The Local Angle

Involving the local community – the “stakeholders”, as Jorge puts it – is a major goal of this expedition, and today we had our first meeting with representatives from across the Khumbu.

A traditional Sherpa line dance. (Video still by Daniel Byers)

The KACC, or Khumbu Alpine Conservation Committee, welcomed us into their community meeting center with tea, kata scarves, and a beautiful traditional Sherpa song and dance.

The meeting brought up a major concern from the local community: they want to receive information from the researchers, to participate in planning and development and to understand the risks – but at this point most communities have been left out of the communication loop. So we’re trying to understand what information they need, and we’ve invited them to Imja lake to discuss what is understood, to provide more information, and to find out how they think the future looks.

Jorge Recharte of Peru received a kata scarf from the community. (Video Still by Daniel Byers)

There are expectations on both sides, expectations that could lead to tensions if not properly managed. The long history of scientists visiting Imja and providing no information to the local people has left them suspicious – and impatient. Dirk Hoffman:

“The community is expecting results – they’d be very happy if we said next month a tractor would come up and fix the lake… but scientists are cautious about giving opinions when they haven’t studied the lake… The best thing to do right now is to establish a communication structure so the communities and scientists can understand each other.”

Sonyam Mishi Sherpa and Alton continue the discussion. (Video Still by Daniel Byers)

Solutions must be community driven – it’s a mistake to promise projects in which locals have no part. Peru’s own successes with glacial lakes are testament to this – local communities putting pressure on the government until it conceded to have the problem managed. Still, we can help: as scientists we should see ourselves as being at the service of the community, and not the other way around.

That’s why we’ve invited a delegation from the KACC to come to Imja lake with us, for a direct exchange of local and scientific knowledge. As we pack our bags to head to the Imja base camp, I think we’re all hoping it’s a fruitful collaboration.