Voices from the Himalaya

HET Newsletter -Volume 15

“VOICES FROM THE HIMALAYA”HIMALAYAN ENVIRONMENT TRUST

NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2014 -VOLUME 15

FOUNDER TRUSTEES

Sir Edmund Hillary

Captain MS Kohli

Maurice Herzog

Sir Chris Bonington

Reinhold Messner

Junko Tabei

Dr. Karan Singh

Sushil Gupta

MANAGING TRUSTEE

Maninder Kohli

TRUSTEES

Basanta Raj Mishra

D K Arya IPS

D R Kaarthiyken IPS

Akhil Bakshi

Yogendra Bali

Rakesh Munjal

Bikram Pandey

J C Kala IFS

Major Dalbir Singh

Capt Swadesh Kumar

Mandip Singh Soin

Ajeet Bajaj

Dawa Steven Sherpa

D K Suri

Jotvinder Singh

Col. H.S. Chauhan

David James Molden

Brig. Ashok Abbey

ContentsNepal - A Tea House Trek

Ian Wall

Stok Kangri Basecamp AlertAnkur Bahl

Jigme Dorji National Park Bhutan Karchung Wangchuk

Mountaineering Expeditions India Environment Guidelines

Martin Moran

Animal Traps in UttrakhandPunit Mehta

Waste Warriors ImpactJodie Underhill

Selection of Environment News

HET Clean Stove Project Update

FIELD DIRECTORS

Ashutosh Misra

Akshay Shah

Piran Elavia

Vivek Bali

Amitabh Kharkwal

Indu Anand

Kamakshi Sahai

Neeha Varma

Sumit Raj Vashisht

Ankur Bahl

Prannoy Goswami

Bharat Mehra

Dr. Hari Mohan

Mukesh Wage

Varun Gunasellan

Karan Singh

Punit Mehta

Kaushal Desai

Karchung Wangchuk

Shilpi Rai

Nepal - A Tea House Trek The first commercial trek in Nepal took place in the early 1960s and was arranged under the guidance of Col Jimmy Roberts, his first clients were three English ladies who trekked to Everest Base Camp in 1965; they camped all the way.  Since then Nepali entrepreneurs have been quick to seize the opportunity to develop services for trekkers, the most obvious being the growth of the ‘Tea House’ trek. The Annapurna Circuit was the first trek to receive attention to meet the needs of the trekkers and to develop tea houses (lodges). Now it is possible to complete most of the popular treks in Nepal using these facilities. 

There are of course many environmental issues surrounding ‘tea houses’, the development, construction, sustainable use and effect on the indigenous population and the environment. Inevitably these buildings will be new constructions claiming land that was previously used for other purposes. Even if it was just for grazing and wild life, stone has to be excavated and broken into building blocks, timber has to be either cut locally or at greater expense, flown in by helicopter, again with an additional carbon impact on the

environment. To keep the tea house services up to the trekkers’ expectations the owners are always under pressure to provide additional services – showers, battery charging, electric lights, reliable cooking even the provision of alcohol and bottled drinking water and of course healthy and varied food. Thankfully many tea houses are now turning to gas for heating water and cooking and solar or local hydro power for the supply of electricity. Sadly in the remote, difficult and expensive to reach trekking areas all these services create an environmental impact. What happens to all the old solar batteries at the end of their serviceable life, the beer glasses and wine bottles, the plastic mineral water bottles, not to mention the deforestation as wood is cut to heat (not to cook) the tea houses? Several of the national parks are implementing policies restricting the cutting of wood and the ‘import’ of glass and soon plastic, however, busy tea houses have other issues to contend with including that of human waste, at altitude ‘brown toilets’ are not functional, the disposal of packaging, often plastic and waste food.

Namche Bazaar in 2014 expansion as a result of Lodge development©Ian Wall

Many tea houses use temporary seasonal staff, often child labour, brought in from other areas, in many cases by-passing local labour that would probably be more expensive. Of course most of the provisions are transported in from Kathmandu.  It is not possible to turn the clock back, so, to reduce future negative environmental impact organizations like the Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) must implement a vigorous educational plan to promote environmentally sustainable tourism via the many Nepalese trekking agents as well as the tea house owners. The Agents need to manage their own clients and in particular the Nepali trekking staff to be environmentally responsible. Finally the local Village Development Committee (VDC) should take on the responsibility to providing environmentally friends waste disposal sites and incinerators. I’m sure many readers will be aware of the rural road development plans that are engulfing the higher remote regions of Nepal, these roads are in the main built to deliver supplies, not necessarily for the

movement of the local population. They are not always carefully planned or their development monitored, again causing negative environmental impact.

Looking at the positive side of tea house trekking these services add a little more comfort for the trekkers and thus attract a certain percentage of the trekking population who would otherwise not visit these remote areas if they had to camp. Local income is being  generated and local communities are being not only empowered but provided with a source of income;     but this must be sustainable and of course there can be certain positive advantages as a result of being exposed to foreigners. All the trekkers and mountaineers who visit Nepal expected to see a good and clean environment, if Nepal loses that on trekking routes together with the very real impact of climate change on snow and glacier melt in the Himalaya then what will the trekkers come to see? Will they continue to travel to Nepal or even the Himalaya?

An old style Tea house

The development of new trekking areas and new tea houses must in future be strictly monitored in a corruption free way. Maybe one way to develop awareness is for all new developers to submit an environmental risk assessment to the authorities before work begins. Any negative impact should be addressed through the developers implementing environmentally positive proposals – planting trees   to landscape and protect the locality, terracing to manage the soil removed for leveling purposes, environmentally friendly waste disposal plans, landscaping quarry sites rather than leaving large exposed areas of broken stone.   However, there are less intrusive home stay style tea houses where you can ‘share’ the communal

times with the family but then retire to your own private bed-room.Finally to enable the tea house owners to provide all the expected services there is a cost, and this cost is rapidly increasing. Now you can’t stay in a Nepalese tea house for less than 40 US$ a day, this cost can rise to as much as 200 US$ a day if you go to the top end lodges in Namche Bazaar or other main trekker/tourist centers. Trekking in Nepal is no longer a ‘cheap’ holiday!

Ian Wall Off The Wall TrekkingKathmandu, Nepal

HET Comment : Whether trek operators are using tents or tea houses, the

important aspect is sustainability. Low costs normally means that short cuts are

being used which result in escalated levels of environmental damage. Future

trekkers and climbers need to encourage operators to use eco tourism practices

but in return be prepared to pay more as such services come with a cost.

A modern top end lodge in Namche Bazaar 2014 along with attached bathroom.

Stok Kangri Basecamp Alert I went on  climb to Stok Kangri and reached the summit on 20th September 2013  and as expected there was a lot of garbage at the campsites and other resting places along the way. Most of it was collected and dumped in hastily made open trash bins (simple circular boundary of stones) and some was littered around the campsites. This was particularly a big eye sore at the base camp at an altitude of 4900m. This included a huge amount of trash left behind by a 112 strong contingent of the Jawahar Mountaineering institute at Pahalgam. I don’t know if they took any of it down but they did litter all over the place. Utensils were being washed in the stream at the base camp which means that the entire river is contaminated as people were drinking the water downstream.     Very few tour operators were actually were taking their garbage down to the trailhead, which actually is easily possible because of the presence of mules right up till the base camp.

I have been climbing on Mt Rainier in USA and it is spic and span. We even had to carry our faeces down to the trailhead in packets and on one occasion sitting on a 45 degree slope at 12000 ft in pristine surroundings  a small sweet wrapper flew out of my hand. I got a yelling and lots of   stares from my group which shows the discipline and   on several occasions climbers have been asked to leave the mountain if they were found littering.   In Antarctica the agency handling the operations gives detailed instructions for handling the environment.   All gear and equipment has to be sanitized before touching the continent. Waste has to be carefully wrapped and stored. Urinating is allowed only in designated  holes in the ice and faeces of course has to be carried back.

Ankur BahlField DirectorHimalayan Environment Trust

HET Comment : The HET will be reaching out to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation which issues permits to climb Stok Kangri and collects an

environment fee to establish a process to keep the base camp garbage free.

Trash at the base camp, Stok Kangri.

Jigme Dorji National Park Bhutan One of the most popular trekking areas in Bhutan is the Jigme Dorji National Park in the Northern part of Bhutan and the key attraction for trekker's is Mt. Jomolhari & Mt. Jichu Drake.  The Park Management and the Tourism Council of Bhutan are working closely to maintain the quality of the trails and campsites and ensure there is no littering and pollution. To manage this three distinct activities are done which collectively assist in keeping the Park area clean. The first activity is education and creating awareness on littering to trekking agency owners staff and the local people not to litter the waste in and around the Jigme Dorji National Park. The second activity is imposition of a strict fine, which has been introduced. As per the current process a Park official does an inspection at the key campsites and if litter is observed or there is a violation then the trekking agency is imposed a fine. The third initiative is that the

Tourism Council of Bhutan and Park Management sends a garbage collection team after the end of every season.   As per information available about 2000 trekkers enter the Park every year for trekking and the  current mechanism is ensuring that the area is well maintained. The overall policy of Bhutan of maintaining a minimum spends per day per tourist has resulted in restricting the number of tourist and trekkers as well as attracting only higher income segment to visit. This helps in reducing the pressure on key trails and by and large this encourages only discerning type of tourists who are highly environmentally conscious. The other aspect which has gone in the favor of Bhutan is the low level of population and this also helps in keeping mountain areas clean. 

Karchung Wangchuk Ljomen Tours and TreksField Director, HET

Off all the Himalayan states it is very evident that the Bhutan Himalaya remains litter and pollution free due to combination of education, fines and clean up teams operating at the end of each season.

Mountaineering Expeditions India Expedition Guidelines

Over the years I have participated in 25 expeditions in the Indian Himalaya. It was on an expedition to Satopanth in 2010 when I came across severe environmental abuse. As a follow up I would like to share possible actions points to be considered for future expeditions in the Indian Himalaya :

1)      Introduction of another raft of environmental  regulation and charges would create more complexity and cost for expeditions. Please resist the temptation to go down this road. It would be further deterrent to mountaineering development in India. Already, expeditions struggle to meet the rules and fees imposed by central and State government in Uttarakhand. Improved environmental practice would be best incorporated within the existing rules of the IMF.

2)      In Uttarakhand the current State Government requirement is for expeditions to deposit a bond of Rs 10000 with the local Forest Officer, which can be redeemed on return of non-biodegradable rubbish at the end of the trip. My experience after 10 years of working with these rules is that the local officials either have no awareness of the existence of the rules or else simply don’t care. They pay lip service to the requirements, stow the draft and give it back so long as the expedition presents a token bags of cans and a small monetary tip on its return. Like many regulations the system seemed like a good idea when it was set up but simply doesn’t work in practice.

3)      IMF Liaison Officers could be given a more active in environmental protection. They could be more specifically charged with the control of waste disposal during an expedition. Perhaps they could be tasked to produce a detailed report on environmental practice of the expedition team, backed up with photographic evidence.

4)     The IMF could be more pro-active in its briefing of expeditions on required environmental practice, for example:

i)   At the advance briefing the Director already gives valuable advice on things like sat phones and emergency procedures. A brief clear-cut lecture on expected environmental practice could usefully be added.

ii) The IMF could issue leaflets detailing required environmental practice to all expeditions.

iii) The leader’s post-expedition report to the IMF is still using exactly the same pro-forma as I was given on my first visit to the Indian Himalaya in 1983! As a result we get the impression that this report is merely a box-ticking exercise and will be instantly forgotten as soon as it is filed. The format of this report urgently needs to be revised and modernised – with inclusion of more questions on environmental practice.

iv)  The IMF should issue items such as bio-degradable sanitary bags and refuse sacks to all expeditions.

5)  In popular climbing areas such as Gangotri, Nun-Kun and Ladakh the IMF could appoint an officer to make random inspections of expedition camps with power to issue fines if required practice is not being followed.

6)      Tour operators should be closely involved in consultation and enforcement of better practice. Tour agents should have a clear responsibility to train their staff and could be subject to fines or sanctions if their staff are found to be flouting good practice.

7)      From my experience of running commercial expeditions the Western climbers who are paying for the trips really don’t care that much about what gets left behind. I am sad to say that but it is true. They think that environmental management is somebody else’s problem because they are paying for the services, and of course they never go back to the same mountain, so never see the consequences of neglect. The expedition staff are then left to clear the camps, and they are pressed for time, so don’t do a particularly thorough job. A big fire is lit, and there is reluctance to pack up bottles and cans. Again, if the IMF director spells out the responsibilities of every member of an expedition in this regard in the briefing meeting, the effect will be beneficial.  

8)      Western leaders and guides on commercial expeditions should be ultimately responsible for failure to clear camps properly.

9)      All aluminum and foil packaging should also be carried back down, but in all my experience this gets put on the fire and leaves a half burnt mass that will be slow to rot.

10)   The long-term promotion of Alpine-style climbing is vital to protect the mountains from the desecration of fixed-ropes, abandoned tents and equipment. I understand that some fixed ropes are needed on difficult sections of popular peaks, but these difficult passages should be clearly defined by the IMF. Any proliferation beyond this should be deplored.  Alpine-style climbing ensures that mountains are left in clean condition. Whenever I have adopted fixed rope tactics I have struggled or failed to remove all our lines, camps and rubbish. Far too much stuff gets carried up and some of it is bound to be abandoned. On Alpine-style trips I leave nothing except a few abseil anchors. Sadly, most mountaineers, Indian and Western, treat fixed-rope climbing as the norm. Climbing has really gone backwards in its ethics in the last 30 years. I have seen fixed lines being put up on slopes of just 20 or 30 degrees!

11)   Trekking groups are not subject to any environmental control yet can add massively to pressure on precious environmental sites. National parks can control numbers to some extent, but there needs to be some control on trekking numbers in other popular areas (eg. Stok Kangri or Kang Yatze base camps where there can be three or four times as many trekkers as there are official climbers).

Martin MoranMartin Moran MountaineeringLondon, United Kingdom

HET Comment : The HET will be reaching out to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation which issues permits to Indian and International expeditions to issue an

‘Environment Advisory’ to all expedition leaders and establish a process to check the on-ground position at busy base-camps.

Animal Traps in Uttrakhand The morning of 29th October 2013 was crisp with chill in the air dissipating as the sun came over the easterly ridge rising above Bhetiara Gad. There were four of us on an eight day cross country high Himalayan trail linking river Bhagirathi and Bhilangana in Western Garhwal.

In first one hour of leaving camp at upper reaches of Goni, we started descending through shrubs of prickly wild rose, juniper thickets and meter high dry grass to treeline at 3600 meters. Another 100 meters descent in elevation and a km. in distance we entered predominately conifer and rhododendron forest. I was the last in our small group to get to a point when I saw remaining three backpacks. Wondering what prompted the others to call it a break so soon in the day is when Pyaar Singh appeared from the forest, asked me to be careful and not to move ahead. I also parked my backpack with the rest and saw a bent branch in half moon shape. With a closer look I could also see a loop of green cord on one end of the branch. Around this loop of green rope were several bamboo sticks with an opening leading to the centre of the loop. OK - This is a animal trap i said to myself as I had not seen one as elaborate as this one !

Soon enough Pyaar Singh returned and others also came back with the news that there were several of the similar traps placed all along the obvious routes / openings on the slopes that an animal would take to go up or down the valley. Quickly we discussed and agreed to release all the traps by pulling the bent branches. Once again the three left to do the needful while I took some photos and made notes.

The next day we came across similar set of traps across and east of Bhetiara Gad on the opposite slopes leading to Sahastra Taal. We concurred that it was handiwork of a group of poachers and we thought that it was for an animal small enough the size of a Musk deer. The only visitors in this region are shepherds during the four monsoon months while occasional trekkers might venture within a day’s walk but not exactly these slopes. The nearest villages of Pilang and Salang are 2-3 days walk away.

Punit MehtaField DirectorHimalayan Environment Trust

Multiple animal traps made with assistance of a green rope were spotted.

HET Comment : It is indeed shocking to see poachers set up multiple animal traps in remote mountain regions. While the HET has escalated this matter to the Forest

Department a sustained effort will be required to arrest such a disturbing trend.

Waste Warriors Impact

Waste Warriors is a voluntary organization and a registered society committed to cleaning up India.   Waste Warriors’ first project began at Dharamsala. Co-founder Jodie Underhill was appalled by the waste situation in India and started working with waste management starting with clean up’s and a weekly waste collection service from Triund, a popular mountain camp way back in 2009. As the projects gradually built up over the next 3 years, Waste Warriors was officially registered in November 2012. Over these years, Dharamsala has increasingly seen improvement in the waste situation owing to work that combines direct action, awareness building and education. Waste Warriors works on a combination of waste-related activities including four clean-up drives each week, a door-to-door waste collection service, daily cleaning in Bhagsu, educational programs and event waste

management.   Accompanied by a steady stream of volunteers from India and abroad the NGO visits Triund every Monday to clean the trail and to collect the waste from the chai shops and guest houses, after segregating, the waste is put into bags ready to be bought back down by the mules that take supplies up the mountain. The group stays overnight then leave the following day after a cleaning session. Triund is now known as one of the cleanest hiking destinations in India. Volunteers are also recruited to clean the Bhagsu waterfall trail every Thursday and community clean up’s on Saturdays. Volunteers are welcomed for all of the activities.   The NGO runs a door-to-door waste collection of households and businesses in Bhagsunag and the surrounding areas to ensure waste is not burned or dumped.

Our volunteers with segregated waste at Triund Camp(2875 Mtrs). We do a weekly overnight hike.

They have also set up a waste collection point at Galu where hikers can leave the waste from their treks.They do not just collect waste, they also ensure as much as possible is recycled in order to reduce the impact on the environment. The recyclable waste from the clean-ups is sold to a local   kabadiwala   and the non recyclable waste goes to the trenching ground in Lower Dharamsala. The NGO also works to provide better working conditions for waste workers. Currently, the Dharamshala project has 5 Waste Workers and 2 Project Assistants. Waste Warriors employs 30 staff in total and has projects in Dehradun, around the Corbett Landscape and Rishikesh. They offer an event waste management service and have successfully managed the waste at a variety

of events including Dharamsala cricket stadium for the IPL matches in 2013 and at the Airtel Hyderabad and Wipro Chennai marathons.Waste Warriors operates and runs owing to support from the general public, local businesses and good-hearted souls from across the country. Donations are welcome and they have section 80G tax exemption. For more information, to volunteer or to donate please go to their website  www.wastewarriors.org  or see their Facebook pages (just search for Waste Warriors). 

Jodie UnderhillCo-Founder & Chief Executive Officer - Waste Warriors

HET Comment : It is clearly evident from several articles in this very newsletter the Himalayan States are facing an uphill battle in terms of managing the sheer

waste which is generated and then left carelessly virtually everywhere from campsites to trails and viewing points. It is commendable to see organizations like

Waste Warriors taking the issue heads on and making a huge difference.

Children are future. Waste Warriors closely works with kids to make them more environmentally responsible.

When American geologist Ulyana Horodyskyj set up a mini weather station at 5,800m on Mount Himlung, on the Nepal-Tibet border, she looked east towards Everest and was shocked. The world's highest glacier, Khumbu, was turning visibly darker as particles of fine dust, blown by fierce winds, settled on the bright, fresh snow. "One-week-old snow was turning black and brown before my eyes," she said.The problem was even worse on the nearby Ngozumpa glacier, which snakes down from Cho Oyu – the world's sixth highest mountain. There, Horodyskyj found that so much dust had been blown on to the surface that the ability of the ice to reflect sunlight, a process known as albedo, dropped 20% in a

single month. The dust that was darkening the brilliant whiteness of the snow was heating up in the strong sun and melting the snow and ice, she said. The phenomenon of "dark snow" is being recorded from the Himalayas to the Arctic as increasing amounts of dust from bare soil, soot from fires and ultra-fine particles of "black carbon" from industry and diesel engines are being whipped up and deposited sometimes thousands of miles away. The result, say scientists, is a significant dimming of the brightness of the world's snow and icefields, leading to a longer melt season, which in turn creates feedback where more solar heat is absorbed and the melting accelerates.

Lightning strikes will increase due to climate changeSuzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, November 2014

A lightning storm in Denver, Colorado. New research has found global warming could result in 50% more lightning strikes by the end of the century. Photograph: Roger Hill/Barcroft

Selection of Environment News

Dark snow: from the Arctic to the Himalaya, the phenomenon that is accelerating glacier meltingJohn Vidal,The Guardian, July 2014

Lightning will strike far more frequently in a world under climate change – but researchers can still not predict exactly where or when those strikes will occur.

New research from the University of California, Berkeley, published on Thursday in the journal Science, found warming conditions would result in 50% more lightning strikes by the end of the century.

“For every two lightning strikes you had at the beginning of the century, we will have three at the end of the century,” said David Romps, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.

Researchers have known for some time that climate change was producing more lightning strikes, and fatalities in developing countries have been rising in recent years. But the latest findings put a number on that rate of increase, using data from federal government scientific agencies.

The scientists found lightning strikes would increase by about 12% for every 1C of warming, resulting in about 50% more strikes by 2100.

Full Article and Credits : http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/13/lightning-strikes-will-increase-due-to-climate-change

The Dark deposits on icefields in Greenland, which absorb more sunlight and lead to faster glacial melting. Photograph: Henrik Egede Lassen/Alpha Film

Plastic waste may trigger water bombs in the HimalayaTimes of India , Dehra Dun, September 2014

Unfortunately, this is the ugly truth of the Himalaya. The heap, which includes biodegradable plastic, can be found just four kilometers from Shimla in the reserved forest of Lalpani. And this is not an isolated pocket either. The amount of plastic and other bio-degradable waste in the Himalaya is growing at an alarming rate and wreaking havoc with this fragile ecosystem. Trekkers and tourists have become litterbugs, who don't think before tossing a juice can or wafer wrapper by the mountainside. To save the fragile ecology of Himalaya, the Himachal Pradesh government on October 2, 2009, banned the use, storage, sale and distribution of all types of polythene bags. On October 2, 2011, the government imposed blanket ban on the use and storage of non-biodegradable disposable plastic cups, plates and glasses and warned that violators would be fined up to Rs 5,000.

Himachal Pradesh was the first to ban plastic and polythene bags. This photograph is, however, proof that the law is totally ineffective. The disrespect for the Himalaya is capable of causing a time bomb of water. Biodegradable waste absorbs heat, which along with global warming, raises the overall temperature in the mountains, melting glaciers and creating glacial lakes thus posing the threat of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in the future. Continuous storage of huge quantities of water has turned these lakes on high mountains into "water bombs" for the population living downstream in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Nepal.

Full Article and Credits : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/Plastic-waste-m a y - t r i g g e r - w a t e r - b o m b s - i n -Himalayas/articleshow/41053304.cms

In spite of law’s banning the use of plastic in mountain regions the build up of plastic is happening at an alarming pace.

HET Clean Stove Project Update

Across the Himalayas, and in fact across much of the rural developing and underdeveloped world, people rely on burning and wood and coal (biomass) in open fires to cook their daily meals. The over-reliance on this type of cooking broadly causes three main issues. Firstly, significant levels of harmful gases such as CO2, Black Carbon and Methane are released which causes a host of health issues primarily to the women and young children who spend a lot of time around the fires. Secondly, the cooking is a slow process, which increases the exposure to the emissions and also decreases time to perform other productive activities. Thirdly, the emissions released coupled with the accelerated deforestation from cutting trees for cooking contribute significantly to climate change. In the Himalayan regions, these issues are magnified further as the cutting of trees for cooking means less roots to hold the soil in place leading to increased likelihood of landslides. There is limited access to healthcare facilities, which means a preventive solution to lung and heart disease is imperative. 10 major rivers flowing through the world’s most densely populated regions originate in Himalayan glaciers and therefore the climate stability of this range is directly responsible for the fresh water supply and food security of over 600 million people! “Clean Stoves” burn the same wood and biomass fuel in a far more efficient manner reducing

harmful emissions by up to 80% and reducing the wood requirement by upto 65% on average! This means significantly lower risk of disease, lower contributions to climate change, cleaner air and fewer trees being cut. The stoves also require very little modification in cooking technique by the rural consumers making them far more adoptable than solar and other clean cooking innovations. While several NGOs and Government programmes have made extensive efforts to distribute such stoves across the world in low-lying regions, very little awareness has been created in the mountain regions where such stoves can create a huge social and environmental impact. The Himalayan Environment Trust is therefore planning to fundraise in order to distribute subsidized “Clean Stoves” in an effort to create awareness about and demand for these stoves. A testing stage has already been done in the Western Garhwal region with 5 clean stoves and garnered very positive feedback. The HET aims to deploy another 50 stoves and cover one entire village near Sankri in Western Garhwal before showcasing this model village to expand the project. 

Varun GunasellanProject ManagerHET Clean Stove Project

The Himalayan Environment Trust

The Himalayan Environment Trust (HET) has completed 25 years supporting various issues related to the Himalayan environment. If you would like to support the HET it can be done through the following ways: 1.  You may become an Associate Member of the HET. 2. Contribute an article for the next issue of our newsletter. 

3. You can place an advertisement in the next newsletter of the HET at a cost of Rs. 5000.00. The distribution of the newsletter covers 5000 adventure lovers across the Himalayan countries.  

4. Be an HET volunteer and participate in one of HET’s field projects which will take place in 2015.

Further details are available on http://www.himalayanenvironment.org/ or by emailing at "himalayanenvironmenttrust@gmail.com.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

D.K. SuriDirector Administration

Editorial BoardManinder Kohli (Chairman), Jasmine Hegde (Editor)Rama Goyal, Apoorva Prasad, and Dr. Anil Ghutto

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Himalayan Environment TrustThe Legend Inn, E4, East of Kailash, New Delhi 110065 India

http://www.himalayanenvironment.org/

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