonasteryIn June 2007, AWF designed and constructed an incinerator at the Sherlo Monastery, to help the 70 residing monks dispose of their waste.

Incineration is considered one of the most effective solutions to the waste problem in this region, since it destroys or reduces the size of the material, so it can be buried in waste pits, minimising the potential harm to humans or animals.

AWF member Dan Demant, collaborated with project leader, Beau Beza, and a Junbesi-based builder to research and develop an incinerator entirely sourced from local materials and construction techniques, yet capable of creating and withstanding high temperatures.

Since contemporary western solutions rely on a series of incinerator events and reactions to burn waste at required temperatures of 800°C, this proved a significant challenge.

Waste Management Projects, Everest Trek, Nepal

incinerators

The local team that helped construct the incinerator at the Sherlo Monastery in June 2007. The construction crew was paid for its work, with assistance from the Lonely Planet Foundation.

ProgressTo date, one incinerator has been constructed at the Sherlo Monastery, and a total of eight rubbish pits have been built in the villages of Pangkarma, Mopung, Phungmochhe, Sumjingma, Indingma and Ookpa. All have been developed utilising local village design and construction techniques.

The degree of waste found in and around communities, and in the natural environment, has been significantly reduced. Word has spread quickly and AWF has been invited back to continue its work in the region.

Several monasteries have requested AWF’s help to build incinerators similar to the one designed for the Sherlo Monastery to help them deal with their waste.

Waste reduction and environmental education programmes are to be introduced along the Mount Everest Trek by AWF in partnership with the Junbesi-based Himalayan Yeti Club (commencing from the village of Junbesi and terminating at Jiri). Construction of further rubbish pits and incinerators are proposed, and the installation of a water treatment programme is planned for communities throughout the region during 2008 – 2010.

None of the already completed projects would have been possible without the commitment (and hard labour) of AWF volunteers and project leaders, and the financial support of the Lonely Planet Foundation and City of Melbourne.

Acknowledgements Client: Various community organisations

AWF Project Manager: Beau Beza, Landscape Architect, Former AWF Director

AWF Field Leader: Ang Tshering Sherpa

AWF Projects Team: Garry Ormston, Architect, Dan Demant, Architect, John Bahoric, Structural Engineer

Financial Assistance: Lonely Planet Foundation & City of Melbourne

Volunteers: Many volunteers have participated in the realisation of these projects – too many to list here. You know who you are. Thank you.

Waste Management Projects, Everest Trek, Nepal

thank you