<figure><img width="2969" height="2370" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238619c7e80680e0c7381jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Lisa Choegyal shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth at the British Embassy in Kathmandu during the 1986 royal visit. Col Jimmy Roberts is at left. </figcaption></figure>It is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-marks-the-yen-ya-festival/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Indra Jatra</a> in Basantapur but in Britain, the Queen is dead. Through an early September cloudburst we navigate the uneven flag-stoned narrow streets around Om Bahal.Water drips down my collar, drenched awnings hang limp and locals shelter in the shopfronts amidst an air of anticipation. Not far away, the elaborate chariots are assembled ready to parade Ganesh, Bhairava and the Kumari through Kathmandu and Hanuman Dhoka.The ancient annual outing of the living goddess is the culmination of the spectacular Indra Jatra festival attended by masked dancers, musical bands, tantric priests, devotees and foreign onlookers. It marks the end of the monsoon rain to ensure a good harvest and seeks protection from the deity Indra, the temperamental ruler of heaven.Kathmandu’s Kumari used to be royal, venerated by the Shah kings, but since the end of Nepal’s monarchy and the advent of the federal republic, it is today’s political leaders who lead the reverence in lieu of her former regal patrons.But in Britain, despite all odds, the monarchy endures. <figure><img width="2667" height="2134" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238649c7e80680e0c7382jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The sudden death of Queen Elizabeth and the transition to King Charles has rocked Britain, the Commonwealth and indeed the world over the last week. Even the Downing Street switch just two days earlier to a new Prime Minister was eclipsed by a nation engulfed with grief. We make our way through the flooded streets to sign the condolence book at the British Embassy – everyone is dressed in sombre black and President Bidya Devi Bhandari has arrived just ahead us.All over Britain, tearful throngs gather at the gates of royal palaces to express their loyalty and respect with carpets of flowers, tributes and accolades for the late Queen Elizabeth. The June Jubilee celebrating the Queen’s unprecedented 70 years on the throne have morphed into mourning.The well-rehearsed crimson and gold pomp and pageantry of the passing seamlessly swings into action. Within hours London resounds with solemn music, cannon salutes, black-ribboned trumpet volleys and tolling church bells. Crowds line the streets to observe the historic events, show solidarity with the bereaved new King, and witness ceremonies and sumptuous regalia dating back a thousand years that will consume the coming days.At aged 96 the death of Queen Elizabeth could not be unexpected, but no one seems emotionally prepared for it, so keenly felt by many who had known no other British monarch and whose reign defines a constancy woven into the fabric of many of our lives.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/queen-elizabeth-the-gurkhas-and-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Queen Elizabeth, the Gurkhas and Everest</a>, Kunda DixitKathmandu newspaper headlines were unequivocal ‘The Queen Dies’, with<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/queen-elizabeth-the-gurkhas-and-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> articles</a> remembering her two visits and recognising the enduring bond with the British Gurkhas in both her personal and official capacity. Nepali friends confessed to sobbing at the news.A retired Nepal army general’s eyes teared up as he told me: “She really was the most extraordinary woman who impressed the entire world and was admired by us all.” It feels good to recall incidents, recount stories, dig out photographs, find solace in collective grieving.She became Queen the year after my birth, and I was not even three years old when my mother, a lifelong royalist, hoisted me onto her shoulders in the grimy streets of post-war Newcastle to wave our little Union Jacks as she drove by on a tour of North-East England soon after her coronation. <figure><img width="780" height="577" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238689c7e80680e0c7383jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>I last saw her in person across the parade ground in the shadow of the magnificent Wren-designed Royal Hospital in Chelsea leading a full hand of all the immediate British royal family to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Gurkhas in the British Army. I was with my mother that chilly June evening in 2015 as the purpling London night sky faded above the Nepali and British participants – smart green uniforms, precision marching, wailing bagpipes and whirling khukri.  Nepali rulers have long and affectionate ties with British royal visits dating back to Jang Bahadur and Queen Victoria, and share an entwined history since the entanglements with British India that ended in 1816. Friendly relations at that time suited the preservation of Nepal’s sovereignty as well as providing much-valued recruits for the British Army.The relationship was further cemented when news of the first ascent of Mt Everest by Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary on a British expedition that buoyed Britain by arriving on the eve of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in June 1953. Sir Ed, a Knight of the Garter, appreciated his close association with her, and in his understated Kiwi way was known to have thought the Queen was ‘a bit of all right’. <figure><img width="1464" height="965" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/6372386a9c7e80680e0c7384jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Queen and Prince Philip have twice visited Nepal. First was the infamous tiger hunt of 1961 hosted by King Mahendra, saluted by 376 domestic elephants, catered by Boris Lissanevitch and immortalised in the book Tiger for Breakfast.Our Tiger Tops Meghauli grass airstrip was carved out of the thick jungle, ‘coolies’ cleared insects from the royal camp and allegedly tipped buckets of water into the cistrn when the chain was pulled in the hastily constructed royal loo.But the 1961 trip can be said to have signalled the early beginnings of Nepal’s tiger conservation story. The Duke of Edinburgh, the first president of WWF, refused to hunt in order to highlight the need for conservation, pleading a diplomatically bandaged trigger finger -- little comfort to the Chitwan tigers and rhino that were shot by others in the party that day.During the second state visit 25 years later in early 1986, I and others had the chance to shake her hand in the garden of the British Embassy in Kathmandu. The emphasis was on development, diplomacy and the decades of service by the British Gurkha, with moving meetings with highly decorated veteran heroes of the ranks.The Duke of Edinburgh broke away from the main program to revisit his old hunting ground, gratifyingly now protected as Royal Chitwan National Park and South Asia’s first natural World Heritage Site. Binoculared and safari-suited, he spent a peaceful day in the Tarai jungles with then-Prince Gyanendra and joined us at <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/back-to-Chitwan,1075">Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge</a> for lunch.The new King Charles III has been in Nepal on three occasions, first representing the Queen at King Birendra’s splendid coronation in 1975 amongst many world leaders -- Imelda Marcos was observed flirting with him. King Charles returned twice to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/sons-of-the-famous,945">trek in the Annapurnas</a>, an official visit accompanied by Prince Dhirendra in 1980 and a private one with friends in 1992.Both were planned and organised by trek pioneer<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hiking-with-jimmy/"> Col Jimmy Roberts</a>, but his walking days were over and I recced the first Royal Trek route in 1980 with Pertemba Sherpa, mountaineer and one of Mountain Travel’s star sirdars.  Then-Prince Charles strode uphill towards the silhouetted skyline tree that still bears his name near the first day lunch spot where Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge now stands, accompanied by a royal retinue that included security detail, radio operators and medics equipped with blood.‘The mountain views were gin clear for all four days,’ Colonel Jimmy noted with satisfaction. My task was to escort the press pack back down to file their stories. Only the murder of John Lennon knocked the Nepal story off the world’s front pages. <figure><img width="482" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/6372386d9c7e80680e0c7385jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="708" height="948" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/6372386f9c7e80680e0c7386jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="708" height="948" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238719c7e80680e0c7387jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>No photographs survive of the Prince’s Trek, the circuit south of Phewa Tal that we organised for the Prince of Wales’ second private trek in 1992. But I was with him in Pokhara at the British Gurkha camp for the pre-trek briefing and a jolly dinner in the mess tent hosted by the Colonel. It was a turbulent time for Charles, following the India visit where Princess Diana was famously photographed perched alone and forlorn on a marble bench in front of the Taj Mahal.The well-worn navy leather wallet engraved with the silver three feathers insignia presented to me by the Prince, sorry I mean King, is in my bag that sad morning after his mother’s death as I dodge the downpour in a festive Kathmandu Darbar Square.His long apprenticeship over, every day Charles is looking more like a king. Whilst a bereaved country gets used to new words in an old anthem, updated bank notes and other ritual changes, he faces the controversies of modernising the monarchy in a complex post-colonial world.  The Queen is dead, long live the King.Lisa Choegyal wrote the column <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nt/opinion/so-far-so-good/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">So Far So Good</a> in Nepali Times from 2018-2020. She is a sustainable tourism specialist who has made Kathmandu her home since 1974.

Lisa Choegyal

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The Queen is Dead, Long Live the King

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637237ef9c7e80680e0c735ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1872" height="1148"/>The highlight of the two trips Queen Elizabeth II made to  Nepal in March 1961 and exactly 25 years later in 1986 were meetings with British Gurkha veterans who served in the world wars.Gurkhas have fought and died for Britain since even before the end of Nepal’s war with the East India Company in 1816. More than 200,000 soldiers from Nepal fought in the British Army in the two world wars, at a time when Nepal’s total population was barely 4 million.About 40,000 of them were killed in Gallipoli and Flanders Field in the First World War, and in Italy, Burma and Malaya in the Second.The Queen, who died on Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at age 96, had a soft spot for Nepal, since news of the first ever ascent of Mt Everest got to London on the morning of her coronation on 2 June 1953 that year.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637237f29c7e80680e0c735bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="696"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637237f59c7e80680e0c735cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2339" height="1324"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norway had reached the top of the world’s highest mountain on 29 May, but the news took several days to reach London via the British Embassy in Kathmandu which got a coded radio message from Namche that had to be first carried in a piece of paper by runner from Base Camp.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/a-postcard-from-jan-morris-1926-2020/">James Morris of The Times</a> accompanied the British Expedition, and had the scoop about the successful ascent in the Fleet Street press. The Daily Express tabloid's banner headline on coronation day was: “ALL THIS — AND EVEREST TOO!”Queen Elizabeth’s 1961 visit to Nepal was touch and go since it happened barely a year after King Mahendra’s coup in which he dissolved Nepal’s first democratically elected parliament, imprisoned Prime Minister B P Koirala and his cabinet, and ruled as an absolute monarch.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-thukten-phillip-sherpa-got-his-name/">How Thukten Phillip Sherpa got his name</a>, Lisa Choegyal The royal visit was seen by some as an endorsement of the coup, but this was during the height of the Cold War and tensions were also rising between India and China. The West regarded an assertive monarchy in Nepal as a stabilising factor in a volatile region, and for King Mahendra himself it was proof of international endorsement of his move.Lisa Choegyal recalls in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-thukten-phillip-sherpa-got-his-name/">one of her columns for Nepali Times</a> about how Konjo Chumbi, the guardian of a yeti scalp at Khumjung Monastery, was on his way from Namche to Kathmandu for an audience with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1961 when his wife gave birth along the way near Jiri.They made it to Kathmandu airport just in time to meet the royal couple before they flew out, and when Prince Philip found out the baby did not have a name, he suggested they call him ‘Philip’. Thukten Phillip Sherpa was 25 when he met Prince Philip again during the Queen’s 1986 trip. He now lives in California.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637237f79c7e80680e0c735djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1728" height="1350"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637237fa9c7e80680e0c735ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="600"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Carrying on the tradition of Nepal’s Rana rulers, the British royalty in 1961 was taken on a tiger hunt in Chitwan with the Queen filming the trip on her 16mm movie camera from the back of an elephant.The government went to extreme lengths to beautify Kathmandu and give it a modern look. What is today Kantipath in front of The Royal Hotel and the Tripureswar roads were widened by cutting down a row of jacaranda to impress the British visitors. Pretend street lights that did not work were erected along the way.The Royal Hotel’s Russian owner Boris Lissanevitch catered for the state banquet for the Queen hosted by King Mahendra at Singha Darbar. The hot meals had to be carried by relays of servants across the city.Desmond Doig writes in his book My Kind of Kathmandu about the royal banquet: ‘The Queen of England, who had disappointed expectant Nepalis earlier by wearing the simplest dresses and a strand or two of pearls, came shimmering in the famous emerald tiara, emerald necklace, emerald drop earrings and diamonds everywhere, even embroidered into her Hartnell gown.’Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8301#.YxqjSuxBzDI">The royal visit of  1961</a>, Desmond Doig<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637237fc9c7e80680e0c735fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1112"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The next day, Edmund Hillary was knighted at a function at the British Embassy in Lazimpat. Queen Elizabeth had to cut a brown, green and white cake supposed to represent Mt Everest with two tiny marzipan figures representing Hillary and Tenzing on the summit.Doig recalls in his book that the Queen advanced towards the cake 'with a scimitar-like knife', looked at Hillary, and quipped: ‘I'm afraid I shall have to cut you in half, Sir Edmund.’In contrast to Queen Elizabeth’s expressions of gratitude during her 70-year reign for the service of British Gurkhas and her two visits to Nepal, surprisingly not a single British prime minister has visited Kathmandu.Queen Elizabeth attended the parade in 2015 in London marking the 200th anniversary Gurkha service in the British Army. Her grandson, Prince Harry served with the First Battalion of the Royal Gurkha Rifles in Afghanistan in 2007-8.A Royal Gurkha Regiment contingent was invited to take part in Harry’s wedding with Meghan Markle in 2018. And Harry himself visited Nepal in 2016, inspecting some of the Gurkha Welfare Trust projects.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7996#.YxqjmexBzDI">Symbol of Nepali nationhood</a>, CK Lalhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61CQ74nw-NQVideo clip of the British royal visit to Nepal in 1986.Prince Charles, now King Charles III, has served as Colonel in Chief of the Royal Gurkha Rifles since 1977.Two Queen’s Gurkha Orderly Officers from Nepal guard her at most functions, a practice that dates back to Queen Victoria’s reign in 1876 and which Queen Elizabeth revived.Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip stopped over in Kathmandu again in 1986 for a four-day visit on their way to Australia and New Zealand. King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya were at the airport to greet them as they stepped off a British Airways L-1011 Tristar.The highlight of the trip was the Queen’s meeting with 200 British Gurkha veterans, among them seven surviving soldiers who had been awarded the Victoria Cross in previous wars.Queen Elizabeth walked across Kathmandu Darbar Square to the 16th century Kasthamandap accompanied by Kathmandu’s mayor Kamal Chitrakar.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637237ff9c7e80680e0c7360jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This time there was no royal hunt, Chitwan had been turned into the Royal Chitwan National Park. While the Queen visited Gurkha camps,  Prince Gyanendra flew down to Meghauli with Prince Philip for a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-thukten-phillip-sherpa-got-his-name/">morning safari and lunch at Tiger Tops</a> in South Asia’s first natural world heritage site. Both princes were now avid conservationists.Queen Elizabeth’s last interaction with Nepal was in May when Nepal’s new ambassador to UK, Gyan Chandra Acharya, presented his credentials to her virtually at Buckingham Palace. Prince Philip died in 2021, the Queen was frail and already starting to restrict her public engagements.In her statement during that ceremony, Queen Elizabeth extolled the ‘friendly and mutually rewarding relations’ between Nepal and Britain, and recalled her two historic state visits to Nepal in 1961 and 1986.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/champions-of-nepals-conservation-movement/">Champions of Nepal’s conservation movement</a>, Lisa Choegyal

Kunda Dixit

Queen Elizabeth, the Gurkhas and Everest

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/6369036c9c7e80680e037cc1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1022"/><figcaption>Chuck McDougal's first pressure plate photography traps in which the tiger triggered its own picture</figcaption></figure>Encountering a tiger in the wild is a privilege not to be taken lightly, and an experience never forgotten. Words cannot do justice to this most magnificent of all creatures, but many have tried to capture the instincts triggered by its terrible beauty, the reality of our inherent human frailty when confronted with nature’s most evolved predator.Our consciousness is fully awakened by ‘Tiger tiger, burning bright’. Hairs rise, breath stills, time stops and the heart skips a beat as the sun striped shadows dissolve into the largest of the world’s cats, the sheer wonder of several hundred kilos of elegant muscle and striped intensity.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-many-tigers-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How many tigers in Nepal?</a>, Kunda DixitFirst arriving at Tiger Tops in the Chitwan National Park, I was told: “You can live your entire life in the jungle without ever seeing a tiger.” The king of the jungle is essentially nocturnal, solitary and adept at avoiding people and encounters, its lone survival depending on self-sufficiency.For our guests, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/Tigerman-tiger,930" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chuck McDougal</a> and his naturalists shortened the odds by reading the signals, identifying tracks and interpreting alarm calls – barking deer, grunting monkeys and coughing chital. Jungle excursions and elephant safaris took place early morning and late afternoon to maximise the probability.In the bad old days, a young male buffalo was tethered in the same spot every night, watched over by a shikari who ran back on swept paths to summon us from the lodge bar or dinner table. Barefoot, breathlessly silent and peering through the small windows of the grass machan, a tiger could be discerned crouched over its kill, bones crunching, illuminated by a rudimentary searchlight powered by an old car battery.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/6369036f9c7e80680e037cc2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="990" height="1500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Despite such contrivances, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/More-trouble-in-Chitwan-National-Park,2956" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tiger sightings in the wild</a> are never certain. Even after we stopped baiting and depended on our naturalists skill, every year only one quarter of all Tiger Tops guests were fortunate enough to catch a precious glimpse of the planet’s largest cat.And for me, every time was a moment of magic and quiet respect that such splendour coexists on this earth.Originally protected as a sanctuary for Nepal’s Greater One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), the fame of Chitwan was soon usurped by the tiger’s elusive glamour, the undisputed star of the show. Even the Latin name resonates with awe and mystery: Panthera tigris.Chitwan’s rich habitat, watered by the Raptiand Narayani rivers with alluvial grasslands, mixed riverine forest and the sal-covered Chure Hills, had long been set aside by ruling Ranas as prime hunting country, reserved as a refuge to impress a favoured few royals, viceroys and maharajahs. The Shah kings were required to prove their bravery with bagged tigers and perform obscure religious rites that included climbing inside the carcass of a slaughtered rhino.During Queen Elizabeth’s visit in 1961, for which Meghauli airstrip was carved out of the jungle, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/join-us-on-land-boris,869" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boris Lisanevitch</a> catered an elaborate royal camp and 327 elephants were rallied for the game drive, Prince Philip famously refused to shoot. Yesterday’s hunters were evolving into today’s conservationists, and cameras were replacing guns.Throughout its range, Asia’s apex predator had become critically endangered due to a combination of loss of habitat, depletion of prey species, human conflict, poaching and hunting. South Asian tigers drastically dwindled to less than 2,000 from an estimated population of 40,000 at the turn of the century, plummeting to less than 3,500 from 100,000 worldwide.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/636903729c7e80680e037cc3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">In response, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 1973 launched Project Tiger throughout India, and the same year Chitwan’s 360-square-miles of undisturbed biodiversity were gazetted as Nepal’s first national park. Designated a natural World Heritage Site in 1984, and linked with adjacent reserves into the huge tiger conservation landscape of Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki in 1998, Royal Chitwan National Park rapidly became renown as one of the best wildlife viewing experiences in Asia, especially for the increasingly rare Royal Bengal tiger.At <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nation-quality-control-in-tourism,471" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tiger Tops</a>, a treetop lodge deep in tiger country since 1964, we were inevitably entwined and engrossed with its protection. An ideal base for wildlife research and filming, Chuck pioneered camera trapping, and helped the Smithsonian Institute’s radio tracking and long-term tiger monitoring.The government often asked help with logistics, and Jim Edwards’s former hunting skills came in handy when Hemanta Mishra and the warden requested assistance with tranquilising a man-eater – after three attacks anaberrant tiger, usually old or injured, would be sentenced to life in Kathmandu Zoo. As the elephants fanned out through the hot dry grass, mahouts shouted to drive the aging tigress towards the waiting dart-gun and I clung nervously to the ropes of my elephant’s gaddi behind a tense driver – we knew she had terrorised villagers from across the river straying into the jungle to collect grass and firewood.Nepal can be proud of its well-protected parks and successful conservation record, the envy of other tiger range countries with recovery of Nepal’s tigers well ahead of target. Nepali scientists have trained neighbours in scientific counting methods, we contributed sustainable tourism recommendations agreed by all tiger range countries (in Thimphu 2011), and naturalist guides have created conservation awareness with park visitors and celebrities.Actor Bob Hoskins got too close for comfort during a tiger documentary in Bardia, and <a href="https://www.leonardodicaprio.org/protecting-wild-tigers-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leonardo DiCaprio’s passion for tiger conservation</a> was first ignited at Tiger Tops Karnali, resulting in millions of dollars of WWF support.In the 2010 St Petersburg Declaration, 13 countries endorsed <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16820#.W2_ejWaB1TY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Global Tiger Recovery Plan</a> to double the number of tigers worldwide by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger. Nepal committed to expand its tiger population from 121 to about 250. By 2013 we had already achieved 63% of this goal with 198 tigers resident mainly in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/habitat-destrcution-of-tiger-in-Tarai,3423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chitwan</a>, but also Bardia, Shuklaphanta, Parsa and Banke protected areas.No one should live in a world without wild tigers. We <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-many-tigers-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">await the results of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation 2018 census</a>, but Nepal’s tigers remain a powerful tourism icon and a potent symbol of Nepal’s conservation success.The spelling of  Zbigniew Brzezinski in the caption has been corrected.

Sun striped shadows

Nepal is known internationally for its successful community forestry programme, and the country has doubled its forest cover to over 45% in the last 25 years.&nbsp; But the opposite is true for densely populated urban centres like Kathmandu Valley which have turned into concrete jungles, with no remaining open spaces. Air pollution is increasing to hazardous levels, and the urban heat bubble means the temperature in the city is 2°C-3°C higher than in the outskirts. But there is a solution with a proven track record from similar densely populated cities in Japan — the ‘Miyawaki Method’ of growing local varieties of trees in any small patch of land in the city and turning them into compact forests. Named after Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki in the early 1970s, carefully selected native trees and plants grow in tiny plots of land, or even in household backyards. They regenerate degraded urban soil, and help restore some greenery and biodiversity back to sterile city centres. The group Lily Leaves has planted Miyawaki forests in six sites across Kathmandu, and is on a mission to green all the river corridors in the Valley. So far, it has planted more than 17,000 trees belonging to nearly 40 species in patches of land along the Bishnumati and Swayambhu, and is eyeing the UN Park area along the Bagmati. “It is extremely important to connect with nature and greenery in cities,” says Lily Katuwal of Lily Leaves. "Besides restoring nature, these forests also clean air pollution and reduce summer temperatures.” Unlike traditional reforestation where trees of the same species are planted in bulk at a distance of 3-4m, Miyawaki prioritises native varieties best suited to Kathmandu Valley’s microclimate. The saplings are packed densely together, spaced only 60cm apart. After they start growing, native grass and undergrowth also thrive. The most recent plantation was along the banks of the Bagmati in Sanepa where, in addition to camphor and jacaranda which are grown in the area, native species such as kabro (Ficus lacor), kanike (Forget-me-not), parijat (Night-flowering Jasmine or Coral Jasmine), chanp (Plumeria), harro (Ink Nut) and barro (Bahera) were planted. A new site in Kirtipur is being readied for the next plantation. Miyawaki has been carried out elsewhere in various parts of Nepal, primarily in Dhanusha which has seen forest regrowth that has brought back insect, bird, reptile and amphibian life.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120428_e70c196852945760d082fc73ee18ea6883d13c16186893c00c10fd0a0ea12105.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260402120428_e70c196852945760d082fc73ee18ea6883d13c16186893c00c10fd0a0ea12105" data-rendition-name="original" width="1201" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Planting seeds for a greener Kathmandu"> </figure>  EMPOWERING WOMEN Lily Leaves employs just 17 women, six of whom have hearing disabilities. Many have been neglected or abandoned by their in-laws for various reasons. They have a livelihood and learn new skills so they can also find jobs elsewhere.&nbsp; “We trained them in plantation and other skills including tailoring, as well as jewelry, bag and reusable pad making,” says Katuwal. “They are now experts in planting trees.”&nbsp; Lily Leaves gets support from Pipal Tree International in the UK and Nepal, and hopes that the idea of compact urban forest spreads. This is especially important in areas like Taudaha, which is an important stopover for migratory birds. Once noted for its aquatic and avian biodiversity, Taudaha has become lined with concrete and has turned into a loud picnic spot. Urban expansion has encroached upon what used to be the floodplain of the Dhobi Khola, Bishnumati, Bagmati and Manohara rivers. The open spaces along the river corridors are being turned into green belts haphazardly. For many wards, the concept of green space is to have cement pavements and ornamental hard-to-maintain potted plants instead of allowing urban forests to grow back naturally. “Apartment buildings and housing colonies that are being constructed can include green spaces that can increase the real estate and rent value of property,” Katuwal says. “Engineers designing the buildings can suggest such changes so that we remain connected with nature.” Although Lily Leaves needs to have permission from local ward and municipal councils before implementing any program, it continues to face challenges in ensuring smooth coordination.&nbsp; In one such plantation along the Bishnumati River corridor, for example, a heavy earthmover uprooted young trees that were just beginning to thrive. Despite this setback, Katuwal’s team returned to replant them. The land mafia often covets the last remaining open spaces in Kathmandu, deploying local strongmen to try to take them over. &nbsp;They tear down fences, uproot saplings and loot tools. There is a lack of awareness about the importance of greening the city. But now that the former mayor of Kathmandu Balendra Shah is prime minister, national awareness could translate into more urban forests not just in Kathmandu but also in overcrowded urban centres across Nepal. Says Lily Katuwal: “We just plant the seed in people’s minds. Once people in the neighbourhood see that restoring nature lifts their quality of life and increases land prices, there is support. That is when the power of a good example spreads, and communities build on the idea.” &nbsp;

Planting seeds for a greener Kathmandu

It is only April, and Himalayan expeditions are already making rotations to acclimatise on Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, and will soon be making summit pushes.&nbsp; On Mt Everest, Icefall Doctors are fixing ropes and ladders into the Western Cwm as international climbers arrive at Base Camp. Spring 2026 is going to be the busiest and most crowded so far in the Nepal Himalaya. The main reason is that China has closed expeditions from the north side for eight-thousanders Everest and Cho Oyu, and also Xixapangma.&nbsp; The closure is informal, from what one can make out. The Chinese have not put out any official statement, but there are no permits either. The reason seemingly was the ‘Rising Dragon’ firework display last September by pyrotechnic artist Cai Guo-Qiang near Xigatse.&nbsp; Working with outdoor wear company Arc’teryx, Guo-Qiang set off an impressive sequence of orange and white fireworks that wound up a mountain. The spectacular display was criticised for damaging the fragile ecology of the Tibetan Plateau. But this cannot be the only reason the north side is closed. Experienced Everest blogger Alan Arnette anticipates that about 125 climbers will shift to the Nepal side of the mountains, and expects there to be up to 900 summits this spring — up from the highest spring number so far of 876 climbers on top in 2019.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260404050428_8c31812bf38f699c4faa74f25814a6ddaee397f71a629e549023f29250f05082.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260404050428_8c31812bf38f699c4faa74f25814a6ddaee397f71a629e549023f29250f05082" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="mountaineering"> <figcaption>Photo: KARMA TENZING</figcaption> </figure>  The early Base Camp arrivals are having problems with their first rotations because of heavy snow this season. Unlike previous springs, this year has seen back-to-back blizzards at high altitudes since February. The increased snow load on the slopes have increased avalanche danger right across the mountains.&nbsp; There has been an increase in numbers on Everest despite the West Asia war, flight disruptions, LPG shortage and new regulations. The permit fee has gone up for the first time since 2015 from $11,000 to $15,000 this year.&nbsp; The Tourism Bill passed by Nepal’s Upper House last year would have required climbers to have first summitted a 7,000m peak in Nepal before attempting Everest. However, the Department of Tourism has confirmed that there are no new experience requirements this season. Some want this rule changed to include 7,000m peaks anywhere in the world. That could be one reason people are rushing to climb Everest before the Nepal government changes its mind and enforces the new regulations on prior experience on Everest. “It’s probably going to encourage a lot of people that simply are not ready to go,” reckons Alan Arnette. “Once again, we may see a lot of inexperienced people on the mountain trying to get in before the rule comes into place, if it does.”&nbsp; Arnette has always been sceptical of Everest regulations, and points out many instances where rules have been announced but not implemented over the ten years that he has been tracking them. For example, a helicopter ban to Everest Base Camp was announced last year, but rescinded. A rule requiring climbers to bring down waste was never seriously enforced. Since there is so much money involved for the government and for the operators, any any rule that would reduce revenue is never fully implemented. This year there is another ‘High-Altitude Trash Quota’ rule requiring climbers and guides operating above Camp 2 to collect and bring down at least 2kg of waste from the higher camps.&nbsp; The Nepal government has tried to diversify peaks on offer by reducing the royalty on climbs, but the draw of Everest, Annapurna and other eight-thousanders seems to be too great. Even when the permit fees for some remote peaks like Kangri Shar, Himlung and Api, were reduced to $400, there are few takers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120436_a90cd44858e97086f773aa1fbd592b3434bb07d89cd4a1843b2ca32a84e7c72d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260402120436_a90cd44858e97086f773aa1fbd592b3434bb07d89cd4a1843b2ca32a84e7c72d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Photo Damien Francois"> <figcaption>Photo: DAMIEN FRANCOIS</figcaption> </figure>  TIME LAPSE Clients and expedition operators have been trying to shorten the time needed to complete an Everest expedition from the city of origin to the top and back. Since Nepal has no rules about spending a certain number of days in acclimatisation, this has allowed some expedition organisers to use new technology.&nbsp; Austrian operator Lukas Furtenbach last May led a group of four British ex-military clients to the summit within a week of leaving London. This climb was scrutinised because the group had practiced breathing xenon gas, a substance that increases the count of red blood cells and is banned in competitive sports. The climbers had also trained for months at home in hypoxic tents, and used supplemental oxygen during the actual climb.&nbsp; The success of that expedition prompted an investigation by Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, but there was nothing it could do because the team had taken the xenon in Germany two weeks before their trip. But even if they had administered the gas in Nepal, it would technically not be illegal. Furtenbach is firmly in favour of speed, and of using the gas. “The only reason why we are working with xenon is to make climbing safer, to protect climbers from high altitude sickness,” he says, arguing that the less time climbers spend on the mountains, the less their exposure is to disasters, sickness, and they also generate less trash.&nbsp; His firm, Furtenbach Adventure, offers a three-week Everest South Flash expedition, at a cost of €100,000, using custom oxygen systems. Other expeditions take up to two months.&nbsp; A young American duo of Ryan Mitchell and Justin Sockett got to Everest Base Camp five days ago. They are preparing for an oxygen-free summit attempt.&nbsp; ‘ Being around these mountains for one day has already brought me so much joy. Every time I come back to the Khumbu I feel more familiar and connected,’ posted Mitchell. He and Sockett have since summitted Lobuche East (6,119m) as they continue to acclimatise and wait for the Khumbu Icefall route to be fixed.&nbsp; There are other sans-O2 trips planned this climbing season in Nepal. Norwegian Kristin Harila, the fastest in the world to climb all 14 8,000ers (in 92 days), is attempting the Nuptse, Lhotse, and Everest three-peak climb without supplemental oxygen. American Tyler Andrews and Ecuadorian Karl Egloff are continuing their race to break records in Everest. While Andrews is attempting the Fastest Known Time from Base Camp to the top without oxygen, Egloff is taking it a step further and going for a round trip: from Base Camp to the summit and back in record time.&nbsp; Both Egloff and Andrews had attempted these climbs in 2025 spring, but abandoned around 7,000m due to bad weather.&nbsp; Kami Rita Sherpa wants to extend his all-time record of total Everest summits to 32, while Kenton Cool from England is chasing 20, a non-Nepali record.&nbsp; The first summits of the season will be in late April, or early May depending on weather. Besides Everest, there are a lot of interesting climbs on lesser known peaks.&nbsp; The Japanese trio of Masayuki Takenaka, Tatsuro Sugimoto, and Ryota Nomura, for example, are attempting the unclimbed Jarkya Himal (6,473m) near Manaslu. &nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>Fake rescues</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120436_600c0176e24327fd3dfcfd634e4b871f3e5314aa00eb4885ad137ac6f9c4a3b6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260402120436_600c0176e24327fd3dfcfd634e4b871f3e5314aa00eb4885ad137ac6f9c4a3b6" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="519" loading="lazy" alt="Fake rescues"> </figure>  This year’s spring climbing season has coincided with Nepal’s new government taking action against alleged perpetrators in fake rescues and insurance fraud. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has already arrested more than a dozen trekking agency executives, hospital managers and helicopter company executives for medevac insurance fraud. Climbers are known to fabricate medical emergencies, get flown down from as high as Camp II on Everest, and then submit false insurance claims.&nbsp; Sometimes one flight is made to look like many using fake invoices. Trekking companies are also involved in fake rescues of hikers who just get tired of walking.&nbsp; Too many fake claims could lead to insurer’s losing confidence in the industry, and increased premiums, leading to delayed responses in real accidents.&nbsp; As a result of the scandal, there is now more scrutiny from the government about rescues. Already, helicopter operators have to wait for permission before carrying out rescues while their application is vetted.&nbsp; The worry is that this could cause unnecessary delays when time is of the essence in mountain rescue. Already, medevacs are delayed because of the bureaucracy needing permits to fly to sensitive regions bordering China. Last year, a climber died on Himlung because helicopter rescue took too long while operators ran from door to door in Kathmandu to obtain necessary permits. <h2>Mingma David Sherpa, MP</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120432_05c1600440327f4ae4bcae641b634714951f45702080a88d4e2628587190aa25.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260402120432_05c1600440327f4ae4bcae641b634714951f45702080a88d4e2628587190aa25" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="958" loading="lazy" alt="Mingma David Sherpa"> </figure>  Meet Mingma David Sherpa, Nepal’s first mountaineer to be nominated to Parliament. Sherpa is a self-made professional climber from Rolwaling, who rose up from an expedition porter to a record-breaking mountaineer and expedition organiser. As an insider, he is now in a position to streamline laws related to Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering sector. He is co-owner of EliteExped with Nims Purja, and in 2021 the two were part of a team of Nepali climbers to be the first to make it to the top of K2 in winter, the second highest mountain in the world in Pakistan.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120432_c4ec586e7a27b09a72e61925a3897d843f864563d9e82a3fd3e25293e22cbe54.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260402120432_c4ec586e7a27b09a72e61925a3897d843f864563d9e82a3fd3e25293e22cbe54" data-rendition-name="original" width="2082" height="1396" loading="lazy" alt="Mingama David Sherpa"> </figure>  Mingma David was also on Purja’s Project Possible to climb all the 14 eight-thousanders in six months, shattering the previous record of seven years. He was featured in Purja’s documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible.&nbsp; At age 30 he became the youngest climber to reach the top of all 14 eight-thousanders for which he was awarded the Piolet d’Or. Mingma David has taken part in dozens of successful rescues of fellow climber, including the highest ever long-line rescue on Dhaulagiri and saving the life of fellow-climber from 8,600m on Everest. <h2>April Fool</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120432_775afff27d4a2889a60730aa25bbc5f8eb8ea343528c8c031a6febbfd74814c4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260402120432_775afff27d4a2889a60730aa25bbc5f8eb8ea343528c8c031a6febbfd74814c4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1365" height="1820" loading="lazy" alt="Furtenback Adventures"> </figure>  The Austrian expedition outfitting company Furtenbach Adventures spoofed the anticipated crowds on an April First post on social media this week, showing ‘a fully galvanized, weather-resistant steel staircase, complete with a sturdy handrail’ to make the Hillary Step bottleneck on Mt Everest less dangerous.

Nepal Himalaya Spring 2026

As a direct fallout of the Israel-American war on Iran, Nepal on Monday nearly doubled the price of aviation fuel in a move that is going to impact during the spring peak tourism season. The steep price hike of jet fuel appears to have been made to cushion the impact on the general public. The price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas were also hiked for the third time in a month on Thursday.&nbsp; Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will now cost $2,237/ton up from $1,207. The cost of ATF in Kathmandu was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sky-high-fuel-price-hits-nepal-s-tourism-airlines" target="_blank">already one of the highest among Asian airports</a>, and this price hike will affect mostly long-haul flights to Istanbul, Seoul and Narita for airlines that need to refuel in Kathmandu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260404130420_4ae075d1e871fc5608cf242d6e309005d30cfdb6e6d0ecfb45ca7388a851c6aa.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260404130420_4ae075d1e871fc5608cf242d6e309005d30cfdb6e6d0ecfb45ca7388a851c6aa" data-rendition-name="original" width="1784" height="1294" loading="lazy" alt="aviation turbine fuel prices"> </figure>  Domestic airlines, which paid Rs127 per litre, will now have to pay Rs251 for their turboprop planes. “We have no recourse but to pass this on to passengers as a fuel surcharge,” said one executive of a domestic airline in Nepal. As it is, Nepal Oil Corporation levied a hefty tax on petrol and ATF in order to subsidise diesel and cooking gas. Many analysts were expecting a fuel price hike, but the near-doubling of the price of ATF means the new Nepal government is trying to protect ordinary citizens from raising the price of diesel and LPG even more than it has so far. Aviation fuel in Nepal is trucked in on tankers from Indian refineries and its price is highest in Kathmandu, and less in Bhairawa and Pokhara — transportation costs being higher depending on distance. But even in Bhairawa, ATF prices have doubled for the only international airline that serves it, Thai AirAsia.&nbsp; Most airlines flying Kathmandu from nearer airports in India, the Gulf and Southeast Asia will be less impacted because they can fly in on full tanks and need minimum refuelling in Kathmandu. But carriers like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/high-cost-lays-aviation-low-in-nepal" target="_blank">Turkish Airlines</a>, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, &nbsp;and Nepal Airlines which fly wide body aircraft on long-distance routes will be hit hardest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026040305040_a40db74375ebe0c28e7c35477bc262df9ae392a84e7bfa4033996181d69e0209.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2026040305040_a40db74375ebe0c28e7c35477bc262df9ae392a84e7bfa4033996181d69e0209" data-rendition-name="original" width="1032" height="689" loading="lazy" alt="sky high prices"> </figure>  However, ATF costs have also been raised in regional airports like Hong Kong, India and Singapore. Aviation fuel at New Delhi airport has risen to $1,698/ton. Korean Air is adopting emergency measures to reduce expenses to make up for rising fuel costs. South Korea gets nearly all its fuel from the Gulf, and the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz has been especially damaging for the country. Fuel makes up more than a third of the operating cost of airlines, and even a small increase in ATF prices can make a big difference. Crude oil prices have increased 50% since the West Asia war began on 28 February, and global ATF prices have doubled.&nbsp; Airlines in Asia, including Nepal, face a double shock. The first is the higher fuel cost, and the second is that fewer people are travelling. Nepal’s tourism arrivals fell in March compared to February. India has added up to 20% fuel surcharge on domestic flights, and has reduced flights by 12%. Chinese airlines have also been affected, with China Eastern preparing for a significant impact of the Gulf war. It has added fuel surcharges to new tickets, as have Cathay Pacific, Thai International and Air Asia. Vietnam has drastically cut the number of domestic flights, and the Philippines will ration ATF. Australia imports 90% of its ATF mainly from China which has stopped export to ensure domestic supply to its own airlines. Carriers like Qantas have curtailed flights, changing aircraft type on long-haul routes, and a fuel surcharge of up to 20% have been added to tickets. Most Asian airlines are adding fuel charges only to new tickets, and the increase will not affect the price of pre-sold tickets issued for April and May.

Fuel price shock hits Nepal aviation

The war in West Asia has exposed the fragility of the economic architecture Nepal has built on over two generations. If the conflict continues, growth across developing Asia will slow and prices will rise. For Nepal, this will be felt through higher living costs, weaker economic activity, and growing uncertainty for the millions of families who depend on remittances.&nbsp; Nepal now needs to structurally transform from exporting labour to investing in domestic job creation. &nbsp; The country's current path toward a knowledge economy has a blind spot. A <a href="https://iids.org.np/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/unleashing.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> by the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) in Kathmandu shows that IT export companies alone generated 7,228 jobs and income for 66,509 freelancers.&nbsp; We are building digital labour export, not an economy that accumulates institutional knowledge. The Nepali Upwork developer and a migrant construction worker in the Gulf are engaged in the same economic activity, but with different tools. Nepal’s reliance on a <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=NP" target="_blank">remittance-driven economy,</a> means the country has failed to create enough <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nepal/publication/unlocking-nepal-s-growth-potential" target="_blank">quality jobs</a> at home. For millions of young people, leaving the country is not a choice but a necessity to survive and support families back home. <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nepal/publication/unlocking-nepal-s-growth-potential" target="_blank">Remittances</a> have no doubt helped reduce poverty. Thirty years ago, 55% of Nepal’s population lived on less than $2.15 a day, now it is 20% after the absolute poverty line was revised upwards. This progress has come at a cost — &nbsp;an economy that depends more on exporting workers than creating opportunities at home. This development reflects a deeper political failure to create meaningful jobs within the country. Since the democratic transition in 1991, Nepal’s leadership has largely recycled the same faces, with limited progress on job creation or industrial growth.&nbsp; Nepal cannot build a <a href="https://nipore.org/accelerating-nepals-startups/" target="_blank">knowledge economy</a> while its most ambitious people are outbound to Doha and Tokyo. We are also not just losing ‘labour’. We are losing the entrepreneurial risk tolerance of our youth.&nbsp; If the most ambitious 25-year-olds are abroad, who is left to support innovation and entrepreneurship? The same people who are working tirelessly abroad, are our biggest asset for development. Their work ethic and the know-how inurban renewal could well fit into the new RSP government’s mandate of 7% annual growth.&nbsp; The <a href="https://english.biznessnews.com/posts/-nepal%E2%80%99s-it-exports-cross-1-billion-" target="_blank">$1B milestone</a> of IT exports is a celebratory moment for Nepal. However, that cannot lead to a pathway to a $100 billion economy without innovation ecosystems that go beyond individual labour export. Companies like SecurityPal and industry associations such as NASIT have made significant efforts in building such an environment, recently championed by private sector leaders as a &nbsp;<a href="https://www.securitypalhq.com/blog/silicon-peaks" target="_blank">Silicon Peaks</a> model that emphasises a home growth tech cluster. The need to accelerate this transition is even more urgent with the escalating conflict in West Asia. &nbsp;The recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) <a href="https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/Nepal%20LDC%20Graduation%20Employment%20Impacts%20Report.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> shows that LDC graduation is expected to adversely impact manufacturing with losses of $1 billion by 2030.&nbsp; If manufacturing takes such a large hit from losing trade preferences, then Nepal’s services and IT sectors need to structurally transform and shift from exporting individual talent to building firms. &nbsp; A generation’s frustration has finally forced a shift in Nepal’s political structure, handing the new government a clear mandate to fix failures. But the question still persists: what prevents Nepal from achieving sustained, productivity-driven growth? &nbsp;&nbsp; RSP is in the right place at the right time to put Nepal's economy on a firm footing. At the heart of Nepal’s economic underperformance lies a major development binding constraint: low returns to investment on projects.&nbsp; The government invests like a high-growth economy, with gross capital formation at around <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.GDI.FTOT.ZS?locations=NP" target="_blank">25–30 percent of GDP</a>. Yet economic growth remains modest. The problem is not how much the country invests, but how little it gets in return. One way to see this is by looking at how much investment is required to generate growth.&nbsp; Nepal needs large amounts of capital to produce relatively small gains in output (graph, below). For instance, in 2024, the ICOR was 8.29, this suggests that Nepal had to invest more than 8 units of capital to produce a one unit of additional economic output.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260406040412_605dc527641d2ff2dc5723ed8bbec946898331d5538a55b9941e32a0725bf811.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260406040412_605dc527641d2ff2dc5723ed8bbec946898331d5538a55b9941e32a0725bf811" data-rendition-name="original" width="1827" height="925" loading="lazy" alt="Economy graph"> <figcaption>Source: Author's calculation based on a Growth Diagnostic simulation</figcaption> </figure>  This reflects a deeper issue in how investment is allocated and executed. Capital is often locked in low-productivity sectors or diluted by delays, inefficiencies, and policy uncertainty.&nbsp; As a result, even high levels of investment fail to translate into sustained growth. Until investment shifts toward productive, firm-building activities, higher spending alone will not deliver results. &nbsp; To reverse this, the government must focus on raising the returns to investment by enabling firms to grow and compete. This requires a shift from managing scarcity to creating an environment where capital can generate consistent and predictable returns. A central priority should be given to attracting and retaining both domestic and foreign private investment. Investors do not just respond to direct incentives, but also to policy stability in the country. Nepal’s economy cannot sustain high growth if its human capital continues to leave the country.&nbsp; The goal should not simply be to create jobs, but to build companies that scale, innovate, and compete beyond Nepal. This requires supporting sectors with strong productivity potential and ensuring that firms can expand without being constrained by infrastructure gaps or regulatory friction. Finally, the state must improve the quality of its own investment. Public spending should focus on lowering the cost of doing business through reliable electricity, efficient logistics, and digital infrastructure.&nbsp; The GenZ movement took two days to bring change. The economic transformation of Nepal might take a generation. The RSP can accelerate this transition, but only if it focuses on building a better investment climate for business and not just feeding the global labour pool. Kailash Raj Pandey is an MPA/ID and MBA candidate at Harvard Kennedy School and MIT Sloan School of Management and a fellow at MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Innovation and Prosperity.&nbsp; Siddhartha Raymajhí is a policy researcher based in Kathmandu.