Annapurna. Siân Pritchard-Jones

      Local school in the foothills of the Annapurnas

      Community Action Nepal (www.canepal.org.uk), co-founded by mountaineer Doug Scott, seeks to improve the infrastructure of villages in the middle hills by building schools, health posts and clean water projects, and developing cottage industries.

      Choice Humanitarian (www.choicehumanitarian.org) is seeking to end poverty by concentrating on sustainable village development through tourism. The aim is to empower village people, generally with neither funds nor skill, to improve their own prospects.

      Mountain People (www.mountain-people.org) ‘Helping mountain people to help themselves’ is an independent, non-profit, non-political, non-religious and cross-cultural organisation. They help with schools, porter welfare, women’s projects and bridge building. Their operations centre is in the Hotel Moonlight in Paknajol, Thamel.

      The International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) (www.ippg.net) was started in 1997 to raise awareness about the conditions and plight of all-too-frequently exploited porters. Their task is to focus on the provision of clothing, shelter and medical care for often-overlooked working porters in Nepal.

      PORTER WELFARE

      Look after your friendly porter

      Every year porters die on the mountain trails of Nepal, and very occasionally some of them are in the employ of foreign trekkers. Fortunately today there is much more awareness about the possible dangers faced by porters, partly because of some high-profile accidents in the past. Exploitation has always been a part of Nepalese society; the caste system, which still pervades the roots of its culture, ensures that each person knows his status. However, visitors need not adopt such attitudes. Following the Maoist insurgency, general wage levels for porters and once badly treated workers throughout society have risen dramatically – perhaps the only benefit of that long reign of violence! Two organisations have made an impact on porter welfare, the International Porter Protection Group (see below) and Tourism Concern (www.tourismconcern.org.uk). Trekking agencies in Nepal are now expected to provide adequate insurance for all their staff.

      The following are some outline guidelines for all trekkers:

      Naturally it is hard for trekkers to really know what is going on behind the scenes; the Nepalese are masters at appealing to the sympathetic nature of visitors to the country.

      Developing rural areas through tourism

      Tourism is one way in which the culture and livelihoods of the upland people can be sustained in the long term. The major trekking trails have experienced the growth of trekking tourism since the 1960s and the effects have generally been positive. The difficulty is finding the right balance, by improving local living conditions without destroying the existing environment and culture. It is not a unique problem to Nepal, as anyone who has visited other popular mountain destinations – even Chamonix or Zermatt – will have observed. As visitors we have our own views about development but ultimately it is the local people and the different tourism agencies that decide on the future of their region.

      The fragile environment of the Himalayas is becoming an ever-pressing concern with global warming, just as it is across the globe. Unless the rural community is served well by tourism, decline is inevitable. Already there is a shortage of manpower in the hills as young people seek better pastures overseas in the Gulf and Malaysia.

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