ABSTRACT
During the 1970s the notion that human activities in the Himalaya were producing an unfolding environmental crisis became an unquestioned discourse of the entire academic and development communities. The argument was most effectively presented by Eric Eckholm in an article in Science (1975) and a book (Eckholm 1976). Here is Eckholm’s synopsis:
Most know the kingdom [of Nepal] as the photogenic home of Mount Everest, as an exotic Shangri-la sprinkled with pagodas and quaint villages tucked away in the folds of the Himalayas. The facade of romance and beauty remains intact, but behind it are the makings of a great human tragedy. Population growth in the context of a traditional agrarian technology is forcing farmers onto ever steeper slopes, slopes unfit for sustained farming even with the astonishingly elaborate terracing practiced there. Meanwhile, villagers must roam further and further from their houses to gather fodder and firewood, thus . . . ground holding trees are disappearing fast . . . Landslides destroy lives, homes, and crops . . . Topsoil . . . is now Nepal’s most precious export, but one for which it receives no compensation.
