About 57,000 people flock to the Everest region each year.turned this symbolic mountain ascent into a true pilgrimage. In addition, this accumulation of mountaineers leaves behind a serious environmental problem: waste generation. Now, with an initiative led by prominent mountaineers and the backing of the Government of Nepal, it seeks to end the plague. Garbage invades Everest and its surroundings.
The program is sponsored by environmental engineering company The NeverRest Project and has engineers, technicians, biologists and climatologists. But there are also outstanding climbers. Kilian Jornet, Tamara Lunger, Alex Txikon, Simone Moro or Nepali Lakpa Nuru Sherpa.
“After more than four decades of commercial expeditions and waste dumping in the area” from The NeverRest Project, they aim to clean up Everest in five stages, ranging from assessing the impact of tourism to clearing the mountain next to it. Nepali language, which will be conducted by local and international experts.
“The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, an NGO appointed by the Nepalese government to monitor and environmentally manage waste in Sagarmatha National Park – Everest region – stated in its annual report: Between 2019 and 2020, about 7.5 tons of garbage was removed from expeditions in the Khumbu region – the amount was 60 tons between 2017 and 2018-and Namche, more than 165 tons of waste from Lukla and its surroundings – -251 tons between 2018 and 2019″, according to Efe agency, reminded The NeverRest Project.
Shown from this organization mass tourism criticsone of the threats to this ecosystem, with climate and biodiversity crises plaguing the planet as a whole.
“New expeditions and treks are coming to the Everest region every year and this is causing the situation to continue, but waste collection campaigns and recycling activities are carried out with companies in the region every season”.
tourism is rising
According to IUCN World Heritage, the division dedicated to world heritage of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the average annual level of visits to the Everest region between 2014 and 2016 was 30,000, while between 2018 and 2019 that figure rose to 57,000. so to say that tourism has nearly doubled in just three years.
During the Mountain Cleanup campaign conducted by the Nepal Army in the summer of 2022, a total of 33,877 kilograms of garbage was removed from the slopes of Mount Everest, Lhotse, Manaslu and Kangchenjunga, where the two bodies were found. The NeverRest Project said they now want to undertake expeditions to find the “true” extent of this environmental problem due to the lack of data.
“Globalization, economic and social crises, life in changing and uncertain times are causing short-term benefits to multiply, and these benefits not only bring benefits but also negatively affect our economic and social system,” the statement said.
The initiative also aims to create and launch a “sustainable base camp” where Everest waste can be managed. Education awareness programs providing visibility to Nepali experts.
“Everyone is talking about mountains and sustainable tourism,” said Dhananjay Regmi, executive director of Nepal Tourism Board, an organization affiliated with the Nepalese government. when we promote mountains for tourism activities”, that is, “it’s time to think together to find permanent solutions”.
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]