Asia & the Pacific

Nepal

National Committee

The Government of Nepal established a national committee for the International Year of Mountains. The Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation was the lead agency for International Year of Mountains activities. The committee's mandate was to organize events to mark the Year, to publicize Nepal's work in the sustainable mountain development sphere at home and abroad, and to raise funds.

Composition

Government

Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation
Minister for Water Resources
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation
Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives
Minister for Population and Environment
State Minister for Science and Technology
State Minister for Foreign Affairs
Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation
Joint-Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

UN

Program Officer, FAO

NGO

Program Director, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
Executive Officer, King Mahendra Trust for nature Conservation
Program Officer, Swiss Development Cooperation

Research

Senior Scientific Officer, Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

Civil society

Director, Tourism Marketing and Promotion, Nepal Tourism Board
Dr. Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha, Freelancer

Highlights of activities and achievements during the International Year of Mountains

The Year was inaugurated with the opening of the Mountain Botanical Garden in Daman, Central Nepal (1 January). Nepal established this garden to promote germplasm conservation of high-altitude plants in the country and attract tourists.

International

Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev led the Nepalese Delegation and addressed the Plenary Session of the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit in Kyrgyz Republic on 29 October.
An International Seminar on Mountains was held in Kathmandu with the aim of sharing research findings on a variety of topics: high altitude medicine, biodiversity conservation, dynamics and geology of mountains, water resources and energy, agricultural practices and ecotourism (6-8 March). Participants adopted the Kathmandu Declaration.
The Asia High Summit 2002, held in Kathmandu and coordinated by ICIMOD (6-10 May), was one of several simultaneous regional conferences taking place around the world to discuss the challenges of poverty and degradation of mountain resources that mountain people face everyday.

National

Declaration of a Buffer Zone for the Sagarmatha National Park, a park that was founded in 1976 to conserve the landscape and natural resources in the high mountains and which covers an area of 1,148 square km (3 January).
Celebrations for National Plant Day with a focus on high altitude plants, were organized by the Department of Plant Resources and IYM secretariat (11 April).
Observation of the Tigi festival which highlighted the culture of mountain people
Launch of the Bajrayogini Conservation Programme on the occasion of Soil Conservation Day (9 August).
A Symposium on 'High Altitude Mountain Development', held in Nagarkot, Kathmandu (1-2 October) resulted the Nagarkot Declaration on High Altitude Mountain Development.

Educational:

Poetry, essay and road race competitions were organized for school children throughout the kingdom.
School children, teachers and community development workers were offered training courses on mountain resources and environments.

Public awareness campaigns

Mountain-related programmes were broadcast on radio and TV.
A special postage stamp was issued by the Department of Postal Services and Nepal Philatelic Bureau.

Publications

The Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation published 'Promoting Sustainable Development : Report of the Symposium on High Altitude Mountain Development' and 'International Year of Mountains 2002: Major Activities'. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation published Himshrinkhalako Yatra, by Dorjee Jangbu Lama.

Beyond the International Year of Mountains

The country plans to continue with its implementation of sustainable development activities, and in fact has identified new policies to be introduced as well as 20 elements of an Action Plan requiring attention beyond 2002. The National Coordinating Body for the International Year of Mountains has now been designated the focal point for the Mountain Partnership. Nepal celebrated the first International Mountain Day on 11 December 2003 and a National Coordinating Committee was convened to oversee celebrations. The programme of events organized for this day aimed to review the achievements made during the International Year of Mountains through seminars and other interactions, to share and disseminate information on cost-effective and efficient technologies developed and used for sustainable mountain development and to acknowledge and encourage institutions and individuals who have demonstrated outstanding commitment towards sustainable mountain development in Nepal.

The focal point for sustainable mountain development, the Chief of the Environment Division within the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, together with other relevant agencies are now responsible for taking action beyond the International Year of Mountains.

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Mountain Partnership

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