The world's highest garbage dump -- and a pretty impressive one at that -- grows at the base of Mount Everest. It is a symbol of the Himalayan ecosystem, snowed under human junk, sundry garbage and an ecology faltering under raucous and rowdy "developmental" assault, which is beginning sorely to need a breather. Finally, a beginning was made after 4 years of networking by the Himalayan Environment Trust (HET). On June 27-28, ministers from the Himalayan countries and a horde of concerned individuals and organisations came together in the New Delhi on to work out a Himalayan Conservation Programme (HCP). Says HET chairperson M S Kohli, "International coordination is required to save the Himalaya from the ecological degradation caused by unplanned tourism, mountaineering and the loss of the hill people's control over natural resources."

The seminar, focusing on Governments and People's Participation, concluded that the single most important factor affecting biomass production in the Himalayan region is the conflict between forest departments and local communities. The Gangotri Conservation Project (GCP), formulated by HET, would provide the model for HCP.

The Rs 45 lakh Gangotri project, finalised and partially funded by the union ministry of environment and forests (MEF) and the Uttar Pradesh government, held its first steering committee meeting on June 28. To tackle the problems of pollution from a constant overload of pilgrims in the Gangotri region, attendant transportation and the interlinked problem of deforestation, the GCP "will interact not only with the local government but also powerful local opinion leaders such as the purohit sabha (council of priests) to ensure ecologically sound tourism," says Sushil Gupta, director of GCP.

According to Edmund Hillary, a founder of HET, "The conservation of a region means improving the condition of the local people and making them custodians of their own resources." His feelings were echoed by noted environmentalist Sundarlal Bahuguna, who feels that "electricity generation by setting up micro-hydel projects will save the forests in the Gangotri region". "We will also promote alternate energies such as solar and wind energy," says Gupta.

While "people's participation" was the buzzword at the seminar, sceptics reduce it to a power tussle between the governments and NGOs. J C Kala, joint secretary at MEF, feels that there has been a mushrooming of NGOs, some of which lack credibility. A D Modee, ex-mountaineer and conservationist, asks, "What is the process of empowerment? Who empowers whom to do what?" D Gurung of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation of Nepal thinks they have the answer. "The process of empowering people takes place through appropriate legislation for self-formed people's groups. In the Sagarmatha National Park at the base of Mt Everest, known as the world's highest garbage dump, a local people's committee has been set up which has the power to take even the government to court," says Gurung.

Criticising obstacles to people's participation in India, Modee says, "In UP, even a dead tree cannot be cut without government permission." M L Diwan, member of the Himalayan Conservation Consortium, sums up, "There must be a reorientation in bureaucratic policies which equate expenditure with results, education with superiority and projects with development."