The Images
Index
UNU's joint project with Chiang Mai University (1978-1984) examined the relationships between swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture, deforestation, opium poppy cultivation, soil erosion, and the well-being of ethnic minority Hill Tribes. While other agencies and university groups have undertaken similar studies, our project raised many challenges to widely accepted but unproven assumptions. We were also able to meet many representatives of these colourful minority peoples.
View westward across the mountain ridges into the headwaters of the Irrawaddy drainage and Myanmar in the far distance. As recently as fifty years ago this was virtually trackless "Golden Triangle" country across which different Hill Tribe groups moved freely, cultivating the opium poppy, maize, hill rice, and a wide variety of lesser crops. The period of forest fallow after burning and cropping was often as long as twenty years or more. Rapid population growth after about 1950 progressively suppressed the period of fallow required for forest regeneration causing the spread of Imperata grassland and a host of related problems. Many of the assumed cause-and-effect processes leading to deforestation and downstream damage were not based on solid evidence. Ethnic prejudice fueled concern about the perceived environmental degradation and influenced the application of policies that were sometimes repressive and often ineffective. Today the problems are much better understood although there are no simple solutions.
2 Lisu lady with basket (April, 1978)
This Lisu lady is carrying a basket of hard won produce from her swidden field. She chews betel nuts for solace since subsistence work is extremely burdensome. I met her on three different visits and each time was graciously presented with a double handful of sunflower seeds, but neither betel nor opium! The Lisu live in the middle altitudes and are slowly being encouraged to grow alternate cash crops to the opium poppy. Their colourful costumes and traditional way-of-life (now rapidly changing) have attracted considerable tourism development.
3
Lisu swidden fields and the distant ridges – extreme outliers of the
Himalaya (April, 1978)
Lisu swidden fields are usually quite small and surrounded by secondary forest growth. While the dominant crop is hill rice, some twenty other edible species are inter-cropped with the rice. The baskets are used for carrying the hand-threshed rice, vegetables, nuts, and other seeds back to the village which may be a kilometre or more distant.
4
Lisu traditional village of bamboo and thatch (April, 1978)
The traditional Lisu village, in my estimation, is both beautiful and functional. During the hot weeks of April, before the monsoon breaks, the dark interiors are cool and restful. Here I was served a precious delicacy – roasted termites and other morsels unusual to a stray Western intruder, but as tasty as the gift of sunflower seeds. Regrettably, many of these village homes have now been replaced with cinderblock walls and corrugated iron roofs – desperately hot in April and cold and damp during the winter – in the interests of order and modernity. Is this progress?
5 Karen
maiden sewing (April, 1978)
This Karen girl attends to her traditional labours. Her people generally live lower on the mountain slopes than their Lisu neighbours, while the Hmong occupy the highest reaches. The Karen are the largest ethnic minority group in Northern Thailand and have become much more closely integrated into the ethnic Northern Thai ways of life. For decades they have been adapting into a sedentary agricultural pattern.
6
Soil erosion study plots in the middle slopes, Northern Thailand (July,
1981)
These extensive study plots were set up by Professor Hans Hurni and his co-workers; they support an impressive array of hydro-meteorological instrumentation. They were planted with a range of crops: a poppy/maize cycle, coffee, hill rice, lemon grass, and a variety of other actual and potential crops. We believed that any attempt to replace the opium poppy with alternate cash crops should be preceded by determination of the relative rates of soil loss that each cropping pattern would incur. In practice, we found that conversion to permanent terraced fields, essential if the opium poppy was to be replaced by intensive cultivation, was constrained by labour availability for cutting the terraces. Imported labour to complete such a task merely added to the local population, thereby neutralizing the aim of intensifying agriculture as the very process produced more mouths to be fed.
Nepal, rather than the Indian Himalaya, was chosen for the major UNU mountain study in 1978 because of the less restricted access to areas near the international border with China. This was especially important in the 1970s and 1980s when we needed open access to the High Himal. Thus HMG's National Planning Commission, Kathmandu, became our primary collaborating institution and many of our young co-workers were recruited from Tribhuvan University. Two field areas were selected in 1979, Kakani within easy distance from the capital to represent the Middle Mountains, and Khumbu Himal for the high mountain site. The original intention was to focus on mapping mountain hazards. In effect, we became caught up with the sweeping assumptions of the day: that rapidly increasing sedentary farming populations were the cause of drastic deforestation and catastrophic downstream flooding on the plains of Gangetic India and Bangladesh.
7 Well cared for irrigated terraces (khet) near Chautara, Nepal (July, 1986)
The dramatic architecture of Nepal's mountain terraces is well known throughout the world. During the 1970s, however, expansion of terrace cultivation into forested land was presumed to be the main cause of rapidly increasing landslide incidence, soil erosion, and downslope flooding and siltation. We were able to demonstrate what the mountain farmers had known for generations (why had they not been asked?). The terrace network shown here is a carefully controlled irrigation system that required generations of hard and skillful labour. Landscape change has undoubtedly occurred, but the result is an efficient soil conservation measure. Our studies indicated an inverse relationship between population density and landslide incidence.
8 Rainfed terraces (bari) have totally remodelled the mountain slopes near Kakani
This is a mountain landscape totally transformed by human labour. These terraces support hill rice, maize, millet, buckwheat and, closer to Kathmandu and its burgeoning tourism, green vegetables and tomatoes. The houses are cautiously sited along the ridge crests. The terraces (bari) are not irrigated but depend upon natural rainfall. They slope gently out from the hillside so that during heavy monsoon downpours the surplus rain can run off their surfaces. This type of terracing is developed at higher altitudes (shorter growing season) and/or on steeper slopes than the khet (irrigated for paddy in summer and winter wheat). The bari terraces are more susceptible to soil erosion and landslides and because they are less productive than the paddy terraces, command lower priority attention for repair.
9
Small girl with empty basket (May, 1981)
This child enthusiastically imitates her mother although her basket is virtually weightless. When she reaches the age of eleven or twelve it probably will be half full. By age sixteen it will be full and she may have become a "beast-of-burden" for life. Yet she will probably also bear the happy welcoming smile throughout her life. However, rural change, which is occurring throughout the Himalaya, may ensure that she is of the last generation that undergoes abject servitude.
10
Landslide on a mountain slope
below Kakani (October, 1978)
This landslide occurred during the summer monsoon of 1978 and the photograph was taken the following October. The debris flow continued off the picture at lower left and extended for another kilometre almost to the main river course in the valley below. It was surveyed as part of the Kakani mountain hazard mapping. It proved to be one of many sites that helped lead to a more accurate understanding of the landscape dynamics of the Nepal Middle Mountain zone (see photograph 11).
11
Landslide on a mountain slope
below Kakani (August, 1992)
The landslide described above (caption 10) was re-photographed several times during the following twenty years and last visited in 2000 when no trace of it could be found. The area damaged by the landslide was kept as rough grazing for the first several years. Later a crop of maize was grown. By 1992 it had been completely re-terraced and was supporting vegetable crops for sale to Kathmandu hotels, thus producing a more valuable yield than the surrounding land. Under the assumptions that dominated Himalayan thinking during much of the 1970s and 1980s, the landslide scar seen in 1978, hypothetically, should have expanded and destroyed much of the mountain slope. Clearly, this did not occur and the local farmers were very much in control.
12 Intricate
khet terraces in the Kakani area, Nepal (May, 1981)
When we first began work in Nepal we heard much about the "ignorant" subsistence farmers who were cutting down the forests and destroying their own environment. Once we were able to discuss the situation with the villagers, aided by Tribhuvan students, we were able to propose a totally different explanation. The terraces shown in this photograph have been skillfully cut into the run-out debris of a landslide. It was triggered deliberately by knowledgeable villagers who had diverted a small mountain stream to saturate the soil so that slippage would occur. The resulting moist and loose landslide debris then yielded more easily to terrace construction. The subsistence farmers were certainly not the main cause of extensive environmental degradation but were the victims of misrepresentation by government and aid agency personnel who had not conducted any detailed investigations. Rather than a cause of the "problem" they should be regarded as a major part of the solution.
13 Drying the harvest for winter storage, Kakani, Nepal (October, 1983)
One of the most beautiful months to visit the Middle Mountains is October. The summer monsoon is well past, food is plentiful, and laughter abounds. This scene shows a traditional farm yard with corn cobs drying in the sun, raised far above the reach of insatiable small animal pests.
14 Red peppers drying in an urban square, Kathmandu valley (July, 1986)
The woman and her daughters keep a careful eye on their precious harvest of peppers. Away from the new concrete and glass of the mushrooming hotels and the traffic and pollution of "modern" Kathmandu, peace and stark beauty still reign in an ancient Nepalese urban setting. Red peppers, peeling brick, and poverty maintain fragile defiance against "progress".
15 Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) seen from above Namche Bazar, early evening (April 1979)
The summit pyramid of Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) rises above the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge on the left skyline. These uppermost slopes of the world's highest mountains reflect the late evening sunlight while dusk obliterates the Tengboche monastery in the dark pastel blues of the Imja Khola valley floor. This is April 1979 and our UNU reconnaissance route lay up the adjacent valley toward Cho Oyu.
16 Sherpani porters resting below Namche Bazar, Khumbu Himal (April, 1979)
This photograph shows two of our twenty-two women porters resting briefly on the steep trail below Namche Bazar. They were representative of the entire group: mischievous, full of mirth and boundless energy, and excellent companions. They carried the food, tents and equipment and many of the personal effects (but not the Hasselblad) of the UNU reconnaissance team from Lukla via Namche to our highest camp at the base of the Ngozumpa Glacier below Cho Oyu (8,153 m).
THE HENGDUAN MOUNTAINS, YUNNAN, SOUTHWEST CHINA
The Himalayan study was extended to include a UNU mountain reconnaissance in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Science. We were able to visit western Szechwan (Gongga Shan: 7,556 m) and northwestern Yunnan (Yulongxue Shan - Jade Dragon Snow Mountains: 5,596 m) in 1982 when most of China remained tightly closed to foreign visitors. Thus we had remarkable early contact with several minority peoples, especially Naxi, Yi, Tibetan, and Bai people. The northwestern area of Yunnan, primarily Lijiang County, was selected for detailed study and ten weeks were spent in the field in 1985. Further visits were undertaken in 1991, and 1992-95 when studies were made of the socioeconomic and environmental changes that were occurring in this area, newly opened to outside visitors. These later visits received additional funding from the Ford Foundation, jointly to the University of California, Davis, and the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences to study the impacts of modern development on some of the ethnic minorities, especially women, and how this in turn affected the environment.
17 Sunrise on the Jade Dragon (October, 1994)
The Yulongxue Shan (Jade Dragon Snow Mountains) are the sacred mountains of the Naxi people. Ancient folklore foretold that the ritual suicide of young Naxi couples would bring about their bodily transfer over the mountain range to a paradise of everlasting youth and joy – the Naxi equivalent of Shambala (Shangri La). This dramatic view of the highest summit may prompt the viewer to contemplate the strength of the old ritual. For the more sanguine glaciologist, however, it is the location of Eurasia's most southerly glaciers and permanent ice and snow.
18 Yi lady with ear ring, Yunnan, China (October, 1994)
The Yi are one of the many minority peoples of Yunnan. In Lijiang County they live in extremely poor mountain villages. Despite poverty, as in the case of this lady, they have a rich culture, colourful costumes, and fascinating dances.
19 Laughing monk, Lijiang County, Yunnan (November, 1995)
Guardian of a small Buddhist monastery that survived the Cultural Revolution in the mountains above Lijiang City, this Tibetan monk proved an enthusiast for the camera. I spent a delightful two hours with him in mutually unintelligible yet highly animated conversation.
20 Bai girls being ogled by the village lads (September, 1982)
In 1982, en route to Lijiang, we paused for a rest in a Bai village. These spectacularly dressed girls had never seen fair-skinned foreigners with blue eyes in their entire lives. They were consequently shy of the Hasselblad and quickly turned their backs. The young village males had forsaken their traditional dress for the 'modern' look more akin to Chairman Mao, but they appeared well aware of a beautiful picture when it was presented to them.
21 Tiger Leap Gorge and the lingering mysteries of the Jinsha Jiang (upper Yangtze) (October, 1993)
Here the Jinsha Jiang roars through the Tiger Leap Gorge nearly 5,000 metres below the snow-capped summits of the Yulongxue and Habaxue Shan. In 1982 and 1985 permission to walk through the gorge was withheld by the Chinese authorities. In 1992 we completed the three-day trek through the gorge. By 1995 the number of trekkers exceeded several thousand. Today the crux of the trek, shown here in 1992, with the laden animals edging past the high rocky overhang, has been blasted away to make room for a paved two-lane highway to accommodate tourist buses. The potential for World Heritage status has been "sold" for the benefits of mass tourism.
22 Wenhai village and its vanishing lake (October, 1993)
Wenhai is a Naxi village situated at 3,100 metres above sea level. A walk of five hours from the nearest road in the autumn brings you to the serene landscape shown in the photograph. But this is limestone country, so if your visit is in springtime the lake will have disappeared down a sink hole and you will find village livestock grazing a lush meadow. Situated on an ancient caravan route between Kunming and Lhasa, the village plunged into abject poverty during Mao Zedong's China. Despite being above the upper limit for regular cultivation of rice, the hapless villagers were obliged to produce rice since that was the required currency for taxation. Dr. Joseph Rock, the legendary American naturalist (see caption 25), photographed the village in the 1920s. The UNU research team visited in 1985, probably the first time outsiders had been there since Joseph Rock. From 1992 to 1995 it was one of the UNU/Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences intensive study sites leading to investigation of its changing socioeconomic and environmental situation.
23 Yi dancing girls, neighbours of Wenhai on a party visit (October, 1993)
Shortage of meat in Wenhai village prompted us to follow the advice of the village Communist Party Secretary and purchase sheep from a nearby Yi village. The Yi walked several kilometres through the forest in their "Sunday best" and, in addition to bringing the mutton, they entertained with a lively display of song and dance that was enjoyed by the entire village. Within a few scant years this kind of spontaneous traditional activity was being exploited for the benefit of mass tourism.
24 A Wenhai farmstead backed by the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains (November, 1995)
The old owner of this farm had recently lost his wife and wanted to join his eldest son in Lijiang City. The UNU team assisted the newly established village "development" committee to acquire the farm buildings as the first step in setting up a trekking route around the Jade Dragon massif. The plan to develop a form of appropriate tourism under village control was stillborn, in part because a major earthquake in February 1996 destroyed the buildings as well as causing widespread damage and loss of life throughout the Lijiang region.
25 A Naxi farmhouse, Yuhu – headquarters of Dr. Joseph Rock, 1923-1949 (May, 1985)
Joseph Rock, the strange self-taught botanist, anthropologist, and linguist, travelled, photographed, and studied the wider region of Yunnan and western Szechwan on behalf of National Geographic Society for a quarter century. This farm was used for several years as his base of operations. The Naxi man on the left, as a small boy, was taught English on Rock's knee. Rock left a goldmine of information of a region virtually unknown to Western civilization at that time, which included several thousand excellent photographs.
TAJIKISTAN AND THE 'ROOF OF THE WORLD'
Access to the former Soviet Central Asia became possible in the late-1980s following the introduction of perestroika. A reconnaissance to Dushanbe and the Pamir mountains in 1987, organized by Professor Yuri P. Badenkov of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, led to research agreements between UNU, the USSR, and Tajik SSR academies. Included were studies of the mountain environment and the socioeconomic impacts of return migration of Mountain Tajiks (Pamiris) from formerly enforced labour in the cotton fields of the southwestern lowlands, and also mountain hazards and the prospects for national park/biosphere reserve designation. Much progress was made until the project was overwhelmed by the civil war that erupted hard on the heels of Tajikistan's independence following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Now that somewhat better conditions are at hand, plans are developing for a UNU/Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan/Swiss initiative in the High Pamir.
26 The High Pamir and the Fedchenko Glacier (October, 1990)
Changing politics tends to lead to changes in place names. So far, the Fedchenko Glacier, reputed to be the longest glacier outside the Polar regions, retains its name. From the upper reaches of the glacier, actually from above one of the high tributaries, this view demonstrates the majesty of the 'Roof of the World'. Possibly more important than 'majesty' is the Pamir's supply of water, and the overuse of its major rivers for irrigation and industry, especially the Amu Darya River, that has contributed to the Aral Sea catastrophe.
27 The Western Pamir (October, 1990)
West of the high snow-capped peaks a magnificent array of lower peaks and long ridges provide a startling landscape contrast. Here we were impressed by the prospects for long-distance trekking, nature conservation, and national park development, all of which could provide appropriate development opportunities for many of the Pamiri people who are barely able to feed themselves by traditional farming in the deeper valleys.
28 Pamiri children of the Pianj River gorge (June, 1999)
These children live close to their relatives across the river in Afghanistan – in fact we could hear the Afghani children singing in rote their arithmetic tables hardly a stone's throw away. The Pamiri are hard-pressed to survive. In fact, without continued assistance from the Aga Khan group and other relief agencies, abandonment of many of the high villages (kishlaks) with tragic loss of culture and tradition would be inevitable. However, these children may grow up to attend the new mountain university being established at Khorog, regional capital of Gorno-Badakhshan, by the Aga Khan.
29 Rogoun Dam and the Vakhsh River, Tajikistan (October, 1990)
A mountain top had been levelled to provide a site for a new town, part of the immense Rogoun dam project. We visited the town and dam construction in 1990. Even then, the tide of rising nationalism was inducing many Russian engineers and their families to migrate to Russia. If the dam were completed to its design height some 30 villages up-stream would be submerged, but the plans were already being challenged by a growing Tajik "green" movement when civil war brought construction to a standstill. Tajikistan is one of Asia's poorest countries and, although rich in resources, development would raise serious environmental problems. Such is the dilemma facing many mountain regions. For the time being, however, this major hydroelectric site is controlled by an uncooperative militia and is not safely accessible.
30 The Tragedy of Khait – Landslide disaster in the Pamir (October, 1990)
This is an aerial view of the Surkhab Valley, tributary to the Vakhsh, seen in the middle distance with the Gissar-Alai range beyond. Khait, the district centre, and many villages in the valley were annihilated in 1949 when a major earthquake released a gigantic landslide near the summit of a Pamir peak. Some 28,000 people are believed to have perished in a matter of minutes, an event that, for political reasons, went unreported until recent years. Today the mounds of rock and debris litter almost the entire valley floor.
Once the various Asian components of UNU's mountain project were formulated, consideration was extended to Ethiopia, East Africa, and South America. Andean studies encompassed Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. Resource development, environment, and migration of mountain peoples were central concerns. In Ecuador the effects of abandonment of mountain land on soil erosion received special attention as did the related sedimentation of new hydroelectric reservoirs. In northern Chile, the relationships between long-term climate change, ground water supply, and mining were examined. Several conferences and field excursions were also organized and a monument was erected high on Mt. Chimborazo commemorating Alexander von Humboldt as the founder of mountain geoecology.
31 Quechua girl with hat, Bolivia (July, 1975)
The hat identifies the girl as a peasant of the Bolivian Altiplano. Her high plateau homeland, surrounding the fabled Lake Titicaca (3,812 m), has received much attention in recent years as archaeological and agro-ecological research has revealed that, during Inca and pre-Inca times, population densities were much higher than today, and living standards were also much higher. A progressive move to re-introduce and adapt traditional life-styles promises to yield positive results.
32 The Altiplano and the Cordillera Réal (July, 1975)
The plain in the foreground lies mainly above 4,000 metres. Despite its gentle relief it is traditionally included in most definitions of mountain territory on account of its absolute altitude and restricted growing season. Beyond lies the Cordillera Réal which today boasts some of the world's highest ski resorts. From the summits the land drops steeply into the Amazon Basin, and the drive down is still a test of nerves for the passengers and of stamina for the driver.
33 Paramo vegetation of the Ecuadorean High Andes (August, 1985)
Just north of the Equator in the High Andes the remarkable paramo vegetation persists despite the progressive upward push of cattle grazing. The smoke in the distance indicates burning of this usually moist vegetation during a dry period. This is an indication of high-altitude ranching that endangers the water balance at lower levels. The spectacular Espeletia rosettes of the Andes and their conformable counterparts, the giant Lobelia of Mount Kenya in Africa, provide a classic example of "convergent evolution", an important component of high mountain biodiversity.
UNU GENERAL MOUNTAIN RECONNAISSANCE
To achieve as broad an understanding as possible of world-wide mountain issues, field reconnaissance, conferences, excursions, and training seminars were undertaken far beyond the boundaries of the main research projects. These included the Atlas, Tibet, the Tien Shan, western Szechwan, Papua-New Guinea, the Caucasus, and the Japanese and New Zealand Alps. A few photographic mementoes of these endeavours are presented.
TIBET AND ACROSS THE HIMALAYA TO KATHMANDU
34 One-legged man and small girl, Lhasa (June, 1980)
In 1980 UNU representatives were involved in the second only excursion by foreigners to Tibet. Extensive travels were based on Lhasa. In the old town we made some of the first encounters with the local citizens since before Mao Zedong's defeat of the Kuomintang in 1949. This photograph was virtually an accident in that I was holding the Hasselblad at hip-level. Surprising the two, presumably father and daughter, I instinctively released the shutter, not sure until after processing the film that they were even on the frame. Later photographs, for which the couple gladly posed, did not compare.
35 Tibetan lady with radishes (June, 1980)
In contrast to No. 34, this photograph was deliberately posed. Alone in the shadow of the Jokhung Temple, the welcome I met was so tumultuous that bodily contact left me unable to focus. Taking the lady firmly by the shoulders I managed to increase the distance between her and the lens to more than minimum that the f=80 mm Zeiss Planar needed.
36 The Potala, Lhasa, (June, 1980)
It was a great privilege to be able to explore the Potala before the first surge of tourists. Repairs and re-painting were well underway, although the giant edifice was eerily empty. A monument to generations of Tibetan religious devotion and cultural evolution, this symbolic building is surely one of the jewels in the crown of world architectural heritage. It would be better preserved if it were part of a living tradition rather than a lifeless tourist trap.
37 Forgotten Habitation on the Plateau (June, 1980)
Situated high on the Plateau, this object of considerable interest interrupted one of our reconnaissance excursions in 1980. While barely possible to be passed off as a geological formation, it represents the ruins of a fortified settlement standing in an utterly degraded plain with limited vegetation growth. It posed questions such as: how many years have passed since it was occupied, and by whom? is it not an early example of unsustainable development in a fragile mountain environment? Landscape change between that unknown period of the distant past and today is cause for reflection. Interpretation of present-day mountain landscapes requires historical depth. In the far distance we could see the north side of the Himalaya and the approach to our journey down from dry hypoxic plateau to the lushness of Nepal during the summer monsoon.
38 The Mountains of Heaven (Tien Shan) (June, 1981)
The Tien Shan places a giant wall across Central Asia. The Dzungarian Gates, some 100 km from this location, remained open for Ghengiz Khan and his Golden Hord, but have been closed for most of the intervening centuries. The spectacular pass, shown here, with meadows gleaned from the subalpine forests by Uighur and Kazak nomads, lies only a few kilometres from what in 1981 was regarded as the most heavily guarded frontier on earth (between P.R. China and the former USSR). Travelling for more than a hundred kilometres close to this frontier, we saw little more than yurts, yak, and nomadic people.
39 Uighur children high in the Tien Shan (June, 1981)
These children on the same pass as shown in No. 38 were as shy as deer. After a great deal of coaxing they relaxed, but when I moved too suddenly they sprang up and fled, leaving the baby boy on the grass. On a later encounter, I realized that the girl on the far right had blue eyes; "but", said my host, "Ghengiz Khan did reach the gates of Vienna"!
HUNZA AND THE KARAKORUM, NORTHERN PAKISTAN
40 Below the Khunjerab Pass, Karakorum (September, 1995)
The Karakorum Highway has become a focus for studies of the impact of increased mountain accessibility. As a participant of the German-Pakistan/Culture Area Karakorum symposium in Islamabad, I was able to cross the Khunjerab Pass into Xinziang, China, at 4,934 metres. Despite the majesty of the snow peaks – K2, Gasherbrum, Nanga Parbat, Rakaposhi – I selected this interplay of late afternoon sunlight and shadow on arid mountain ridges.
41 Hunza and the Karakorum Highway (September, 1995)
The Ismaili Hunzakuts are responding to globalization with extensive assistance from the Aga Khan. The legendary mirdom has disappeared with Pakistan and Indian independence, along with several empires, kingdoms, and republics. The beauty remains, seemingly inviolate – beauty of land, people, and their architecture. But the way ahead in fraught with dangers, not the least being rapid development of tourism. It is to be hoped that the combination of the IYM and the International Year of Eco-tourism in 2002 will provide some effective solutions.
42 Karimabad, Hunza, Northern Pakistan (September, 1995)
The impressive defence structures of the past have become tourist attractions of today. This remarkable cluster of castle and flat-roofed houses is discretely coloured by ripening peppers and apricots and grossly discoloured by a single spot of green, white, and blue corrugated iron. The finest preservations reflect the commitment of the Aga Khan and UNESCO.
43 Highland lady and her baby (August, 1979)
The highlands of Papua-New Guinea were originally considered for UNU mountain research, although lack of local university infrastructure prompted concentration on Northern Thailand and the Himalaya. Nevertheless, an extensive reconnaissance in 1979 broadened our mountain insights. It also brought us into contact with yet another friendly mountain people. Poverty and laughter so often go hand-in-hand, at least for part of the time; the dead rat is presumably the boy's treasured toy.
On-going research in the Swiss Alps and the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the 1970s provided a wealth of experience that helped shape the UNU mountain programme. The Swiss Alps also became a centre for several of our symposia, field demonstrations, and training exercises, as well as a place where we could serve as host to UNU fellows from Nepal, Bhutan, China, Tajikistan, Russia, Bangladesh, India, Africa, and South America.
44 From the Furka Pass toward Andermatt (June, 1977)
This view, looking eastward from the Furka Pass shows a small forest remnant, preserved to provide avalanche protection for the tiny village below. It demonstrates the enormous loss of forest cover from the mountain slope on either side as, in past centuries, a growing population needed more timber and fuelwood, and especially more pasture for the farm animals. In considering the present situation across much of the Himalaya, it is useful to reflect on the history of landscape change in the mountain regions of the industrialized countries.
45 High above Grimsel Pass (October, 1976)
Despite the reported tourist masses, an hour's walk brings the hiker to a splendour of mountain peaks, a sense of isolation, and peace.
46 Mountain man with alphorn (May, 1977)
The survival of traditions becomes a focus for the well-being of mountain people. The key appears to retain control in the face of commercial pressure and the demands of mass tourism.
47 Navajo Peak and the Continental Divide in mid-winter (January, 1971)
Some of the first UNU mountain research fellows (from Nepal, Thailand, China, and Bhutan) learned mountain research methods and landscape appreciation in the Colorado Front Range. This cold New Year's Day view from treeline at about 3,400 metres looks across the Niwot Ridge alpine research area and Biosphere Reserve. Ease of access and research support were ensured by the presence of the Mountain Research Station situated some 400 metres below. These facilities are part of the University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.
48 Inugsuin Pinnacles, Baffin Island, Nunavut (July, 1965)
Little known, but none-the-less spectacular, the northeast coast of Baffin Island displays nearly a thousand kilometres of deep fiords, glaciers, and jagged peaks. This view, at latitude 72 degrees North, was taken at midnight on 15 July. The granite spires are probably only seen with any regularity by Inuit caribou hunters from the small settlement of Clyde River.
A thousand years of struggle against ice and fire characterizes the Icelanders' long history of survival. Deforestation, over-grazing by sheep, and over-fishing of the surrounding ocean shelf, together with climatic and volcanic vicissitudes, have tempered a remarkable cultural tradition.
49 Skaftafell and the view to the west (June, 1987)
Traditional turf-roofed farm houses have a detailed history dating back a thousand years into the Sagas. The glacial outwash plain that occupies the middle ground is occasionally a roaring torrent of glacier meltwater and icebergs, forced from the Vatnajökull ice cap by subglacial volcanic eruption. My attachment to mountains and mountain people began here.
50 Iceland moss and crevasses (September, 1984)
The mountain group, Kristinartindar, reach only the modest height of 1,126 metres and are a moderate day's hike from the Skaftafell National Park camp ground. Regardless, to my mind, the view through the entire 360-degree circumference is one of the most impressive in the world.
51 Öraefajökull, Iceland's highest point at 2,119 metres (June, 1987)
Hvannadalshnúkur glows in the late evening light, the very summit of Öraefajökull; this ice-mantled volcano erupted in 1362 and 1727 and devastated the surrounding farmland. The farms of Skaftafell lie at the tip of the low green promontory in the middle right distance. It is planned that much of the area seen in this photograph will be included in a greatly enlarged Vatnajökull National Park as part of Iceland's contribution to the International Year of Mountains. The shadow in the left foreground, of course, supports the Hasselblad!
UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY AND MOUNTAIN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
UNU has been involved with mountains almost since its establishment more than a quarter century ago. In 1977 Professor Walther Manshard accepted the position of UNU Vice Rector with responsibility to organize a programme on the "Use and Management of Natural Resources". This was to include applied research and training with initial emphasis on developing countries in the humid tropics and subtropics. Four components were included: agro-forestry systems; rural energy systems; water-land interactive systems; and highland-lowland interactive systems. The programme was subsequently enlarged to embrace arid and semi-arid lands, encompassing additional administrative components. A project co-ordinator, usually from an established university, was appointed to take charge of each unit. Initially, every six months the project coordinators were invited to the UNU Centre in Tokyo for planning purposes.
Those involved in the project on Highland-Lowland Interactive Systems collaborated closely with those in Agro-forestry Systems. The first exploratory undertaking involved the two project co-ordinators, Professor Gerardo Budowski (CATIE, Costa Rica) and Professor Jack D. Ives (University of Colorado, U.S.A.), who travelled to Northern Thailand in April 1978 as guests of Chiang Mai University to evaluate the university's on-going work at the Huai Thung Choa research centre in the northwestern hills. Recommendations to adapt the Huai Thung Choa project into a combined UNU/Chiang Mai University study were accepted by the UNU Vice Rector and in the process Chiang Mai University became an affiliate institution of UNU. Likewise, CATIE and the University of Colorado became affiliate UNU institutions and received some of the earliest of the UNU post-doctoral fellows for training and integration into the on-going field research projects.
During the same year, Ives made a reconnaissance into sections of the Indian and Nepal Himalaya. This resulted in the selection of Nepal for a full-scale reconnaissance in 1979 with the identification of Kakani (Middle Mountains) and Khumbu (High Himal) as field test areas for what originally was to be a study of mountain hazards and their possible abatement. The move into the Himalaya coincided with Professor Bruno Messerli, University of Bern, Switzerland, becoming co-coordinator of the Highland-Lowland Interactive Systems project and his home institution an affiliate of UNU. The Ives-Messerli partnership continued until 2000 when Professor Hans Hurni, also of the University of Bern, accepted the leadership position. He had been involved in some of the early work in Northern Thailand and, with Messerli, saw the expansion of UNU's mountain project into Ethiopia and the Highlands of East Africa.
The mountain project subsequently extended into Yunnan, China, the Andes, Tajikistan, and Madagascar. Field excursions and conferences were also held in Papua-New Guinea, Tibet, the Tien Shan and western Szechwan, China, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Switzerland, Japan, and the United States. The project had clearly become global in nature and a large number of institutional linkages evolved. The theoretical basis was closely linked with UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme – Project 6 (impact of human activities on mountain ecosystems) and the Commission on Mountain Geoecology of the International Geographical Union. It facilitated the establishment of the International Mountain Society in 1980 and the quarterly journal Mountain Research and Development the following year. Thus, applied and fundamental research, the training of young scholars, and the wide dissemination of the results of the research were the hallmarks of the project. To further strengthen institutional affiliations, strong support was given to the formation of the African Mountain Association and the Andean Mountain Association. Moreover, elements of the research had repercussions that were far more significant than could have been anticipated at the time. This began when early results of the research in Nepal challenged and eventually disproved the influential belief in catastrophic Himalayan environmental degradation.
Throughout most of the final thirty years of the last century the major multi-lateral, bilateral, and national aid and development agencies centred much of their investment in the Himalaya on the pursuit of policies based on an unsound assumption. This presumed that the Himalaya were facing an environmental crisis driven by massive deforestation of the mountain slopes by the rapidly expanding subsistence agricultural populations who depended upon forest products. This was causally linked with soil erosion and landsliding and increasingly severe flooding in Gangetic India and Bangladesh. An international conference, held at Mohonk Mountain House, New York State, in 1986 and sponsored by UNU, brought this dominating paradigm under critical scrutiny. It was found to be basically unsound; the supporting arguments were published in book form in The Himalayan Dilemma: Reconciling Development and Conservation (Ives and Messerli, 1989).
This process of fundamental research followed by open discussion exemplified the unique opportunity that academic status provides for UNU. Unlike the more policy-oriented United Nations agencies, it is better able to tackle politically sensitive issues. The Himalayan controversy was one of several that became the focus of the mountain project. It was the critical one, however, that provided much of the initiative leading to the inclusion of Chapter 13 (Managing fragile environments – sustainable mountain development) into Agenda 21 during the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. Furthermore, this impetus continued through to the special General Assembly of the UN (1997 – Rio-Plus-Five) and helped facilitate the recognition of 2002 as the International Year of Mountains.
With the declaration of the IYM, the UNU mountain project was evaluated and restructured so that it could more effectively contribute to the challenges of 2002 and beyond. The project has evolved from "Highland-Lowland Interactive Systems", to "Mountain Ecology and Sustainable Development", to its current designation: Global Mountain Partnership Programme (GMPP). The framework for the new departure was formulated in Tokyo in July 2000 by representatives of UNU, the Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, and several Japanese mountain-related groups, especially, Hokkaido University. UNU-GMPP will further increase UNU's involvement in mountains with the primary goals of promoting sustainable development of mountain systems worldwide and of enhancing understanding of the increasingly serious problems that challenge mountain communities and environments today. There will be an initial concentration on "Sustainable Use and Development of Natural Resources in the High Pamir Mountains of Central Asia".
(Ives, J. D. and Messerli, B.,
1989: The Himalayan Dilemma:
Reconciling Development and Conservation. Routledge and UNU Press, London and
New York, 295 pp.)
Special thanks are due to former UNU Vice Rector, Professor Walther Manshard for initiating and encouraging the mountain project through its early years. The term "highland-lowland interactive systems" was devised by Professor Gerardo Budowski who provided valuable advice and guidance in Thailand and Ecuador. At the UNU headquarters, in addition to a group of outstanding support staff, Drs. Lee MacDonald, Juha Uitto, and Libor Jansky, the key senior academic programme officers, provided indispensable support. Especially important has been the support and personal commitment of the present UNU Rector, Professor Hans van Ginkel. A large number of universities, science academies, and other institutions and individuals contributed significantly. Faculty colleagues and graduate students from more than twenty different countries participated and each made a unique contribution. The Swiss Development Cooperation provided significant financial support in. In this respect the long-term personal commitment of Mr. Jean-François Giovannini, Deputy Director of SDC, has been outstanding. UN Under Secretary-General Maurice Strong made a critical contribution to the Mohonk Conference and helped guide the mountain group through the maze of the Earth Summit. Professor Bruno Messerli, friend and colleague and mountain collaborator throughout is gratefully acknowledged. Above all, thanks are extended to the very many mountain people, men, women, and children, and many local officials, without whose help little would have been achieved.
The photographs were taken with a Hasselblad 500C camera using the standard Zeiss Planar 1 : 2,8 lens (f = 80mm) and the Zeiss Sonar 1 : 5,6 (f = 250mm) lens. Ektachrome 120 film was used throughout together with a 1x XZ filter.
The images presented here are a combination of Ilfochrome optical prints and digital inkjet prints. The digital images were scanned from the master 120 transparencies using an Imacon Flextight scanner and printed using archival inks on an Epson 7000 printer. All were produced by Thom Millest at Ginn Digital Imaging in Ottawa, Canada. Matting and mounting was done by Rothwell Gallery, Ottawa, Canada.