sign in sign up
<<
Home , Llama, Yak

An untapped potential for cooperation in science and technology for mountain conservation and sustainable development: The case of the and the Alejandro Camino Mountain Forum Secretariat 2002 [email protected]

Keywords: sustainable mountain development, natural resources, , traditional knowledge, science, technology, Andes, Himalayas.

Abstract

The Andes and the Himalayas are the two most massive and extended mountain ecosystems in the world. Despite some important geographical differences between them, they share many commonalities. In addition, they have both witnessed the development of ancient and complex civilizations and are currently inhabited by rural communities that carry an ancient heritage including traditional patterns of management of natural resources.

In the past the great geographical and cultural distances between both regions precluded the possibilities of information exchanges, less so cooperation. The contemporary facilities of information and communication technologies have shortened those distances thus opening the possibilities for exchanges of information and experiences, thus facilitating a novel breakthrough in so called "horizontal cooperation".

This paper discussed the major similarities and differences between both mountain regions and attempts to identify several areas with prospects for a fruitful cooperation in the areas of science, technology, culture and commerce. Examples of effective and beneficial cooperation are presented in the fields of mountain agriculture and development, cottage industries, decentralized renewable energies, tourism, risk engineering, etc.

It also explains in which way this "mountain to mountain" cooperation and exchange could benefit and enrich the drives from the public and private sectors to protect these biodiversity-rich and singular ecosystems, as well as their cultural heritages, while offering creative and mountain-adapted responses to the challenges of the future. Finally, it suggests how to move forward to promote this type of cooperation. 1. Potential and benefits from South-South, Mountain-to-Mountain Cooperation and Exchange

Despite their geographical distance and different cultural roots, the South American Andes and the Asian Hindu-Kush Himalayas share many commonalities, as this paper will attempt at identifying. Based on a comparative approach to the somehow similar environmental and socio-cultural challenges that both regions confront, I will argue on the potential benefits that could result from promoting mutual knowledge and enhancing cooperative action-oriented research for conservation and sustainable development. Learning from each other's limitations and potentials, as well as from experiences in dealing with them, will result in mutual benefits. Furthermore, strengthening the interactions between both regions may open up the doors for cooperation and exchange in science and technology, and particularly in addressing crucial conservation and development issues. This cross-fertilization between the biggest mountain regions in the world will contribute in identifying successful experiences worth sharing. Also, pro-active interaction of human resources and mutual knowledge and sharing of our natural resources may help in improving the livelihood of mountain communities.

In addition, I will argue that international technical cooperation is of mutual benefit to both, recipient and provider. International aid may also be a good business for the supplier since technical inputs and resources provided to the recipient usually constitute paid services. As such, these services can also contribute in the dynamism of the economy of the provider while bettering the prospects for sustainable development of the recipient. In the currently liberalized market economy, technical sub-contractors whose services are paid -partially or fully- by a donor agency, provide most of the aid given by the more developed countries. Thus, for example, the fruitful Swiss projects to improve manufacturing in both mountain regions, was accomplished through Swiss technicians who were paid for their services. Private groups under contracts with bilateral development agencies have done some important dissemination of solar energy in the less developed mountain regions. In some cases, the beneficiary country provides a financial counterpart to the technical and financial aid program offered by the developed country.

Nowadays, most less developed countries have well trained professionals in many development-relevant technical fields; however these usually face difficulty in finding jobs in their own countries. Many of them end up hired by development agencies from the north to implement projects in countries different from their own. It is quite unfortunate that in order for them to apply their know-how towards development abroad, they usually serve the aid agencies from the north as one of their few employment options. Few less developed countries have established institutional mechanisms to make their know-how available to other regions where it may be needed. This is the case of Brazil, which provides technical aid -usually linked to commerce, to Portuguese speaking Africa. However, it should not come as a surprise that one may find North American experts on breeding exploring the potential of the Himalayan yak in the South American highlands, or that European experts on the nutritional values of a traditional Andean legume Lupinus mutabilis are now promoting its cultivation in Africa. The New Zealand breeder attempting to introduce this species in Asia overrides the expertise gained over 5,000 years by the pastoral camelid herders of the Andes, certainly at an increased cost.

Northern, Central and Southern Andes (from Stone, P.B. 1992: 189)

The socio-economic conditions of the Andes and the Hindu-Kush Himalayan regions are certainly much closer than what any of these two regions may be to the or the . Much more is shared in terms of socio- economic conditions between shifting cultivators from South East Asia and those from the Andean headwaters of the Amazon, than between these two and the temperate farmers of the northern latitudes. It is thus more sensible and viable to attempt -for example- to transfer a successful experience of small hydro-power development from the Himalayas into the Andes, than from Austria into . South-south cooperation, as it was traditionally called a decade ago, may offer the potential beneficiaries a more realistic and pragmatic option. In this way, for example, the experience of social mobilization to restore the monumental historical heritage of the ancient city of Bhaktapur in could prove a much more feasible strategy for preservation of the cultural and historical heritage of the highland historic city of Lampa (), than any other successful story of salvaging the heritage of a Spanish medieval town.

II. The Andes and the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas: differences and commonalities.

The Andes and the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas are the most massive mountain complexes of the planet. In many aspects they share important similarities, though substantial differences need also to be pointed out. Let's examine some important differences and similarities at the bio-geographical and socio- cultural dimensions.

While the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas run in an East- West direction, along the northern hemisphere's subtropical belt, the Andean ranges extend over 7,000 kms, from the extreme southern latitudes of , to the heart of the tropics. This factor sets a fundamental bio-geographical difference. The Himalayas are thus affected by seasonality, something that in the Andes is just restricted to its southern portion. The tropical Central Andes, the main massive mountain portion of South America, and that which became a cradle of civilization and of plant and , is, in any case, just subject to a alternate dry and a rainy seasons. In this paper we will concentrate in this part of the Andes. As I will illustrate later, cooperation between this central sector of the Andes and the Hindu-Kush Himalaya has an untapped potential.

The above-mentioned bio-geographical dimension marks a substantial difference in the traditional subsistence systems that evolved in both mountain regions. In the Himalayas severe winter preclude utilization of the upper landscape forcing yak herders to store hay and move their to lower areas during winter. In the central Andes, below the permanent glacier snowline (at aprox. 4,900 mts. a.s.l.), the land remains free from snow throughout the year (snow fallen during a night snow storm will melt under the tropical sun in the following day). As far as water is available, below the upland rangelands where Andean camelids are bred, farming can be conducted almost year round. . A cross-section of the vegetation belts along the western slope of the tropical Andes (from Messerli, B. and J. Ives 1997:286)

Another significant bio-geographical difference is that created by the surrounding biomes. The Himalayas are framed in the South by the watershed plains subject to seasonal monsoons and in the North by the dry high to the North. In the Andes, these conditions are reversed. An arid narrow coastline on their Pacific piedmont frames the Central Andes to the West. To the East, the always-humid Amazonian rainforests drains its upper watershed. The fact that this portion of the Andes is located in the tropics also accounts for higher levels of biodiversity and endemism. In the Himalayas, biodiversity increases to the East, as the ranges gradually drop into the tropical watersheds of South East Asia. These factors also explain the enhanced processes of plant domestication that characterized the tropical Andes, and the high levels of agricultural productivity attained by pre-Columbian agrarian civilizations. However, while the Andean is a tradition of intensive horticulture based on vegeculture1, the Indo-Kush Himalaya is characterized by the dominance of seed crops. Due to its location in the tropical belt, despite the many restrictions to agricultural development, the Andes witnessed the emergence of an "agro-centric" civilization" (Greslou et. al. 1991) with a record number of domesticates (over 120 species) and highly productive agro- ecosystems geared to surplus production. In addition to its wealth in precious metals, that which struck European invaders the most was the enormous accumulated food and cloth surpluses kept in the royal deposits of the . 1Vegeculture: an horticultural system based on vegetative reproduction of root and tuber crops (Sauer 1969).

Furthermore, as researchers have noted more recently, Andean agro-pastoral systems are fully designed to boost diversification at every level. This also helps in explaining the immense species diversity that characterizes each crop (potatoes, with over 5,000 varieties, for example). This pattern of diversification in garden-like terrace farming of associated crops also stands in contrast with the stronger mono-crop orientation of the Himalayan fields.

Geomorphology also presents important differences. Despite the height of its peaks and the parallel layout of its several ranges, the Andes are rather narrow (600kms. at their widest transect) when compared to the Himalayan massif and their projection throughout the extended Tibetan plateau. Despite the long- range routes of yak, and caravans, who characterized the Asian central highlands trade networks, exchanges between diverse ecological niches were intense. In the Andes caravans could move back and forth products from the Amazonian rainforest to the Pacific coastline in less than two month, thus making access to the diversity of niches much more readily available.

Though the above listed differences between the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya and the Central Andes are significant and had a principal impact in the development of the somehow different subsistence systems, several important parallelisms and similarities merit a more careful comparison.

Many specificities are generic characteristics of mountain environments (Jodha 1997; Gurung 2002) and are thus shared by these two massive mountain ecosystems. In both cases, the importance of altitudinal variations in plant and animal life imprints the diversified subsistence strategies that evolved in them. In both, access to multiple altitudinal levels played a key role in the utilization of natural resources along the vertical scale. Fragility in terms of limitations for subsistence activities as related to lower productivity, as well as the associated increased risks in securing a sustainable livelihood is a second common aspect. On the other hand, niche diversification -an important dimension in the development of mountain agro-pastoral systems- has also played similar roles in both environments.

However, when it comes to the socio-cultural dimensions we may at first advert some important differences between both regions. On one hand an ancient cultural complex resulting from intense human interactions from Eastern and Western traditions, as well as from those coming from the North and South, gradually yielded a distinctive indigenous Himalayan mountain cultural pattern. In it, different degrees of fusion of animisms, Hinduism and Buddhism mark an indelible imprint. The Hindu-Kush-Himalayas cultures were strongly influenced by the major civilizations to their north and southern borders. On the other hand, in the Andes, a pristine indigenous Andean civilization of Amerindian stock evolved independently over 20,000 years. Despite some quite original cultural processes that took place in the arid Pacific coastal and the Amazonian floodplains, the Andes became the effective center of culture and power. In the XVI century this highland civilization was severely traumatized by a violent European conquest, followed by 300 hundred years of colonial rule.

Transectional view of the Himalayas showing the three important thrusts and the latitudinal belts (Source: Daniel Vuichard, Institute of Mineralogy, University of Berne. Topography modified after W.J.H. Ramsey. From Stone, Peter 1992:97)

Conspicuous to most mountain environments are rich cultural heritages and highly diversified ethnic mosaics. Despite the different ideological complexes of their cultural traditions -though both share common ancient roots of shamanistic nature, mountain deities and natural manifestations of the divine have a dominant presence in the daily life of people. Both traditions evolved into pre-industrial and highly hierarchical theocratic hierarchical states with complex civilizations based on a peasant contingent. In the Asian mountain habitats several religious traditions blended into complex religious forms. In the Andes a divine theocracy built over ancient animistic traditions was forced into Christianity, resulting in an equally complex blend.

III. An untapped potential for cooperation in science and technology, trade and cultural exchange.

In recent years anthropologists, geographers and others have attempted some preliminary comparisons of both mountain regions, focusing on some specific subject areas such as agricultural systems, pastoral economies, rural development, etc. (Camino 1976; Rhoades 1999; Denniston 1995). However, most of these have resulted from research with a predominantly academic scope. Little has been done in terms of exploring the benefits of sharing and cooperation as a mechanism to improve livelihoods or offer development alternatives.

Since 1991 some researchers involved in development planning and implementation started identifying some areas where sharing of experiences and information, as well as human resources could offer some innovative and promising alternatives. These concerns gave birth in Peru to the HimalAndes Initiative, a program aimed at promoting cooperation between both regions by identifying areas of potentially mutual benefit. In 1992 the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development headquartered in Nepal made some preliminary explorations on some options for exchanges in mountain crops and livestock (Camino and Sumar 1992; Jodha, N.S. et.al. 1992). In 1997 the CGIAR, under the lead of the International Potato Center, established the Global Mountain Program to provide a system-wide focal point for research on global mountain environments. This program included a component aimed at promoting integrated watershed development and alternative livelihood opportunities. By then the Mountain Forum, a global network of networks concerned with information sharing, mutual support and advocacy for mountain conservation and sustainable development, was actively promoting information exchange throughout the mountain regions of the world. Two years later the HimalAndes Initiative organized the first Andes-Himalayas cooperation workshop (Kathmandu, Nov. 29-Dec. 2, 1999), which brought together development officers from both the Andean and the Himalayan countries.

Based on these precedents and particularly on the identification work conducted by the HimalAndes Initiative, I will proceed in identifying some areas with a significant potential for exchanges and cooperation between the Andean and Himalayan countries.

1. Mountain Crops and farming systems: exchange of experiences, technologies, and resources.

Mountain Crops

The Andes and the Himalayas harbor an immense genetic wealth. Both regions are rich in biodiversity and endemism and abound in wild relatives of world important crops. Cooperation for germ-plasm conservation and crop exchange and improvement between the two regions could yield very positive outcomes with substantial impacts to improve the livelihoods of mountain farmers as well as of mankind.

Since 1991, the HimalAndes Initiative started promoting some preliminary trial experiences of highland native crops from one habitat into the other. Two traditional Andean crops, oca (Oxalis tuberosa) and quinua (Chenopodium quinoa) were already being experimented in Uttar Pradesh (India). Nepalese upland rice varieties and buckwheat were sowed experimentally in Cajamarca, Peru. The Tibetan Academy of Agricultural and Animal Sciences continues experimenting with Andean crops in the Tibetan plateau. Most experiences are conducted under strict control to avoid the potential risks associated to the introduction of foreign species into a new environment. Thus, all initiative in this area require throughout assessment and regular evaluation regarding their potential environmental and socio-cultural impacts.

Since the XVI century many crops of European origin (such as wheat, barley, broad beans, etc.) were gradually incorporated into the Andean agro- ecosystem with contrasting results. In the Himalayas, potatoes and corn have now been sowed for over three hundred years. Potato has become a most important food crop, and in some cases such as Bhutan, a major export crop. But, in spite of those introductions and the expansion of their cultivation, the full potential of those crops has not been fully realized in their new habitats, and thus, some highly nutritious crops of Andean origin are predominantly used in the Himalayas to feed domestic animals. As important as the introduction of promising crops and their associated agricultural technologies, is the transference of the native knowledge related to the use and the nourishing values of the introduced specie, including and their varied culinary uses.

The potential of rice and fish farming for the eastern Andes

In the case of agriculture, these potentials are not just limited to the crops. In some cases complex mountain agricultural technologies may have a promising prospect in a new highland environment. This could be the case of the old Asian tradition of rice and fish farming.

The ancient systems of paddy rice cultivation in Asia are usually part of a more complex strategy of diversification through cultivation of associated crops (rice, soy bean, vegetables, etc.), sometimes combined with several kinds of fish farming practices (, fishes, eels). Those labor-intensive agro- ecological systems evolved in response to growing population pressure over limited agricultural land, as part of a trend of intensification and diversification.

Management of those complex agro-ecosystems with aquaculture may also incorporate, in a symbiotic pattern, the raising of ducks and . These options aimed at diversification evolved in a context of a peasant economy where the drive for self-sufficiency had to also respond to state demands for surplus production. During the last decades, scientific research in South East Asia has revalued those systems, promoting their potential, improving their productivity, and linking them with a dynamic and demanding market economy. It has also been demonstrated that the traditional fish-and-rice technology increases rice productivity, yields substantial amounts of fish protein, diversifies production, reduces the use of agrochemicals and labor inputs, and offers new income opportunities. Rice associated with fish farming offers an alternative to improve the nutritional levels of primarily subsistence peasant families and, in addition, gives an increased value to the overall production of the market-oriented farmer. This technology is based on traditional knowledge and practices, and encompasses an efficient use of energy and of the bio-geochemical cycles. Rice paddy agro-ecosystem development in Asia was a process that took several centuries, in some cases expanding over areas formerly covered with tropical forests. At first the expansion of the rice option severely affected biological diversity and thus, intensified environmental degradation. Gradually, over the centuries, it became a relatively stable, diversified, and highly productive agro-ecosystem. Nowadays, the traditional Asian fish and rice farming systems are being studied and promoted in many places, enriched with a dynamic add of new components and elements. This technology started being introduced successfully into the upland rice paddies of the Central Himalayas during the last 30 years.

In the other side of the world, during recent decades rice monoculture has extensively expanded in the formerly forested tropical slopes of the Eastern Andes. This has happen at the cost of affecting biodiversity, creating an unstable and economically vulnerable ecosystem and causing environmental and social problems. Many Andean people, with an old and rich upland farming tradition but ignorant of rice agricultural options, have abandoned their higher farmlands moving into the cloud forest of upper Amazonia, in the eastern slopes of the Andes. There, tropical rain forests have been cut down, and in precarious hills peasants have started sowing rice as a single crop. In the predominantly unstable eastern Andean slopes, the lack of a rice growing tradition has resulted, among other impacts, in inadequate leveling technologies for rice paddies, accelerating erosive processes and increased soil loss. In the richer valley bottoms, rice plantations with high-tech mono cropping and intensive use of agrochemicals predominate. Concentration on rice has transformed traditional diversified peasant into farmers dependant on a single crop, exposing their fragile economies to market fluctuations and increased land degradation. Valleys are now facing mounting plagues - particularly rodents- and the predominance of a narrow genetic basis of rice species has exposed the crop to innumerable threats. Very clear examples of this trend can be seen in the Mayo and Huallaga valleys, upper tributaries of the Amazon, in the Andean slopes of northeastern Peru.

Most of the Andean highland peasants that migrated and settled in these valleys have become small-scale farmers who depend, in spite of their poor production and low productivity, on rice culture as their major source of food and income. This has resulted in impoverishment and malnutrition. When the rice yields well, their small surpluses are sold to wholesalers, usually at very low prices. Rice cultivation has brought wealth just for a few, poverty for the majority, and irreversible environmental damage throughout the region. The social and environmental problems caused by this promising crop in the eastern slopes of the Andes are well known but not adequately faced. Due to the importance of rice in this region and in the country's economy, agricultural extension agencies have attempted to improve and extend the cultivation of this crop. Those programs have mostly focused on purely conventional agro- economical issues: introduction of new varieties, fertilization techniques, agrochemicals utilization, mechanization, etc. They have never attempted an integral approach in order to develop a productive and diversified rice dominated agro-ecosystem. No one has focused on soil loss control or innovative technologies such as fish and rice farming. However, in the context of favorable climatic conditions and water availability, the introduction and commercial breeding of Malaysian shrimps, independently from rice, is bringing wealth to a few.

In addition to the exponential growth of their predators, the intensification of rice monoculture -a demanding crop in terms of soil nutrients- produces negative impacts on long-term soil fertility. Finally, we must understand the socio-economical context in which rice expansion is taking place: highland immigrants into these lower sloppy regions have come from their impoverished highlands looking for large expanses of "free" land.

Certainly, the replacement of tropical forest for rice culture is not the best option for lands with a clear forestry potential. However, after two decades of its introduction rice has become the predominant crop. Under these circumstances, one alternative is that of increasing stability along with productivity by intensifying land use through proper soil management and increased agro-ecosystems diversification.

The transference of the Asiatic traditional rice and fish technology to environmentally equivalent areas in the South American context may have a great potential and could also help in preserving the Amazonian upper watershed. Rice and fish farming could improve the food production for self- consumption as well as increase cash incomes. Intensifying land use in order to decrease colonization of the Amazon upper tributaries will also diminish the alarming rate of deforestation.

The Asiatic rice and fish agro-ecosystem paddy is a tested alternative for this kind of social and natural environment, an ancient experience that could be adapted to a new but similar context.

2. Mountain Livestock: exchange of experiences, technologies and resources.

The Andean domestic camelids: a potential competitive source of for the Himalayan carpet manufacturing During the evolutionary process of ancient mountain civilizations, plants and animals domestication played an important role in the integral and sustainable use of the limited natural resources of mountain environments.

Quite as potatoes and other native tubers and grains became the nourishing basis of the highland South American population, another key factor in the development of Andean civilization was the domestication of the native camelids. Five thousand years ago, the llama ( glama)-a highly efficient beast of burden for high altitudes- and the alpaca (Lama pacos) -which provides best quality wool-, were domesticated. Thanks to the llama and the yak in the Himalayas, food and goods can be carried over long distances. moved cargo from sea level to highland towns cutting through high glacier pass. However, the yak as a beast of burden is restricted to higher elevations.

In the Andes, due to expansion of roads and modern communications the llama has lost value and their population is severely decreasing. In contrast, in many remote areas of the Himalayas yak caravans still play an important role in trade. However, the yak cannot be taken to lower elevations. Rural people of the Himalayas face difficulties in transporting their agricultural surpluses downhill. In contrast to the versatile llama, yak's health suffers at lower elevations. Due to these factors some have ventured that for these regions the llama could represent an alternative for transportation of goods from highland towns to the lowland road heads. Some regions of the Himalayas need an efficient high altitude beast of burden able to move from highlands to lowlands in order to access the modern roads networks.

Andean domesticated camelids also provided other services: although people there are predominantly vegetarian, their dried resulted in a preserved and nutritious food and their dung is an indispensable and fuel in the absence of firewood.

In the Andes, the alpaca provides the required for cloth, keeping people warm in the high puna, as does and yak wool in the Himalayas. Today, the alpaca is the basis of a competitive wool and garment export industry that provides foreign income to Andean countries. However, in the case of the llama, whose wool is coarse, its fiber has little or no use.

For the last thirty years, several Himalayan countries have seen the flourishing of manufacturing of traditional carpets for the tourist market and exports. For this, Nepal mostly depends on sheep wool imported from Australian and New Zealand.

In the early twenties some long forgotten studies done in Peru on the potential of llama wool identified the llama fiber as ideal wool for carpet manufacture. However carpet manufacturing is not a tradition amongst the superb sweater weavers of the Andes, which base their craft on the softer alpaca wool. Based on these studies, some development officers working in Nepal had suggested the potential of this native South American wool for its use in the manufacturing of the now the famous "Tibetan carpets". These have nowadays become one of the main sources of foreign income of Nepal.

Having identified this potential, the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) headquartered in Nepal, commissioned a feasibility study for the introduction of llamas in the Himalayas (Camino and Sumar 1992). This report assessed the real potential as well as the possible environmental and socio-cultural risks associated with the possible introduction of this specie. Llama wool, not being a commodity in the market, could perhaps compete favorably in both price and quality, with the sheep wool currently used. However to introduce the species to a new habitat, beyond environmental and other risks, was just a first step, and the development of a sizeable production of llama in the Himalayas may take many decades.

On the other hand, an export market for that fiber could represent an alternative income for Andean , the poorest sector in the South American highlands, as well as a survival option for a domestic species facing severe population decline. In addition to its qualities for carpet manufacturing, llama wool may have a very competitive price.

Aware of these mutually beneficial options, the HimalAndes Initiative has elaborated an innovative proposal aimed at creating an export market for llama wool, whose major beneficiaries would be the poor Andean herders. For the carpet manufacturers of the Himalayan countries the llama wool may prove a better option in terms of quality and price.

The HimalAndes Initiative also foresees a potential for an innovative domestic use of llama fiber in the Andes by training the Andean herder/weavers in the art of carpet manufacturing, a foreign tradition with a significant economic potential. Andean people are superb weavers, but the carpet technology is unknown. Andean designs could be incorporated in this technology resulting in a new promising product. This new productive activity could open a market for the fiber of the llama and stop its population from declining.

The Yak: It’s Potential for the High Andes

Four centuries after its introduction, the local Creole of European origin still performs poorly in the Andes. Together with llamas and , sheep, bulls and cows are now an integral component of the mix herds, characteristic of the Andean agro-ecosystem. The introduced "Creole" cattle feed on native highland . These pastures are traditionally used for grazing llamas and alpacas, two native species superbly adapted to the high puna. However these grasslands are not a good option for the introduced species. Most peasants have no possibilities of planting forage because of arable land scarcity. Also, where herders have always roamed the ample native grasslands, growing forage is not a tradition and there is resistance to grow feed for animals.

Low in production, these cattle of European origin provides small quantities of , which may be used to make cheese for local markets. In general, Andean natives do not use the milk directly because they are inheritors of physiological conditions that preclude assimilation of lactose. Likewise, it is difficult to commercialize fresh milk because conditions are very poor. In addition, traditional Andean people are predominantly vegetarian, occasionally eating "cuy" (Guinea , Cavia porcellis) or dry meat from sheep or camelids.

In most cases, rather than for what they poorly produce, introduced cattle is used as a capital reserve, and sold when in need of cash. Despite its low productivity and un-efficiency at higher elevations, introduced cattle are highly valued. Government agencies have invested substantially in improving these introduced species. During the last decades several international cooperation agencies have promote the use of highly productive exotic breeds of cattle (Holstein, Brown Swiss, etc.). At lower elevations they have done well. However, above the 3,800 mts. a.s.l., once the associated programs of technical cooperation are over (particularly those promoting sowing of forage), the introduced varieties usually "degenerate". Very few of these programs have had any success. Nowadays many developers have come to disregard these as an option, in favor of the native camelids, better adapted and more efficient in their ancestral habitat. However, after nearly 500 hundred years of introduction and despite their demerit, cows and bull are much appreciated by local peasant farmers. Highlanders from the Andes are thus in need of an efficient breed of cattle adapted to their high altitude conditions. This option has to show versatility, and have multiple uses, including the option of milk production for the dairy industry, packing for burden transportation, and, to a lesser extent, for meat and hides production.

Looking at its characteristics, the Himalayan yak may likely be an efficient alternative for the Andean peasants at higher elevations. The yak, with more than four thousand years of adaptation to high altitude offers a potentially valuable alternative for the Andes.

In the context of a religious culture that inhibits meat consumption, the yak has been gradually selected for its high quality milk. Thanks to its high fat content, yak milk is ideal for the elaboration of dairy products. In addition, the yak thrives on natural highland grasslands, and it may be possible to obtain good results with the limited pastures available in the Andes. are also a good beast of burden and offer several supplementary products: fiber for manufacturing cloth, a very appetizing meat, for tannery, bones for carving, and dung which can be used as fertilizer and fuel. 3. Conservation and sustainable use of mountain wild natural resources

Both mountain regions have had some important experiences in recovering some animal species from the endangered list (the success story of the Andean wild camelid, the vicuña (Lama ), and in the Himalayas the Tibetan wild (Equus hemionus kiang) and the black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis). Sharing of information on policies as well as on conservation projects that made successes possible could prove valuable.

In the case of industrial utilization of native wild plants based on previous indigenous knowledge of their properties, success stories can be exemplified through many cases. In the Andes the quinine tree (Cinchona officinalis) also introduced in Eastern Himalaya is a case in point. More recently, the most fruitful experiences with Seabuckthorne (Hippophea tibetana) shows its benefits as a soil protecting species, boosting conditions for wildlife recovery, and offering an alternative forage. Its fruits have successfully been industrialization for foods, beverages and medicine. This specie has now been successfully introduced into the southern Andes.

Beyond the potential of mountain vegetal species, the community forestry experience of Nepal has provided guidelines to many other mountain countries were rural communities play a key role in natural resources conservation.

4. Sharing experiences and technologies for mountain cottage industries

On numeral 2 above we discussed the potential of the wool of the Andean llama for the carpet industries of several Himalayan countries. Complementing this exchange, the Himalayan carpet expertise could be taught to the traditional Andean weavers, thus opening possibilities for them to utilize the valuable llama fiber, an underutilized resource.

Both regions have rich craft manufacturing traditions involving weaving, metalworking, woodcarving, and ceramics, amongst other. Many techniques developed in one area, which depend on equivalent resources, could well be taught to the other.

One Himalayan craft whose diffusion in the Andes could bring major benefits to rural populations is that of paper manufacturing from natural . The ancient monastic tradition of manufacturing paper from the bark of the daphne tree, for centuries made these regions self sufficient with regards to this commodity. In recent years, thanks to Japanese technical cooperation, in the government paper factory of the Kingdom of Nepal the traditional technology has been improved and standardize. Nowadays Nepal exports a diversity of hand made paper products and this cottage industry has become an important source of income for many families. Paradoxically, on the other side of the world, where many plant species may prove valuable for this manufacture, the high cost of industrially made paper precludes many rural children from buying copybooks. Craft papermaking is not a traditional craft in the Andes. This could, for example, be a promising area for mountain-to-mountain cooperation. Teaching their traditional expertise to rural Andean communities where there is a dire need for paper for basic use could offer some Nepalese manufacturers a new source of income.

Furthermore, these products can also help in minimizing the problems related to indiscriminate use and disposal of plastic bags, as is happening in several towns and cities of South Asia.

5. Renewable energy for mountain regions.

One of the greatest challenges for both Andean and Himalayan rural communities is access to un-expensive, clean and efficient renewable energy sources. Firewood utilization as household fuel for cooking and heating is restricted due to the shrinking forest resources. Traditionally, people from highland rural communities have also relied on dried dung from camelids or yaks as a source of fuel. This practice prevents dung utilization as fertilizer and, consequently, affects negatively agricultural productivity. Increased dependence on imported fuels results in the draining of the scarce monetary resources with a subsequent negative impact on the family economy.

In recent decades a few mountain villages have implemented a clean and sustainable energy source through micro hydropower generating plants. In both, Andean and Himalayan countries, experiences with small hydropower plants have attained important native developments with original contributions in design and construction. However, not much of the gained knowledge has been shared by far apart mountain countries. This is a promising area for cooperation and exchange of experiences, and even perhaps for developing commercial links.

In addition to the more conventional energetic sources, mountain regions have also been centers for experimentation of alternative and innovative renewable energy technologies. Solar energy for heating and photovoltaic generation, wind generated and geothermal energy are all options with a superb potential in mountain environments. Equally relevant is organic energy generation based on the utilization of human and agricultural wastes. The Andes and the Himalayas have developed notorious -but unfortunately not shared- experiences in all of these modalities.

During 2001 an electronic conference on decentralized solar and small hydropower technologies for energy generation in the HKH region was conducted by the Asia-Pacific node of the Mountain Forum. This organization is aware of the promising perspectives for exchange and cooperation in this area and is currently looking for sponsors to expand the information exchange facilities on this particular subject.

6. Community based eco-tourism for mountain regions: exchange of experiences and expertise

No doubt this is an area of growing potential for cooperation and exchange, beyond the fact that the Andes and the Himalayas now compete in the mountain tourism world market. Some years ago the HimalAndes Initiative promoted the diffusion in the Andes of some successful community-based and environmentally friendly conservation and tourism projects from Nepal, particularly the Annapurna Conservation area projects. Some preliminary proposals for adapting and applying that experience in the Huascaran and Sajama mountain protected areas of Peru and were drafted. More recently, the Mountain Institute's experience for the development of community based tourism in , India has resulted in training courses and manuals that have now been disseminated in some regions of the Andes.

Once again, environmentally friendly and community based tourism successful experiences from both regions should be shared. This idea stands in contrast to the usual favoring of uncritical import of tourism development models from quite different environments and socio-economic contexts. This is an area were both regions could teach and learn from each other.

7. Preservation of historical heritage and cultural revitalization in mountain areas

Both, the Andes and the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya, are rich in cultural heritage and archaeological and historical sites of global importance. This is exemplified by UNESCO's recognition in both regions of several World Heritage Sites. These mountain areas selected for their relevance to mankind usually combine natural with historical and cultural heritage, making their conservation and management a complex challenge. This challenge becomes even bigger in the less developed countries due to lack of financial resources and the demands for basic subsistence priorities from their inhabitants. In these areas conservation has to be dealt innovatively, and requires, in addition to community involvement, ways to assure that the local inhabitants are the immediate beneficiaries.

In both, the Andes and the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas, the most successful experiences in heritage conservation have been those with strong community based participation, focusing on ways in which conservation can better livelihood conditions. It is in this respect that the successful experiences in mountain regions, such as that of the Annapurna Conservation Area program in Nepal or that of the design of the tourism plan for Huascaran National Park and Reserve in the Andes, have much to teach each other. The same could be said of the notable urban heritage of many mountain countries. The restoration of Bhaktapur in Nepal and Cuenca in are good cases in this respect. Historical heritage preservation is a key on conservation of ethnic and national identities.

Conservation of natural and cultural heritage is certainly an area were sharing of experiences could be mutually beneficial.

8. Mining and oil exploration and exploitation in mountain regions: social and environmental impact assessment and management.

The Andes are rich in most minerals, including precious metals, which since remote times have been exploited. During the last part of the past century and until no more than a decade, prospecting and exploitation for oil and minerals had a devastating environmental and social impact in these mountain regions. Rivers, cultivated lands and grasslands were severely contaminated with tailings, some in an irreversible way.

Only recently has strict policies and legislation on oil and minerals prospecting and exploration been enacted. A new expertise has been attained in the Andean countries through the vast experience of developing environmental and social impact evaluations and assessments, as well as mitigation and remediation engineering applications. Experience has also been gained in stakeholders' consultation as well as in developing social programs aimed at making of non renewable resources' exploitation a mechanism to stimulate development in other areas of mountain community livelihoods.

This is another area in which the expertise gained by Andean professionals could be use to train fellows from other mountain regions threatened with the prospects of oil, gas and mineral exploitation.

9. High Altitude Physiology and health related phenomena in mountain environments

Biomedical research on high altitude physiology has been undertaken since several decades in both, the Andes and the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas. In the former, major medical schools specialized in high altitude human physiology developed in Peru since the forties. In the latter biomedical research conducted at higher elevations has focused on physiological stress related to mountaineering. In recent years in the Andes research on high altitude physiology has moved beyond the study of the hypoxia syndrome to the areas of human growth, aging and nutrition. In all cases the emphasis here has not been so much on mountaineering and mountain sports impacts into foreigners venturing at high altitude, but rather on the indigenous mountain population. This is certainly and areas were cooperation and information exchange could help in alleviating the health problems of mountain populations in both regions.

10. Glaciology, lake outburst & gloff, & landscape interventions: Risk management and engineering

In the past years, the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development -ICIMOD- based in Nepal has promoted research and the developed technical guidelines for innovative designs for road construction for mountain areas. The challenge has been on mitigation of adverse environmental impacts on fragile areas, a usual consequence of road construction in slopes. This acquired experience, of utmost relevance to Andean countries, has not been conveyed to others beyond the Himalayan countries. This development in the Asian highlands is happening at a time when road construction is at an all times high in the fragile Andes, were countries are learning from trial and error instead of looking at what has been developed in the Himalayas. Multilateral financing agencies now require environmental impact assessment on road and other major engineering projects; however road construction technologies for mountain areas have not been specifically developed in the Andes.

Study of glacier lakes and the occurrence of flash floods and gloff was a major Andean concern in the fifties. This concern and work was abandoned from the sixties and until recently. Meanwhile, an inverse process takes place in the Himalayan region, where ICIMOD is now leading these efforts from a regional perspective.

These are two areas of much significance for the two mountain regions. Information exchange and collaboration on these subjects could help countries in modeling more sound investments in public infrastructure, and perhaps saving thousands of lives.

11. Sharing experiences in dissemination of Information and Communication Technologies in Mountain regions

Information and Communications Technologies have become a crucial tool in facilitating access to and sharing of information. Mountain regions have witnessed the emergence of a unique and innovative network of networks, the Mountain Forum, which has provided a global communication platform to promote information sharing, mutual support and advocacy. With over 3,000 individual and 200 institutional members from over 100 countries, the MF serves as a means of linking all those who lives, works and interests are concerned with mountains. Through regular postings and organized electronic workshops and conferences, information and experiences are exchanged between the different mountain regions of the world. A growing challenge of the network is that of reaching the remote mountain communities worldwide, and the use of local languages in electronic communications.

Events bringing together mountain researchers, policy makers, developers and stakeholder in the broadest sense have become more and more common. A breakthrough in this direction was the first International Workshop on Andes- Himalayas Cooperation for Conservation and Sustainable Development organized by the HimalAndes Initiative in Kathmandu in November 1999 (Iniciativa HimalAndes 2001).

The current year declared by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year of Mountains is promoting increased awareness on the global mountain agenda and will likely bring an unprecedented wave of cooperation between mountain regions world wide.

12. International binding agreements regarding mountain regions.

The past decades several regional agreements and international conventions dealing with development and environmental issues have been approved at several levels. A landmark in this process was the Agenda 21 launched during the Rio de Janeiro World Summit on Sustainable Development in 1992. In this document of global relevance Chapter 13 is dedicated to the crucial issues of mountain conservation and sustainable development.

In addition, many other agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Montreal Protocol on ozone depletion, amongst other, have direct implications for mountain environments and their inhabitants. Joint lobbying of mountain stakeholders to assure that their voices are heard has become an important factor for the future of these regions. Being the Andes and the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas the world's most important mountain regions, consultations and cooperation between representatives from both regions is crucial in assuring beneficial outcomes for the environments and human communities that make their living in these higher regions. One of the expected outcomes from the International Year of Mountains is likely to be regional and global binding agreements dealing with mountain issues. Time has come for both regions to closely coordinate on these issues of mutual relevance.

IV. Crystallizing and operational zing mountain-to-mountain cooperation

As argued and substantiated in this paper, the areas for potentially mutual beneficial cooperation between the Andes and the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya are many and the prospects are most promising. However, as with any innovative initiative and particularly one attempting to bridge almost un-contacted worlds, the task is going to be arduous and the difficulties many. To start with, countries from both regions are distant, speak different languages and have little or no relations. Secondly, the dominant pattern of international cooperation is dominated by a north-south direction, a fact that, in addition, is linked to the trends of financial aid. Promoting cooperation between the Andes and the Himalayas defies the dominant "technical" cooperation providers' paradigm, and, moreover, the bilateral and multilateral funding that pays their way.

It is most unlikely that governments from the less developed countries in mountain regions, trapped in their bureaucratic tangles and their obsequiousness to international aid, will challenge the dominant concepts. At that level individuals may bring in new and interesting ideas, most likely to end up clashing with the establishment of the international cooperation parameters.

On the other hand, the NGO community may be freer to think independently and creatively. Nevertheless, they are also quite dependant on the financial support from donors of the north, though some of these are open to innovative ideas. Most development workers in the NGO community have a rather narrow view and their know-how was built on local experiences with little or no chance to contrast these in the perspective of what happens in distant though similar environments. However, it is perhaps in this milieu where chances of introducing new concepts may have the best repercussions.

We should not expect much from either universities or research centers in their more conventional studies, whose paradigms are usually dictated by a purely academic concern. However, when brought into a new perspective they could turn into a powerful tool. The science and technology environment in our countries has become increasingly committed with finding solutions to the daily problems of the rural communities, as part of their growing awareness of their countries needs.

The private corporate sector of third world countries may eventually be an ally in this endeavor, particularly if through these connections and exchanges business opportunities open up. It could for example be to the advantage of the many producers of solar heaters in Nepal to find a new market for their products in the Andes, as much as it will be for the llama herders to sell their wool to carpet manufacturers in Asia.

At this point the best way to go about is on a case-by-case strategy, where once identified the areas of potential mutual benefit, interested partners are then provided with the basic tools to further explore the prospects for cooperation and exchange. This mountain-to-mountain cooperation will come out naturally from increased information exchange and proactive networking using the expanding information and communication technologies. This can be sought through increase utilization of the electronic communication facilities of the Mountain Forum (www.mtnforum.org). A second step is that of getting involved in the design and implementation of conservation and sustainable development projects based on mountain-to- mountain cooperation and exchange. Some organizations are in the capacity to help in this process and provide some tools and connections in one and the other area: the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (www.icimod.org.np) the HimalAndes Initiative (http://himalandes.perucultural.org.pe), the Mountain Institute (www.mountain.org), the Global Mountain Program hosted at the International Potato Center ([email protected]), the United Nations University's Environment and Sustainable development Program ([email protected]), amongst a few others.

Proposals and projects should aim at involving several sectors: community based organizations, NGOs, governments, universities, the private corporate sector, etc. This will assure the increased dissemination of the concept that mountain-to-mountain cooperation is worth pursuing.

Finally, commit donors to open in their conceptual schemes and paradigms, and to support and invest in these innovative projects. South-south cooperation has been voiced so many times, but so little has been done.

Finally, think creatively, challenge your mind frame and explore further into what we could learn from each other. The challenge is as big as the mountains. However, time and again committed individuals and institutions have been able to move them well beyond their dreams.

Kathmandu, April 2002

Bibliography

Traditional Agriculture in the Central Andes: An ethnobotanical approach. A Comparison with the Himalayas. Research paper Camino, 1976 presented as partial fulfillment for Candidacy Requirements. Alejandro Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (mimeo). Camino, The Andean Camelids, Llama and Alpaca. The Potentials and Alejandro and J. 1992 Prerequisites for Introducing these Animals into Other Mountain Sumar Environments. ICIMOD, MFS Discussion Paper No. 33. Kathmandu. Enfoque sistemico de cuencas: una propuesta metodologica para CCTA 1980 los ecosistemas de alta montaña en el Perú. Lima. El agroecosistema andino, Problemas, Limitaciones CIP 1993 Perspectivas. Lima. High Priorities: Conserving Mountain Ecosystems and Cultures. Denniston, D. 1995 123. World Watch Institute, Washington, D.C. Greslou, 1991 Cultura Andina Agrocentrica. PRATEC, Lima. Francois, et.al Hermann, et. al. 1996 Andean roots and tubers. CIP,IPK,IPGRI. Rome, Italy Taller Internacional HimalAndes. Promoviendo la Cooperacion Iniciativa para Conservar la Biodiversidad y el Desarrollo Rural Sostenible 2001 HimalAndes en Ecosistemas de Montana: el Caso de los Andes y los Himalayas (Kathmandu, Nepal. Nov. 29-Dic. 2, 1999). Lima. Jodha, N.S., Sustainable Mountain Agriculture. (2 vols.) and IBH Banskota, M. 1992 Publishing, New Delhi. and Partap, T. Messerli, B. and Mountains of the World. A global priority. The Parthenon 1997 J.D. Ives (eds.) Publishing Group. London PPEA-Pratec 1989 Manejo de semillas en los Andes. Lima. Proyecto de Tecnologias 1988 Tecnologias Campesinas de los Andes. Ed. Horizonte, Lima Campesinas - CEPIA Rengifo, Saber local y la conservacion de la agrobiodiversidad andino- 2002 Grimaldo amazonica. Pratec. Proyecto In situ. Lima. "Mountain Research and Development in the 21st Century: the Need for a New Paradigm", in: Chhetri, Ram B. et.al. Rhoades, Robert 1999 Anthropology and sociology of Nepal. Cultures, Societies, Ecology and Development. Sociological and Anthropological Soiciety of Nepal, Kathmandu. Sauer, Carl O. 1969 Land and Life. University of Press, Berkeley. Tapia Mario 1996 Cultivos Andinos Subexplotados, FAO. Santiago de . Tapia, Mario 1996 Ecodesarrollo en los Andes Altos. Fundacion F. Ebert. Lima. Tapia, Mario 1999 Agrobiodiversidad en los Andes. Fundacion F. Ebert. Lima. Tapia, Mario y Produccion y manejo de forrajes en los Andes del Perú. UNSCH, 1987 Cesar Ruiz Proyecto Pisa, INIPA:, Lima. Stone, Peter State of the World Mountains. A global Report. Zed Books Ltd., 1992 B.(ed.) London.

______

Notes to readers

This paper was originally presented at the International Seminar on Mountains (ISM), Kathmandu, Nepal. 6-8 March 2002. The Seminar was organized by the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST) in cooperation with Ev-K2-CNR, Italy and co- sponsored by ICIMOD, IUCN, KMTNC, SDC and WWF.

The Mountain Forum would like to thank Dr. Dinesh R. Bhuju, Organizing Secretary of the ISM for permission to include this paper on the Mountain Forum Online Library.