Andes
Summay I Appalachian Summary I Himalaya
Summary I Global Summary I Research I New
Initiatives
Andes Program
Master Plan for Huascarán
National Park
Plan Maestro del Parque Nacional Huascarán
The Mountain Institute (Instituto de Montaña) was selected to
provide technical leadership to a team consisting of government, conservation,
and community representation, to evaluate the current condition of natural
resources and public use in Huascarán National Park in the high
Andes of Peru. The result of this cooperative venture is the Park’s
new Master Plan, which includes some new restricted zones (where endangered
flora, fauna and wildlife such as the condor exist), special areas to
be developed for tourism, and beautiful maps depicting the park’s
diverse ecological systems. This project was funded through a grant from
Peru’s National Endowment for Protected Areas (PROFONANPE).
Building Sustainable Mountain Livelihoods
in Uncertain Times
Montañas Vulnerables: Medios de Vida Sostenible en Tiempos Incíertos
In partnership with 21 local partners in the mountain ranges of Conchucos
and Huayhuash, bordering Huascarán National Park, The Mountain
Institute (Instituto de Montaña) has begun a five year project
to develop sustainable livelihoods, including but not limited to tourism,
that will complement the social and natural changes that are occurring
in and around this mountainous ecosystem. This project is funded through
a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Experiential Tourism Project
Turismo Vivencial
Working with the small mountain communities of Vicos and
Humacchuco, The Mountain Institute (Instituto de Montaña)
has helped develop a tourism project that provides direct experience
living with mountain families that have built small guest cottages
for short or long stays. Host families include farmers, beekeepers,
weavers and musicians, and a variety of day hikes expose visitors
to life in the Andes. This new enterprise provides an important
new source of revenue for the communities, and promotes pride in
the rich culture of the Andes. This project was funded through
a grant from the Government of the Netherlands.
Traditional Weaving Project
Tejidos Tradicionales
In the small village of Huaripampa, traditional weaving
had disappeared; and new generations were interested in reclaiming
the artistry of their grandparents as both a business and cultural
endeavor. The Mountain Institute has worked with local community
groups in Huaripampa and three other communtites to develop a new
enterprise, providing training in weaving techniques and production
of natural dyes from native plants. This project was funded through
a grant from the Government of the Netherlands.
Native Pasture Development
Desarrollo de Pastos Nativos
Farmers in Canrey Chico and Collón wanted to improve their poor
pastures to provide better sustenance for their livestock (cattle and
llamas) and produce more milk for a cheese-making enterprise. With training
from The Mountain Institute (Instituto de Montaña), experimentation
with native grasses and an innovative, low cost irrigation system that
uses water collected from frequent rains have been successful. The farmers
report that milk production has increased, and animal mortality is reduced.
The communities are now considering still more innovations, including
market studies for cheese-making, technologies to harness wind power
to expand irrigation, and the reintroduction of native llamas and traditional
weavings for market. This project was funded through a grant from the
Government of the Netherlands.
Peru’s Mountain Agenda and
the Private Sector
Proyecto Empresa, Comunidad y Conservación
TMI works closely with the Peruvian Government and private sector businesses
in Peru to advocate mountain issues and conservation. In northern Peru,
The Mountain Institute advised communities in the Paltic Valley and BHP
Billiton on how to set up a rural foundation as part of a mine close
operation. This project was funded through a grant from the Avina Foundation.
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Appalachian Program
Blister Swamp Conservation Project
The Mountain Institute’s Appalachian and Research & Development
Programs worked together in 2000-2002 on wetlands habitat restoration,
in collaboration with landowners, community, non-profit and government
partners. Sixteen rare plant species have been reported from the site,
of which two are globally uncommon. This project was funded through grants
from The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
Exploring Our Learning Mountain Laboratory
(Teacher Training)
The Mountain Institute’s Appalachian and Research & Development
Programs developed a highly successful experiential program at Spruce
Knob Mountain Center, for the education and training of K-12 teachers
in environmental sciences and mountain geography. More than 50 West Virginia
teachers participated in three different courses in 2002. This project
was funded through the West Virginia University’s Faculty and Course
Development in International Studies Program (FACDIS), and grants from
the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission’s Eisenhower
Professional Development Program.
Mountain Learning Program
The Mountain Institute offers experiential education, outdoor adventure,
leadership, and environmental science courses for elementary through
college students, based at the 400 acre teaching campus on Spruce Knob
Mountain, WV. More than 800 students participated in 2002, coming from
a variety of neighboring states. With internet technology, in 2003
the project will expand to other regions where TMI is working. This
project is funded through fees and tuition.
Rural Mountain Alliance Program
The Mountain Institute participates in this regional collaboration between
community organizations and county agencies in the highlands of West
Virginia and Virginia for the development of community assets and local
enterprises. In 2002, TMI co-sponsored a grant writing workshop for
community organizations, and introduced subsector analysis as an approach
to enterprise development in rural communities. This project was funded
through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
West Virginia Scholars Academy
For 20 years, The Mountain Institute has sponsored crucial
leadership development for West Virginia youth and young adults.
More than 300 students have participated during the life of the
project; and 20 volumes of their essays have been published, articulating
the “power of place” and the value of developing “human
capital” in Appalachia. This project is funded through an
endowment fund, the Dorcus Davis Estate, and grants from the W.
E. Stone Foundation.
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Himalayan Program/Nepal
Building Sustainable Livelihoods
in Uncertain Times
This new project addresses rural inequities, women’s empowerment,
and conflicts over access to resources through community- based, natural
resource linked enterprise and livelihood promotion. This project was
funded through a grant from USAID.
Community Partnership Project (Makalu-Barun
National Park and Buffer Zone)
In over a decade of partnership between His Majesty’s Government
of Nepal, The Mountain Institute, local NGOs and communities, an innovative
conservation model integrating park management and community development
was established. Local capacity to manage the area’s resources
has been considerably strengthened through participatory approaches and
by building upon local knowledge and cultural traditions. This project
was funded through a grant from the Netherlands Development Agency.
Countries, Communities and Conservation:
Building Cooperation in Khanchendzonga
This new project aims to promote effective conservation management of
the Kanchendzonga complex in Sikkim and Eastern Nepal through community
participation. This project was funded through a grant from the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
High Altitude Wetlands Conservation
Program
Project activities have been started at the Gossainkund and Dudh Kund
lakes. Biological inventories and social assessments have been conducted
in partnership with local non-governmental partners. This project was
funded through a grant from the Netherlands Committee of the IUCN.
The Jaljale Conservation Program
Local partners and TMI staff successfully completed extensive field work,
data collection and establishment of pilot community- managed non-timber
forest product (NTFP) nurseries in Ilam and Rasuwa districts. This
project was funded through a grant from an anonymous donor.
Nepal Trust Fund for Biodiversity
Conservation (NTFB)
In a coordinating capacity, TMI worked with government and NGO partners
to help set up an internationally invested endowment, whose earnings
would provide a financing mechanism to conserve the biodiversity of Nepal.
Unfortunately, the project was unable to reach its goal as resources
had to be diverted by the Government to deal with the State of Emergency
in the country. This project was funded through a grant from the World
Bank.
Himalayan Program/India
Ladakh Village Homestay Project
In Partnership with the Snow Leopard Conservancy, this eco-tourism project
in Hemis National Park began in 2002, funded through a grant from an
anonymous donor and UNESCO.
Himalayan Program/Tibet Autonomous Region
of China
Peak Enterprise Dairy/Conservation
Project
A project to create farm-to-market linkages and improve conservation
practices among poor rural farmers in selected areas of the Tibet Autonomous
Region resulted in Tibet’s first privately owned dairy cooperative
and milk processing plant, along with the return of Black Necked Cranes
to Medrogongar Valley in the winter. This project was funded through
grants from The Ford Foundation, the Kadoorie Charitable Foundations,
individuals and family foundations.
Peak Enterprise Rural Construction
Project
TMI introduced “soil-cement earth blocks” as a more cost-effective,
environmentally-sound building material and the manufacture of the earth
ramming machine as a private enterprise to the people and construction
businesses of western Tibet. Forty-six houses have been constructed in
Nima (some of rammed earth); and construction of the SangSang medical
Clinic for Nomads, two model farm houses, and the first manufacture of
rammed earth machines by the Lhasa Machine Shop occurred in 2002. This
project was funded through grants from The Ford Foundation, the International
Foundation, individuals and family foundations.
Peak Enterprise Eco-Tourism Project
TMI helped introduce environmental and cultural tourism to Tibet through
its Shigatse Park/Guesthouse Project, the construction of the Trulgo
Guesthouse at Lake Manosorovar, a clean-up fund at Mt. Kailash, and
by providing a major workshop for hotel operators on eco-tourism. This
project was funded through grants from The Ford Foundation, individuals
and family foundations.
Peak Enterprise Shigatse Park/Guesthouse
Project:
This ongoing project has provided technical assistance to a private entrepreneur
and constructed environmental systems and architectural models at a “park
with guest houses” on 600 acres on the outskirts of Shigatse. This
project was funded through grants from the International Foundation,
individuals and family foundations.
Peak Enterprise Capacity Building
Project
This continuing program offers individual and group training sessions,
domestic study tours and international exchanges. In 2002, these included
international exchanges for financial leaders, dairy sector leaders,
environmental architects, hotel owners and the Federation of Industry
and Commerce leadership in addition to four domestic study tours in three
cities in China. Return exchanges enabled numerous experts to travel
to Tibet to provide technical assistance. It also provided scholarships
for training sessions in Chendgu for the staff of the Federation of Industry
and Commerce. This project was funded through grants from The Ford Foundation
and the United States Department of State, Bureau of Education and Cultural
Affairs.
Qomolongma Conservation Program
This 5-year project began in 2002, and conservation management, livelihood
development, and cultural restorations are underway in this transboundary
region (Nepal/Tibet). This program was funded through grants from
the Government of the Netherlands.
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Global Programs
International Year of the Mountains
Projects
Keynote speeches were presented by TMI staff at the Montreal Ecotourism
Summit, Rocky Mountain Summit, Celebrating Mountain Women/Bhutan International
Summit, Mountains Study Summit, and Bishkek International Mountain Summit
in celebration of the International Year of the Mountains, and the official
web-based International Year of Mountains Calendar of Events was maintained
by TMI. These projects were funded through grants from a variety of donors
including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Mountain Forum
(http://www.mtnforum.org)
connects a worldwide network of people and organizations who are working
to create sustainable mountain communities and protect mountain environments.
In 2002, network membership reached 3,600 individuals and 310 organizations
from 128 countries, more than 13,000 email list subscribers, and served
nearly 200,000 distinct web users (hosts). This project was funded primarily
through a grant from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC).
Learning about Mountains
(http://www.mountain.org/education)
The Mountain Institute developed a new on-line guide to outstanding teaching
resources available for 32 mountain ranges around the world, in 16 languages.
This project was funded through a grant from the Stavros S. Niarchos
Foundation.
International Community-Based Tourism
Courses
Through annual fee-based training courses conducted since 1999, The Mountain
Institute and the Regional Community Forestry Training Center (Thailand)
have trained over 100 professionals from more than 15 countries in the
application of Appreciative Participatory Planning and Action (APPA)
for Community-Based Tourism.
Sacred Mountains Program
Mount Rainier National Park:
Created offsite traveling exhibit and PowerPoint presentations, bookmark
with inspirational mountain quotes and images, presentation and handout
for seasonal interpreters training, consultation on new waysides and
visitor center design.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park:
Interpretive trail along the Oconaluftee River linking features of the
natural environment to Cherokee stories and traditions; created a presentation
and handout for a park-wide wilderness training workshop.
Rocky Mountain National Park:
Incorporated cultural and spiritual associations from American, Native
American, and additional cultures around the world in the seasonal
interpreters handbook, and provided consultation on the new Park film.
The Mountain Institute helped create a mountain section of the Junior
Ranger Log Book, as well as established focus groups on proposed waysides.
Hawai’i Volcanoes National
Park:
Commissions traditional Hawaiian artwork highlighting the importance
of Kilauea and Mauna Loa as sacred places and emphasizing the role of
the volcano goddess Pele, in addition to consultation about changing
the World Heritage designation of the Park to a mixed natural and cultural
site.
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation
Area:
Consultation on incorporating spiritual associations and indigenous beliefs
in a wayside on a major Chumash sacred mountain. These projects were
funded through grants from The Ford Foundation, The Nathan B. Cummings
Foundation, The Compton Foundation, The Cherokee Preservation Foundation,
Great Smoky Mountain National Park, The County of Hawai’i Department
of Research and Development; and other support from The Museum of the
Cherokee Indian, The Cultural Resources Office of the Eastern Band of
the Cherokee, The Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Hawai’i
Volcanoes National Park and The Volcano Art Center.
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Research and Education
Program
Celebrating the People and Landscapes
of Mt. Everest (Photo Exhibition)
A 16-panel photo exhibit was developed by the Research and Educaion Program
in collaboration with ecologist Francis Klatzel, Kathmandu, Nepal. It
is on permanent display at the Sagarmatha National Park Museum, Khumbu,
Nepal. This project was funded through a grant from the Centre for Mountain
Culture, Banff, Canada; and EvK2CNR Pyramid Project, Bergamo, Italy.
Mt. Everest Conservation Maps
The Research and Education Program was contracted by the National Geographic
Society (NGS) Cartographic Division to assist in the development of
new maps of the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park for the 2003
Special Issue on the 50th anniversary of the climbing of Mt. Everest.
Enhancing Local/Global Linkages through
Plants, People and Biodiversity Protection
In partnership wth the National Gardening Association and Virginia Tech
University, Research and Education produced a new mountain studies curriculum
entitled “My Mountain Adventure: Exploring the Andes, Himalayas,
and Appalachians”; 6 indigenous knowledge/plants articles (see:
www.nationalgardening.org ); and an on-line collaborative project involving
middle school students in Nepal, Peru, and West Virginia (launched in
March 2003). This project was funded through a grant from the US Agency
for International Development/Development Education Program.
Mountain Studies Institute Advisory
Capacity
Research and Education serves on the Advisory Board of the recently established
Mountain Studies Institute (MSI), Silverton, Colorado, and has played
an active mentoring role in the Institute’s development.
Mountains: A Physical and Cultural
Geography (Textbook)
A new undergraduate textbook is under contract with the University of
California Press/Berkeley, representing an update of Larry Price’s
1981 book, Mountains and Man. Funding from the Earth Systems Research
Institute (ESRI) was received for support and production costs.
Field Expeditions: Community-based
Conservation and Restoration of Alpine Ecosystems
Funded by the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research
and Exploration, two TMI expeditions assessed the impacts of humans and
cattle on the fragile alpine zones of Mt. Everest and Huascarán
National Park. Data will be used to develop future community-based projects
in these regions.
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