Between 1955 and 1963, the Austrian cartographer/mountaineer Erwin Schneider completed a field survey of the Khumbu (Mt. Everest) region that included terrestrial photogrammetry taken from numerous high altitude, trigonometrical points throughout the valley. His work was a continuation of the high mountain cartography and exploration of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Vergleichende Hochgebirgsforschung (Association for Comparative Alpine Research/Munich) and Oesterreichischer Alpenverein (Austrian Alpine Association/ Innsbruck), originally initiated in the Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash of northwestern Peru in 1932.

Between October-November 1995, 26 of Schneider's photopoints between Lukla (2,743 m), Namche Bazaar (3,440 m), and the upper alpine region throughout the valley (5,000 m+) were relocated, and nearly 1500 black and white and color replicates of the original panoramas and individual landscape scenes were made. Comparisons between the ca. 1955/62 (Schneider) and 1995 photographs were analyzed which enabled an assessment of landscape change processes in the Khumbu over the past 40 years, supplemented by the on-site sampling of specific phenomena in question (e.g., the estimated reduction of tree or shrub cover through stem and stump counts).

Contrary to popular scenarios describing rapid deforestation in the Everest region over the past 20 years, the study suggested that subalpine forest extent remains essentially unchanged from the 1950s . Likewise, natural forest regeneration appears to be increasing in many areas, and tree growth in the vicinity of Namche Bazaar and other villages has increased as a result of successful plantation efforts over the past 15 years [link]. Significant growth in infrastructure has occurred in most villages since 1962, a result of increases in tourism and local populations; and traditional building materials, notably Abies roofing shingles, have largely been replaced by corrugated metal sheets since the 1970s in the larger Sherpa villages. Little change in the region’s surficial geomorphology has occurred, although significant damage from isolated high magnitude/low frequency events (e.g., the 1985 Langmoche flash flood and 1990 Pangboche torrent) is apparent. Finally, repeat photography and detailed plot sampling suggest that the relatively neglected alpine landscapes in the Imja Khola and Gokyo valleys have been, and continue to be, seriously impacted by the unsustainable harvesting of high altitude juniper shrubs and cushion plants for fuel. View the landscape slideshow.