The Himalaya

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.

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.

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.

7  Well cared for irrigated terraces (khet) near Chautara, Nepal (July, 1986)

8  Rainfed terraces (bari) have totally remodelled the mountain slopes near Kakani (May, 1981)  

9  Small girl with empty basket (May, 1981)

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). 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. 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.
10  Landslide on a mountain slope below Kakani (October, 1978)   11  Landslide on a mountain slope below Kakani (August, 1992)  

12  Intricate khet terraces in the Kakani area, Nepal (May, 1981)  

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. 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". 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.
13  Drying the harvest for winter storage, Kakani, Nepal (October, 1983)  

14  Red peppers drying in an urban square, Kathmandu valley (July, 1986)

 15  Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) seen from above Namche Bazar, early evening (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).  
  16  Sherpani porters resting below Namche Bazar, Khumbu Himal (April, 1979)  

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