ABSTRACT
The nature of our relation to the environment is an enduring philosophical and ethical problem for geographers and environmentalists. It is also of urgent practical relevance in the assessment of present and future development prospects of any country, but particularly so in the case of Nepal, one of the world’s least-developed countries and with a spectacularly diverse environment. Two issues relating to the Nepalese environment will be considered: whether the limitations of its natural resource endowment condemn Nepal to poverty; and whether pressure of rising population and human misuse of the land so degrade the ecological base that sustainable development is not achievable. 1
