<figure><img width="3071" height="2284" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161128/636d195f9c7e80680e0ac817jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Chanaute after the flood on the Melamchi River in 2021. All photos: RAJU PANDIT CHHETRI</figcaption></figure>On 15 June, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/">Melamchi River north of Kathmandu</a> saw a massive flash flood, killing 25 people and sweeping away 200 houses and 360 hectares of farmlands.Another debris flow on the river on 31 July added to the destruction and misery. The disaster was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-monsoon-mess-in-melamchi/">unprecedented in the Melamchi Valley</a>, and caught residents, trout farms, shops along the banks by surprise. Before the communities got a chance to fully rise from the massive double-earthquake in 2015, the region was hit yet again with another disaster.As a resident of the Chanaute, I lost close relatives and neighbours to the flood. My own house and farmland were destroyed. The river sliced through the bazar town, and its 56 houses are now ruined and abandoned. The hopes of my hard-working community have also been dashed.Local entrepreneurs, small shop owners and farmers whose arable land have turned into a boulder-strewn wasteland are shattered. Damage to roads and bridges hascut the valley’s connection to the outside world. Nepal’s most expensive water supply project has been damaged. <figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161128/636d19639c7e80680e0ac818jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Any individual extreme weather event is difficult to directly attribute to the climate crisis. But the intensity and unpredictability of this year’s monsoon has been unprecedented. Manang and Mustang were hit by flash floods at the same time as Melamchi – even before the monsoon officially started. And even after the rainy season was formally over last week, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-monsoon-rain-ruins-nepals-crops/">parts of the country were hit by record-breaking rainfall.</a>For the past decade, my career has taken me to numerous international climate summits where we have discussed strong national and international advocacy to address the impact of the climate crisis – especially on developing countries like Nepal.At international climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), I have observed climate-vulnerable countries make urgent pleas for ambitious action in tackling the climate crisis. Small, low-lying island states like the Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Maldives have tried to show the urgency of it all – rising ocean levels will soon submerge their countries.The Philippines and Bangladesh continue to raise concern about the increasing intensity and frequency of typhoons and cyclones. Fragile mountain regions of the world are trying to get their concerns on the agenda.Next week, heads of state from around the world will start arriving in Glasgow for the 26th annual climate summit of the UNFCCC (called COP26). Recent impacts of extreme weather events around the world (wildfires in Siberia and the western US, heat waves in Canada, floods in Europe, landslides and floods in Japan, India, China) are likely to focus everyone’s mind on the climate emergency, and the message that we are all in this together. <figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161128/636d19669c7e80680e0ac819jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate impacts to avert and minimise some of the loss and damage will be at the forefront of the negotiations.  However, as the incoming president of COP26, the United Kingdom and the leaders of the industrialised world will have to face a new reality – to address the destruction unleashed by the climate crisis with rehabilitation, migration and financing.Industrialised countries have long brushed aside these issues, diluted their commitments to merely focusing on the weaker goal of reducing greenhouse gas emission, and providing token climate financing to allow low-income countries to adapt.In fact, addressing the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disasters-in-nepal-come-in-waves/">loss and damage from disasters</a> like the one that hit Melamchi and parts of the Himalaya will be one of the main pillars of the COP26 in Glasgow. Nepal’s delegation will be led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, and he is expected to speak about this year’s climate-induced disasters starting with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/">winter drought</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/">nationwide wildfires</a>, and floods.Nepal will have strong moral grounds to persuade world leaders that low capacity vulnerable countries need help to deal with a crisis that is not of our making. Himalayan glaciers are shrinking and receding fast, extreme weather trends are more pronounced, and this is impacting on infrastructure projects and threaten to undermine decades of progress in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. <figure><img width="4000" height="3000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161128/636d19699c7e80680e0ac81ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-glacial-lakes-in-danger-of-bursting/">A 2020 study by ICIMOD and UNDP</a> has shown that 47 glacial lakes in the Kosi, Gandaki and Karnali basins are in danger of bursting. Although 21 of these lakes are in Nepal, the others also drain into tributaries of rivers flowing into Nepal. These are ticking time bombs.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-is-a-disaster-in-the-nepal-himalaya/">Glacial lake outburst floods</a> have been hitting Nepal’s Himalayan valleys with increasing frequency. In 2012, an <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Anatom-of-a-Himalayan-tsunami,1330">avalanche on Annapurna</a> unleashed a catastrophic flood on the Seti River that killed at least 70 people. In <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2014/10/16/after-the-storm/">2014, a deadly post-monsoon blizzard</a> spawned by Cyclone Hudhud swept through the mountains catching many trekkers unawares. The Tarai have seen increasingly destructive floods in the past five years, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disastrous-management-in-nepal/">Bara district was hit by a rare tornado in 2019</a> that killed dozens.In Glasgow, Nepal will have to make a compelling case for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/himalayan-floods-a-sign-of-worse-to-come/">loss and damage compensation</a> for disasters like these. COP26 will be a make-or-break summit for reducing global carbon emissions by 45% by 2030. Nepal will also need to do its bit to achieve its updated Nationally Determined Contribution target to reduce emissions by 2030 by switching to renewable energy, and attain net zero by 2050.Glasgow will be an opportunity to link global targets to local impact, and to find ways to address the disproportionate destruction caused by climate crisis on the poorer parts of the poorest countries.Raju Pandit Chhetri is a resident of Chanaute in Nepal’s Melamchi Valley and works on climate change issues.

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Think globally in Glasgow, and act locally

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda309c7e80680e092ee4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="855" height="570"/>We have had more than a year now to ponder a ‘better normal’ for Nepal’s tourism industry. It has been pointed out that in the post-pandemic age, Nepal’s unique selling point should be parts of the country with unspoilt nature, tranquility, wilderness, and a sustainable and equitable tourism model.Instead of mass tourism, experts have laid more emphasis on high value guests who prefer activities that are light on the land, rely on locally grown and locally made products as far as possible, and carry smaller carbon footprints.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda339c7e80680e092ee5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="475"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda369c7e80680e092ee6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="905">A new breed of social entrepreneurs had been trying out this new style of tourism in Nepal even before Covid-19. But the pandemic has helped turn the trend from a fad into a necessity.The questions being asked are: who really benefits from tourism and at what cost? How can the pluses be made to outweigh the minuses? What are the ways that trekking can inject income directly into the village economy, instead of local people getting only a trickle after the European wholesalers and their Kathmandu-based agents have subtracted their margins?The entrepreneurs who were trying out this new model, are now in trouble because of the collapse of Nepal’s tourism industry. However, as consciousness grows among Nepalis with disposable income about environmental degradation and the need to reduce waste, plastics and fossil fuel use, domestic tourism could also be a driver for a better normal in tourism.Indeed, three of the initiatives featured here indicate that tourism entrepreneurs have also woken up to the value of the domestic market. The growing number of Nepalis on the trekking trails and at major destinations and the initiatives to clean up garbage mean that Nepalis want to help fellow-Nepalis by travelling in Nepal.Kalsee EcolodgeThis quaint collection of cottages in the midst of forest hills with a magnificent view of Annapurna and Machhapuchre is located in Tanchok, a ridge 35km northwest of Pokhara off the Lumle Highway. It is high enough to get some snow in winter, and low enough for it to be warm and comfortable rest of the year.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda399c7e80680e092ee7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1441"><a href="http://kalseeecolodge.com/">Kalsee Ecolodge</a> was established to stimulate the local economy with an emphasis on income generation for women, promote eco-friendly practices and cultivate the idea of sustainable tourism for rural development.It is 2km from the nearest settlement, and by staying off-grid and relying on renewable energy to power the hotel, supporting the local economy by providing jobs as well as sourcing all raw materials including food locally, following innovative waste management practices including the use of eco-friendly composting toilets that use natural decomposition and evaporation to recycle human waste, Kalsee touches upon several of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is well aligned with carbon neutral accommodation services.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda3c9c7e80680e092ee8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1441">“Each cottage was designed with extreme care for the surroundings using local craftsmanship,” says General Manager Ram Bhakta Gurung. “Our food is all local dishes, prepared from ingredients produced by farmers in the surrounding areas.”Because of its location and surroundings, Kalsee Ecolodge offers a variety of activities from meditation and yoga, bird and butterfly watching, to short forest hikes to unspoilt traditional Gurung villages nearby. The semi-tropical forests teem with wildlife, and there are 400 species of birds just in the surrounding mountains.  A nearby hilltop offers spectacular sunrise views, and one-day walk away are the hot springs in Jhinuwa.Madi Eco-villageThe Madi Valley is in Nepal, but its location south of the Chitwan National Park has meant that it has always been isolated from the rest of the country. This is also what preserved the region’s pristine environment and the unspoilt lifestyle of its people.The village of Bankatta is inhabited mostly by the indigenous Bot people who depend on the forest and river for their livelihood, but are adaptable and willing to take on ecologically-sensitive, nature-based community tourism that the Madi Eco-Village project will promote.Madi feels like rural Nepal a few decades ago, and its promoters say the project does not try to idealise that time, but to lay out a different path of development that appreciates and values natural assets and strong local culture, while embracing careful modernization to raise local living standards.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda3f9c7e80680e092ee9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="626">The prime mover of the project is Sarita Bot, a community leader who has been working with international partners. <a href="https://sustainablemountainarchitecture.tumblr.com/post/621972666546585600/the-bankatta-model">Sustainable Mountain Architecture (SMA)</a> was building the first of two cottages and a community hall before the pandemic hit, but construction has restarted and the facility is expected to open by Dasain.The village-stay concept is designed so that both Nepali and international guests can immerse themselves in the local culture and nature, get to know the way of life, and get an authentic experience of rural Nepal.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda439c7e80680e092eeajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">The Madi Valley is wedged between the edge of the forest and the Indian border. It teems with wildlife, and the 32 sq m cottages are designed for serenity and comfort. There will be home-cooked meals and activities that provide an alternative to the mass tourism prevalent in Sauraha. The architecture of the cottages are made to resemble traditional Bot homes with large porches. They stand on an elevated plinth of river stones, and the wall and tile roofs are all made with local bamboo and sal.The project is supported by <a href="http://www.repic.ch/repic-en/">REPIC Switzerland</a> and <a href="https://www.myclimate.org/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmIuDBhDXARIsAFITC_55s61-BLsWj53j2F1rsmK4P_oeidnwUs9JngmG0yjBbjlXTd1H66AaAsonEALw_wcB">MyClimate</a>. “The idea was to explore a model for holistic tourism as a means to catalyse sustainable rural development in Nepal,” says Monika Schaffner of <a href="http://www.monikaschaffner.biz">connecting spaces</a>. “Tourism has the potential to bring the economic, ecological and cultural aspects together in an ideally win-win situation for people, place and planet.”The Pavilions HimalayasNepal’s leading eco-sustainable resort, <a href="https://www.pavilionshotels.com/himalayas/">The Pavilions Himalayas</a> which operates The Farm has added its Lake View property, and re-opened both after the lockdowns and closures. These two properties are now offering exciting getaway packages for Nepalis.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda469c7e80680e092eebjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1039" height="835">The Pavilions prides itself as a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/eco-tourism-for-social-cause,3048">truly eco-sensitive luxury resort</a> that ploughs some of its profits into the local community and to charities. Set on an organic farm with goats, free-ranging chicken, cows, and even a rice paddy, the resorts recycle all water, compost all biodegradable matter and use biogas in the kitchen.It produces its own biodegradable signature toiletries from natural local ingredients. The Farm has 14 bungalows powered with solar energy, and rainwater harvesting. Employees are from nearby villages, and the resorts try to forestall out-migration of youth.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111012110/636cda489c7e80680e092eecjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1153" height="679">“This is a feel-good getaway in every sense,” says founder Douglas Maclagan.The Lakeview satellite resort has eight tented villas situated in the midst of lush forests alive with birds that mix luxury with adventure. The glamping site offers stunning views of Phewa Lake’s unspoilt western edge and the Annapurnas beyond."We're thrilled to finally re-open and welcome guests back. Nepalis are ready to explore our beautiful country and it feels good to offer an exclusive package with a delicate balance of adventure and relaxation," says General Manager Rajiv Desraj Shrestha.The resort’s 'Naturally Yours' offer is for a 2-night, 3-day eco-getaway that includes airport transfers for Rs22,000 for couples at the Farm and Rs24,888 for two at Lakeview.

Tourism that treads lightly on the land

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151124/636a66fa9c7e80680e0599b4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1081"/><figcaption>Photo : BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Nepal is recognised as the only low-income country to have made rapid progress cutting poverty and boosting public health and education in recent decades. But can these achievements be sustained in the 2020-2030 decade?The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/Saving-one-mother-at-a-time,816" target="_blank" rel="noopener">country’s maternal mortality rate decreased</a> from 539 deaths per 100,000 live births to 239 deaths between 1996 and 2016. The adult literacy rate rose from 20% in the 1980s to 67% in 2018, and the proportion of Nepalis living below the poverty line <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-great-income-divide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped from 42% to 21% in two decades</a>.Yet the poorest still <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/federalism-leaves-nepals-medical-sector-ailing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">do not have access to affordable healthcare</a>. The school dropout rate is as high as the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=41#.XftNv5MzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enrolment rate</a>. In urban centres, people breathe <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some of the foulest air in the world</a>, reducing their life expectancy by up to four years. Many lack safe drinking water.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=38023&amp;preview_nonce=024823c344&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Towards 2030</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=38038&amp;preview_nonce=e8166bf726&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Another decade to get it right,</a> Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=38061&amp;preview_nonce=012fb23553&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal in the 2020s,</a> Sewa BhattaraiLocal elections in 2017, after a gap of 20 years, were supposed to close these gaps by delivering accountable, elected leaders. Two years later, the euphoria has evaporated. The state of the state remains stagnant.“The elections helped us rebuild grassroots democracy and decentralise power, but the lack of accountability at all levels of government continues to be a major challenge,” says Min Bahadur Shahi of the National Planning Commission (NPC). “This is why the primary agenda of the NPC’s 15th periodic plan is governance reform, controlling corruption and promoting transparency.”As we step into the new decade, there are questions about Nepal’s progress in human development, including whether we are on track to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieve double-digit growth. Reaching these targets will require huge investments in healthcare, schools and nutrition. With the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health-makes-nepalis-poorer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emergence of non-communicable diseases</a>, Nepal now faces a double burden: rising rates of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/diabetes-in-south-asia,3018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diabetes</a>, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, which are expensive to treat, while the poor continue to die of easily curable infections.Said Sanjib Sharma, doctor at the BP Koirala Institute for Health Sciences in Dharan: “Our efforts now should be on strengthening primary health care and prevention and early detection of diseases using existing tools, as well as new technologies such as artificial intelligence for virtual expert consultation and drug delivery.”Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=38051&amp;preview_nonce=38f8426e6c&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal in 2030,</a> Sanghamitra Subba<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=38046&amp;preview_nonce=d2d7129548&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A future written in the stars,</a> Sanghamitra SubbaDespite poverty falling by half, one-third of Nepali children <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nearly-half-of-nepali-children-still-malnourished/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are still malnourished</a>. Anaemia among women has actually increased in recent years. The government’s Multi-sectoral Nutrition Plan, developed in 2012, works to improve maternal and child health, vaccination rates and malnutrition.“Development in Nepal is still synonymous with roads, but investing in early childhood development is equally important, it is a component of development,” said Kiran Rupakheti of the NPC, which wants nutrition programs to reach the grassroots.Even as literacy rates rise, gender disparity is expected to continue in the coming decade. As female literacy improves, for instance, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/child-marriage-in-nepal-eloped-at-13-mother-by-17/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">child marriage</a> and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19596#.XftPh5MzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">girls’ dropout rates</a> will persist. Experts say improving the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/after-quantity-nepals-education-needs-quality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quality of instruction</a> at community schools, encouraging female students in technical fields and promoting applied education should be priority areas in the 10 years ahead.Nepal is expected to graduate from lower-middle-income country status by 2030, but that is unlikely if the SDGs goals are not met. For this, the government will need to spend $1billion a year in infrastructure alone. Nepal is hoping to sustain <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/guest-editorial-Nepal-economic-growth,923" target="_blank" rel="noopener">double-digit growth</a> of above 10% and achieve per capita income of $1,595 by the end of the decade.“I’m hopeful about our prospects but if we uplift the economic status of women, who make up more than half of the population, we will get there sooner,” said Saru Joshi, gender and development expert.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/05/24/bleak-economic-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A 2017 World Bank report</a>, however, stated that if present trends continue Nepal will not reach its middle-income target. It pointed out that despite rapid reduction in the poverty rate, the country’s development path has not led to economic growth but perpetuated a shortage of jobs at home, which in turn is fuelling further <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/reducing-labour-pain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outmigration</a>. And while remittance accounts for one-third of the national GDP, it is a symptom of deep-seated, chronic problems.Planners say that a slew of new hydropower and large infrastructure projects planned for the next 10 years, a boom in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/guiding-nepals-tourism-industry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tourism and the service sector</a>, and better connectivity will create jobs at home, discouraging youth from seeking employment elsewhere.“We know our targets are ambitious but we also have the most favourable environment to achieve it. There is finally stability, the present growth is already at 7%, some <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/decentralising-hydropower/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">major hydropower projects</a> are taking off and we have made huge investments in information technology,” said Rupakheti.Shahi forecasts optimistically: “The 2020s will be a progressive decade of sustainable and just development. There will be prosperity along with social justice. There will be double-digit growth, increased investment from the government and the focus will be on quality, not quantity.”

sustainable-development-goals

Think globally in Glasgow, and act locally

Tourism that treads lightly on the land

How will Nepal develop in the next decade?