Project Steering
EcoHimal, Society for Cooperation Alps-Himalaya, is coordinating this major international project. As explained on our website (www.ecohimal.org), we have more than twenty years of hands-on experience of environmental/developmental activity in the Everest region: we have brought electricity to the area as well as channelling clean drinking water, and with the establishment of the Khumbu Mountain Centre have also contributed to the cultural development of the national park. Most importantly: the local people know and trust us, and are keen to work together with us!
Our main partners in Nepal are EcoHimal Nepal, our sister organisation and the Everest Summiteers Association (ESA).
The Everest Summiteers Association ESA has been established in 2000 to bring together summiteers who have achieved the ultimate glory of reaching the peak of Mount Everest to use its strength, passion and intimate knowledge to raise awareness about environmental, social, cultural and safety issues that arise with mountain climbing, not just in Everest, but throughout the entire Himalaya. ESA is active in organizing support and protection for the summiteers working in the climbing industry and carried out various activities in the past to clean up the Highest Mountain on earth.
To get the rubbish down from the mountain itself – and here we are talking of some 8 to 10 tonnes – the Everest Summiteers Association will provide assistance in the form of highly experienced Nepali mountaineers and expedition leaders.
Tommy Gustafsson, CEO of Steve Perryman Sport Travel takes an advisory role within the project.
Funding Partners
Financial support will come first and foremost from our funding partners Swedish Postcode Lottery and from Hannes Snellman Attorneys Ltd.
Another important funding partner is the European Outdoor Conservation Association - EOCA.
The government of Nepal will be responsible for part of the funding, as will the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Trekking Agencies`Association of Nepal (TAAN) and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris.
Technical and financial support will be forthcoming from the Austrian specialist firm UNTHA, who have placed three rubbish shredders at our disposal, and will also provide technical training of local personnel. The shredders are controlled by a control box developed by SW Automatisierung. BIG BAG provides waste bags for the transport of the collected waste and supports the project financially. Primus supports the project financially and with in-kind support.
Roth & Lorenz, agency for brand communication, supports the Saving Mount Everest Project as part of a charity campaign. Visit www.25jahre.rothundlorenz.de for more information.
Local funding partners in Nepal are:
Carlsberg Beer
Laxmi Bank Limited of Nepal.
Agni Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines, Mountain Air Helicopters, Fishtail Helicopter and Air Dynasty
NeCo Insurance
14 Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Nepal Foundry Industries Ltd.
Lions Club Nepal.
Other partners that will provide necessary support in-kind for the project include Everester Himalayan Rescue Association, Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN), Nepal Women Mountaineering Association (NMWA), Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, Nepal Mountaineering Instructor’s Association (NMIA), Everest Summiteers Club Rolwaling, Expedition Operators Association (EOA), High Altitude Workers’ Welfare Association (HIAWWA), High Altitude Mountain Workers Welfare Association, All Nepal Tourism Worker Union, Union on Trekking-Travels-Rafting-Airlines Workers Nepal (UNITRAV), Pike Solukhumbu Tapting Social Service, Sherpa Youth Club and Everest Hard Wear.
Nepal Television – the National Television of Nepal is the official media partner for the project at national level and will cover the project news on regular basis. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Nairobi will help to garner global attention for this laudable project as an special initiative for the World Environment Day 2011 by bring in international media to cover the project.
Implementing Partners
On the local level, the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee will be an active partner, as will the Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone Management, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and the Himalayan Rescue Association.
Also with us are the Research Centre of Waste and Resource Management of the Technical University of Vienna, and the Austrian Alpine Club.
The required institutional support for the project will be provided by the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) of the Government of Nepal, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Himalayan Rescue Association.
The Swedish reporter Maria Gefvert Sund visits, together with the Swedish photographer Pelle Mellqvist, the Everest region to document the project Saving Mount Everest.
Goodwill Ambassadors
Notable Everest summiteers like Sir Chris Bonnington, David Breashears, Renata Chlumska, Frederik Sträng and Wolfgang Nairz have agreed to support the project as goodwill ambassadors.
Martin Edström will support the project as official photographer. More information regarding his support you will find here.
Stephan Martinussen, a mountaineer from Denmark, plans to climb Mount Everest in 2015. As part of his project Mount Everest 2015 Stephan supports the Saving Mount Everest Project. For more information visit his website.