The project was successfully completed. Learn more about this in the official and final press release by Prof. Kurt Luger.
These were the goals of the project:
Restoring Dignity to the Mountain: Liberating Mount Everest from Rubbish
A project from EcoHimal and Everest Summiteers' Association (ESA) with international partners
Chomo lungma – Mother Goddess of the Universe, as she is known to the Tibetans.
Sagarmatha – so high that no bird can fly, as the Nepalese say
Mount Everest – the international name of the world’s highest summit.
However you call it, this matchless peak has awakened human longings and attracted mountaineers from all over the globe, as if by magic. Since the first successful summit expedition in 1953 the stream of visitors has grown and grown.
In 1976, Sagarmatha National Park was established, as one of the first national conservation areas in Nepal; only three years later, UNESCO followed up by declaring it a World Natural Heritage.
The Everest region soon developed into a major tourist destination. The steep increase in the numbers of visitors has entailed a considerable burden on the natural surroundings, including the emergence of a veritable mountain of rubbish, from Base Camp and up into the high ‘death zone’. Also the local Sherpa villages and lodges along the trekking routes lack sustainable, responsible approaches to dealing with waste.
Project news: The Saving Mount Everest Projekt in pictures - an exhibition in the Pokhara International Mountain Museum, Nepal . The exhibition starts 8 May 2013. For more information visit http://everest.martinedstrom.com/.
