Environmental Transitions of The Himalayan Mountains of Nepal...panoramic views than are those from the popular Kalapathar location NE of the foot of Mount Everest. A few of the many

Environmental Transitions of

The Himalayan Mountains of Nepal

A 2020 Case Study from Gokyo Lake in Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone

By: Ang Rita Sherpa Founder Member of The Partners Nepal

I was born into an ancient mountain ecosystem in Solukhumbu. For me, to be without mountains is

to be without parents who look after their children and prepare them for their future. Similarly, the mountain landscape represents not only the peaks that tower above, but also a natural habitat for mountain people like myself, who have inherited rich natural and cultural resources.

From a purely material point of view, mountains are rich in natural resources that include water, timber, minerals and rare biodiversity. However, equally important is the healthy, natural lifestyle and rich cultural heritage of mountain people. Mountains also offer a place of rest and are a desirable destination for many tourists, migrants and pilgrims, who seek solitude, adventure, recreation and scenic beauty.

For centuries, the relative remoteness and isolation of mountains resulted in less human impact and higher resource sustainability than in many lowlands. With the combined advances in extractive resource technology and increased leisure time, both the negative and the positive impacts of human activity in mountainous regions have increased significantly.

Today, as we learn to exploit the mountain ecosystems for material development and benefits, we are faced with environmental degradation. These delicate systems are being negatively impacted by the increases in local populations, as well as the large-scale annual migration of tourists and adventurers.

Once secluded areas are now opening to exploitation by industry and tourism. We should well consider the lessons and history of our own national development and that of our tourism industry. Those things that we have already discovered for ourselves must be defined and well considered.

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As new and healthy environments are opened to human exploitation and activity, we must nurture these environments in the same manner that they have nurtured our people. Growing up as a Sherpa boy in the remote mountain areas of Solukhumbu region, I have experienced the changes in these mountainous regions. Like the rest of the mountainous region of Nepal, the Gokyo Valley of Khumbu

Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality #4, is fully involved in this exploitive situation.

Thirty years ago, the Gokyo valley was uninhabited except for the summer grazing of livestock. Gokyo Valley is also important for its religious significance and has remained a sacred pilgrimage site for centuries. The holy lake known as Gokyo Lakes (4,750m-5,000m (15,400–16,400 ft) is located in this valley. Both Hindus and Buddhists consider the Gokyo Lakes to be sacred.

This 7,770 ha or 30.0 sq. mi lake was internationally designated as a Ramsar wetlands preservation site in September of 2007. The Gokyo lakes are also culturally important as during the Janai Purnima Festival in mid-August, thousands of Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims’ flock to this holy site to bathe and renew themselves.

The Gokyo valley is not only a destination for grazing yaks and spiritual pilgrimage, as it is the home of many unique and rare species. The alpine biomes of the lakes support rare flora and fauna species. Endemic medicinal and aromatic plants species such as the flowering Kobresia fissiglumis or the medicinal kutki plant are wonderful resources for local populations. While the ecosystem is very delicate, it is able to support large mammals such as the Himalayan Tahr and the Snow Leopard. In addition to the permanent residence of this ecosystem, many migratory birds use the lakes during their annual journey. Flocks of rare migratory ducks briefly join local birds such as the wood snipe annually.

However, during the last two decades, the Gokyo Valley has become the second most popular remote destination among trekkers seeking adventure, challenges and solitude at its best. The main attractions are the many wonderful views of the mountains from Cho Oyu that rise up to the west and Makalu to the east, which includes Mount Everest the world’s highest peak and the sacred lakes of that region.

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The Park received approximately 60,000 tourists in 2019 and among them approximately 35% of these tourists visited Gokyo valley. There have been a number of reasons expressed as to why trekkers come to Gokyo. A majority of trekkers believe that the views from Gokyo peak are much better in-terms of panoramic views than are those from the popular Kalapathar location NE of the foot of Mount Everest.

A few of the many highlights of the Gokyo Valley:

• The view and photography of Mount Everest, by means of a shorter more easily accomplished trek.

• Well established, safe and professional tourism excursions to Gokyo Lake and Gokyo Ri

• Sherpa ancestral culture, traditional mountain villages and wonderful village families.

• An overwhelming, inspiring and incredible landscape wherever your eyes land.

• challenging walks and healthy activity. • Delicious, healthy and appetizing local dishes and

meals from the homiest most inviting family kitchens in the world.

• The calm, accepting and unhurried spirit of Sherpa communities.

• Long fulfilling conversations and storytelling around the fire or stove.

• Inspiring sunsets and revitalizing sunrises. • Breath….just Breath

While the number of visitors to the Gokyo Valley is small compared to those visiting the Everest Base Camp, their impact nevertheless is significant. Tourism in the Gokyo Valley has, without a doubt, provided a range of positive opportunities to the local people in the form of employment and income.

The Gokyo Lakes faces the impact of livestock and pilgrims and these things may be locally resolved and mitigated. However, increased tourism and the higher material demands/consumption of Western tourists and adventurers is an invited, yet necessary threat to the ecosystems of Gokyo. .

The following quote from local herder explains:

“My family has been coming to Gokyo for over four to five decades. In my father’s time, one goth had as many as 100 yaks and naks, but now no one has more than 1 or 2. People can’t keep up as many as they used to. There isn’t enough grass. The main reason is that the area has become a tourists hub. The goth has turned into teashops and lodges thereby increasing the number of teashops and lodges significantly within last two to three decades” -cattle herder at Gokyo Lake 2013

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Despite the obvious problems caused by human activity, there continues to be a steady increase of human activity by herders, pilgrims and tourists in these areas. The delicate environments are struggling with a rapidly changing alpine ecosystem. The once productive pastures of the Gokyo Valley are degrading into scrublands.

As a result of this degradation of the ecosystem, the area is further compromised by deforestation and overgrazing. In mountain ecosystems, the loss of the delicate flora results in landslides and erosion, which further stimulates the rapid deterioration of the fragile mountain ecology.

In addition to deforestation and overgrazing, another threat exists to Gokyo Lakes, as a direct result of human waste. As a result of the Western expectations of visitors, Western flush-toilets have been adapted locally, replacing the traditional composting pit toilets. As a result, the seepage drains directly into the sacred lake in Gokyo polluting the sacred water. The traditional pit compost toilet is environmentally friendly and is a reasonable local solution. Sustainable ancestral methods should be preferred over a flushing toilet that drains the waste directly into the sacred lake..

The primary reason for this crappy situation is the family scale economic opportunity provided by tourism. As some increase in opportunity and security is apparent for those locals involved in tourism, continued environmental degradation and losses by agricultural families is pushing local farm and

herding families to expand into the delicate wilderness areas.

Another major factor to be considered from within the growth of tourist numbers, seasonal grazing and annual pilgrimage is the use of alpine vegetation for fuel wood. We know from our long local history that some human collection is very sustainable. However,

Alpine vegetation is very slow growing; it may require the destruction of many years’ worth of growth in order to provide a tourist with a hot shower. Based upon my observations made in the Gokyo Valley in 2013, I have listed my basic findings of the current situation at Gokyo Lake:

• Encroachment of the lakefront by lodges, walls and other construction • Increased number of lodges surrounding lake • Removal of cushion plants and rhododendron shrubs, thereby increasing siltation of the

lake bed. • Plastic packaging and non-compostable garbage are being carried into the sacred lake by

the wind and the rain • As a result of flush toilets using large amounts of water mixed with human waste, all human

waste eventually drains directly into the sacred lake. • There is a lack of management and few environmentally mitigating rules or instruction for

the religious pilgrims. • Erosion taking place in the form of an enlarging drainage • There is now an increased danger of landslides due to removal of alpine vegetation cover

up-slope. • Geologically fragile mountain structure • Continued retreat of the glaciers is resulting in the formation of new lakes.

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Unlike most of the high altitude wetlands and sacred lakes of Nepal, which have no nearby villages and are largely uninhabited, local seasonal herders and tourists trekking use this lake intensively. Besides the impact of tourism and lodge operators in Gokyo valley, the continued glacial retreat and the forming of new lakes are posing serious threats to the environment. One of the greatest threats to the mountain communities is in the dramatic signs of glacial retreat due to the impact of climate change.

The glaciers in the Himalayas are retreating rapidly. The main reasons for glacial retreat in the mountains are a result of increasing air pollution in the region, plus numerous forest fires that we have recently experienced. This photo of Ngozumpa Glacier is one example of glacial retreat forming new lakes over the past ten years.

All of these varied human activities are rapidly degrading, depleting and altering the natural conditions of the regions’ resources. The extraction of these mountain resources has increased, yet there is little or no reinvestment into either the local ecology or local communities. Investing in the stabilizing and improving of the ecosystems as well as providing stability and security to the human population are both equally necessary.

Those resources, which are extracted or utilized, should be managed in a manner that sustains the unique mountain environments and cultures, thereby preserving its many valuable potentials.

In order to protect our precious resources, this threat of destruction by our own people and international visitors can and should be avoided. This can be accomplished in part by the careful and considerate planning/implementation of any local or national development projects. In order to achieve long-term management, Sagarmatha National Park must not forget to involve the local people from the very beginning and inception of any program or project that is to be considered. It is now obvious that Nature Conservation alone without considering the local community’s needs is never successful. This has been demonstrated clearly in the many failed conservation projects and programs in Nepal and worldwide. Recommendations: The following points are recommendations offered in order to mitigate the impact of visitors, including herders, pilgrims and tourists: 1. It is not advantageous, sustainable or recommended to construct hotels and lodges in one of the

world’s finest unspoiled natural areas, without regard to their architectural suitability. Additionally, local lodges along the main destinations are undergoing expansion and refurbishment without proper planning and minimal codes of conduct. To avoid further deterioration, there is an urgent need for building codes and the introduction of a permit system for new establishments.

2. Local participation in the planning and management of protected areas is important. A community-based approach to tourism is essential to boosting the local economy and ensures a more equitable distribution of the profits derived from tourism. Local participation also greatly increases the community’s investment and cooperation with program or project goals.

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3. There should be a regular monitoring system for tourist lodges and facilities and this system must be standardized as per Himalayan National Parks Rules and Regulations. All lodge operators should be given sufficient training in lodge management and related issues.

4. Establishment of a Lodge Management Committee may provide more democratic and effective

control of this local economic activity. Likewise, committees can play a key role in promoting fuel-efficient technologies, proper waste management, fixing and improving menus based upon geographical pricing systems, standardizing lodges, promoting improved sanitation and hygiene conditions, as well as the building and maintaining of community trails.

5. One of the primary aims of the park is to protect the forests and associated biota from excessive pressure resulting from the rapidly growing tourism industry and local population increases. Many lodges and teashops along the trekking route are now using solar power for lighting but we need to promote the use of alternatives like kerosene, gas and electricity, including attractive pricing

6. All tourist facilities including lodges and teashops should be equipped with clean toilets, which meet basic sanitary standards set by the Lodge Management Association. Toilets should be constructed away from water sources, but not more than 100 meters from lodge buildings so that users do not have to walk long distance at

7. All tourist facilities should have appropriate provisions for garbage disposal. Garbage should not be discarded in water sources or along trails, but rather should be placed in disposal facilities provided at the lodges.

8. In order to manage the Gokyo Valley’s fragile environment, it is essential to form a Conservation

Committee that will oversee the tourism development and associated problems in the area. The committee should play a major role in working with and assisting the various local actors in protecting the natural and cultural resources of the Gokyo Valley.

9. There is need to develop a Sacred Wetland Management project in Gokyo Valley, as Gokyo Lake

and the other lakes in the area are important tourist attractions. Tourism as a major aspect of the local economy is dependent upon the continued preservation of the healthy environment and thus, requires investment toward direct and purposed preservation.

We may have hope for a stable and prosperous future for Goyko and yet if we take no direct action, than we will see neither stability nor prosperity. The problems are currently many and for now, they may be mitigated and managed. The human and financial resources to begin are already apparent, yet they require organization and direction in order to accomplish the necessary change. The communities, the government, the entrepreneurs, the agriculturalist and the tourists all have a stake in assuring the sustainable and profitable preservation of the Gokyo Valley today and for the future. It is time for conversation that leads to action, before the situation becomes a regret, rather than a victory.

PHOTOS: 1: Gokyo Lake, 2: Yak grazing at Gokyo Ri, 3: Snow Cock, 4: Saussurea simpsoniana, 5: Delphinium glaciale, 6: Rhododendron Setsotum, 7: Pika, 8: Gokyo lodge, 9: Ngozumpa Glacier, 10: Gokyo in 70s, 11: Gokyo in 2019, 12: Ngozumpa Glacier