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THE S0C I 0-EC0N0t'1t C I t'lPACT 0F T0UR I St'1 IN THE KHUI'IBU REG ION OF NEPAL by S. E. Abbott A Pract i cum Subm i tted ln Partial Fulfi I ìment of the Requirements for the Degree, l,lasters of Natura ì Resources l,lanagement Natural Resources lnstitute The Un ivers i ty of I'lan i toba Wi nn i peg, I'lan i toba, Canada December, I 984 rrsocio-Economic Impact of Tourism in the Khumbu Region of Nepal. " Sharon E. Abbott A practicum submitteri to t-he IìacrrLty of Graduate Stucl ies of thr: Univcr:si.cy of Ì'f¿rniroba in ¡rirrti.al fulfillnrent of tirt: reqrri rr: rr:tnt:; of. Llte dc¡¡,r--trc of Master of Natural Resources Management. 01985 Per:rniss ion h¿is been granted to tlte I,IBIìARY OF TIIE UNIVERSITY OI¡ I'l^NI'lOIlA co Iend or sell coPies oi'tltis practicrlm, Lo ttrr: il¡\TIONAL i,IIIRAIìY OF CANADA to nricrof ilm ttris practictrm ¡rrrd to Lcncl or: sell copies of the f iI.nr, ¿nd UNIVEIISITY ÞlICRO- FII-¡lS ¿ç pr.rbl.i¡;li ¿rn abstract of this irracticr.rnt. 'llic ¿rrr',:ìror rc..rcrves otlìer lttrblication rigirt-.s, and neither tlrc prac:ticr.rrn tìo¡: exLcrìsi.vc c;.:tr.-¡ìcts f ¡onr i.t nral' br: ¡rint-ed or otlìcìru'isc rcprclcÌtrced wi.Lhorrt [ìro ¡tt¡thor's 1>ci'ntl'-ss;iorl. ABSTRACT Tourism in the Khumbu (Hount Everest) region has grown in popularity over the ìast 20 years. This growth has had significant impact on the traditional economy and lifestyìe of the local people, the Sherpas. The tourist traffic has also increased the use of natural resources in the area, especial ly the forests for fuelwood. The Sherpas depend on this resource as a source of energy for cooking. Some major historical events have caused change in Sherpa soc i ety. The growth i n tour i sm, wh i ch repl aced trade as a major source of income, was one such event. ln 1959 the Chinese occupation of Tibet put a halt to one of the Sherpas' traditional income sources, trans-Himalayan barter trade. 0ther historicaì events initiated the deforestation problem in the Khumbu. The national ization of Nepaìese forests in 1956 and a population increase in 1959 played a major role in the developing envÌronmental probìems. Tourism has had both positive and negative impacts in the Khumbu reg i on. Because of the i nternat iona ì awareness I'lount Everest and the Himaìayas have generated, foreign aid has been made avai lable and the environmental degradation of the Khumbu has become a major concern for international agencies (UNESC0) and other governments. New Zealand has an interest in the Himalayas because of Sir Edmund Hillary's infìuence in heìping to estabì ish a national park in 1975. The lndian government has expressed concern over the deforestation in the Himalayas and the resultant flooding and siltation occurring along the Ganges River in lndia. It is concìuded that although tourism has contributed to the recent depletion of the forests in the Khumbu area, it has been benef icial in other \^/ays. Tourism has replaced a depressed traditionaì economic activity (trade) and has aided in the deveìopment of resource management programs to address the serious environmental problems. ltl AC KNOI.JL E DG E¡/lE NTS ln recognition of the guidance provided in the prepara- tion of this practicum, I wish to thank my committee advi sors: Professor Herb Lapp, Department of Agr i cuì turaì Eng i neer i ng, Un ivers i ty of ltlan i toba; Laxman Tr i pathy, Hanitoba Department of Agriculture; Onno Kremers, Socio-Eco- nomic Research, Parks Canada; and David Wi tty of Hi lderman, Witty, Crosby, Hanna E Associates. I a I so extend my thanks to my co ì ì eague, l'1 i ngma Norbu Sherpa for his time and patience and to the staff of the Natura I Resource I nst i tute for the i r gu i dance. IV CONTENTS ABSTRACT tt AC KNOWL E DG E¡4E NTS IV Chapter page I NTRODUCT I ON .t THE PROBLET4 AND ITS SETTING I lntroduction and Problem Statement I lntroduction to the Study Area 3 lmportance of the Study 6 RES EARCH OBJ ECT I VES 7 DEL ll'l rTAT I 0NS 8 ASS UI.IPTIONS OF THE STUDY I RES EARCH I'lETHODOLOGY 9 KHU¡lBU REG ION t0 PHYS I CAL SETT I NG l0 SO I LS AND VEGETAT I ON r3 III. TRADITIONAL ECONOI'IIC BASE 15 AGR I CULTURE AND AN II'1AL HUSBANDRY 5 PRE- I 960 SHERPA TRAD I NG I NDUSTRY 8 IV. I4OUNTA INEER ING AND TOUR ISI'1 .23 KHUI'IBU - I4OUNT EVEREST .23 SHERPA EI4PLOYI4ENT IN I4OUNTAIN EXPEDITIONS . 2l+ V ECONOI4I C CHANGES .27 CHANGES IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR .27 CHANGES I N THE TRADE SECTOR . 3r GROI.ITH OF TOUR ISI4 .3\ VI. POLITICAL CHANGES .46 PANCHAYAT SYSTE¡1 46 CONTROL OF FORESTS AND GRAZING LAND t+7 I I'IPACT OF TOUR I SI4 ON LOCAL POL IT I CS t+9 VII. SOCIAL CHANGES . 5ì WESTERNIZATION . 5l F AI'1I LY UN I T .5\ SOC I AL ACCEPTAB I L I TY OF TOUR I STS .57 VI I I. LAND DEGRADATION .59 H I LL REG I ONS OF NEPAL 59 KHU¡4BU AREA 6l IX. I'lANAGEI'lENT RESPONSES 65 SO I L AND WATER CONSERVAT I ON 65 SAGARI'IATHA NAT I ONAL PARK 67 F OREST NAT I ONAL I ZAT I ON ACT AI'lENDI'lENT 69 REFORESTATION AND ALTERNATE ENERGY D EVE LOPI'IE NT . 73 NAT I ONAL CONSERVAT I ON STRATEGY .76 X coNcLUS l0Ns AND t'IANAGEt'lENT RECot'lt'lENDAT l0NS 78 coNcLUs I 0Ns 78 I'IANAG EI'lENT RE COI'1I'1ENDAT I ONS 8r Hanagement of Ecological Problems 8¡ l4anagement of Social/Pol iticaì Problems 8¡ llanagement of Economic Probìems 88 Summary of Recommendations 90 BIBLIOGRAPHY .92 L I ST OF TABLES Tabìe page I.S I . NEPAL TOUR IS¡1 EARN INGS .35 2. ASSTSTANCE REQUIRED F0R TWo i40UNTAlN EXPEDITIONS . 4l 3. AVERAGE DA I LY WAGES .\2 - vrt LIST OF FIGURTS F igure page I . LOCAT I ON OF THE KHUI'IBU REG ION .il 2. KHUI'1BU REG ION .12 3. SUBS r STENCE AGR r CULTURAL SYSTE¡{ .28 4. TRANS I T I ONAL AGR I CULTURAL SYSTEI4 .28 5. V I S ITORS TO SAGARI'IATHA NAT I ONAL PARK .36 6. KHUI.IBU VILLAGES AND TOURIST FLOI.J IN SAGART4ATHA NAT I ONAL PARK 38 - vrtt - GLOSSARY OF TERI,IS Crore -Nepalese currency, ì crore=ì0,000,000 Rupees =us 562 t , I 18. (¡tov. '84) Cum -a Weìsh variation of the term coomb or c i rque mean i n a bowl-shaped hol low on a mountain side Dalai Lama -the great master of the Tibetan Buddh i s ts DNPWC -acronym for the Nepaìese Department of National Parks and W¡ìdìife Conservation Gembu -a Sherpa officiaì Gompa -a Buddh i st temp I e Khumbu -the area in the Eastern Himaìayas extending between the Tingri District of Tibet to the junction of the Dudh Kosi and Bhote Kosi Kos i -Sherpa term for river Lak -Nepalese currêñc/r I Lak=100,000 Rupees =uS 56,2tt.(Nov.'84) Nangpa La -one of the few mountain passes between Nepal and Tibet, it is ìocated at an elevation of 5,800 metres and is in the homeland of the Sherpas 0sho Naua -vi I lage official responsible for the control of grazing land near Sherpa vi I lages Panchaya ts -form the basic units of government i n Nepa'l , the panchayat system is compr i sed of four I eveì s -vi I I age, district, zonal, and national Porters -Nepalese, usual ly Sherpas, employed to carry equipment and suppl ies for mountain expeditions and trekking parties Rupee -Nepa I ese currency, Rs. I 6. l0 us $l (Nov. '84) Sherpas -a Nepa I ese tr i ba I group of T i betan ix - orrgrn Sh i ngo Naua -vilìage of f icials responsible for guarding the forested land S i rdar -head porter, supervi sor Tera i -lowlands of Nepal Trekk i ng -touring on foot, hiking Yak - I ong-ha i red bov i ne typ i ca ì of Tibetan and other highlands of Central Asia Yer sa -Sherpa term for summer settlements P I ace Names Khumbu D i ngboche, Khumj ung, Khunde, Namche Bazaar, Pangboche, Phortse, Thyangboche (rig.7¡ T i betan Kyabrak, Lhasa, Rongbuk, Tingri (rig.l e 2) Benga ì Darjeeì ing (Fig.l) Chapter I I NTRODUCT I ON ].] THE PROBLE¡l AND ITS SETTING l.l.l lntroduction and Probìem Statement The impact of tourism in developing countries is often significant because of the social, economic, and cultural differences between the tourists and the local popuìation. Besides these social disparities, tourism can a I so cause changes i n the phys i ca I env i ronment . Tourism development poses special ecological probìems not encountered in other types of economic activity. The envi ronmental resources rexpìoi ted' for tour i sm attract v i s i tors because of the i r outstand i ng beauty, recrea- tional possibi I ities or educational interest. Develop- ment must not destroy the scenic or biotic values that originalìy cause tourists to visit [these areas].