Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone (SNPBZ), Nepal?s second oldest and most visited national park, is of global cultural and environmental importance. SNPBZ is one of the world?s premier mountain tourism regions, containing four of the world?s mountain peaks over 8000m. The park also boasts the beauty of spectacularly varied terrain, including glaciers, alpine meadows, mountain lakes nestled among the high Himalayas and Sherpa culture.

The alpine zone in Nepal lies above 4,000 m between the upper treeline and permanent snowline. The alpine ecosystem in the upper Imja valley of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park and Buffer Zone (SNPBZ) is very diverse and provides excellent habitats for a large number of economically important plants. For instance, most of the rare alpine plants such as the blue poppy and the ?snow lotus,? used by Tibetans to treat high blood pressure, are found in abundance over 4,000 m. Many other rare and endangered plant and animal species, such as the snow leopard, are also found within the alpine zone.
Unfortunately, alpine environments in the Khumbu have been comparatively neglected by the international conservation community despite the fact that they have long been recognized for their fragility and lack of resiliency. The ecological equilibrium that existed in the area for the approximately four centuries of human inhabitation is now being challenged by a number of threats that include unregulated tourism, overgrazing, the overharvesting of alpine shrubs for fuelwood, and poor sanitary practices, to name a few.

In 1976, for example, park visitors numbered only 3,600. By 2001, this had increased to over 21,570, and in 2006 20,550 tourists visited the park (SNPBZ visitor record at Jorsalle). Although tourism has helped boost the local economy and standard of living with better health care, education, and infrastructure, it has also contributed to the degradation of the region?s fragile alpine ecosystems.

The degradation of alpine ecosystems throughout the Khumbu region in Mt. Everest National Park and Buffer Zone is a serious threat linked to the significant recent growth of unregulated adventure tourism, especially mountaineering expeditions, their support teams and the tourist lodges who for many years have used slow growing juniper shrubs as fuel. In fact, continued increases in foreign tourists, local populations and cattle have been, until recently, creating a system of high altitude wastelands not only in Everest region, but throughout the Himalayan range as well. To date, international concern has focused primarily on ?garbage trail? issues and cleanup expeditions, well meaning but inadequate efforts that neglect the critical linkages between alpine stewardship, highland/lowland interactions and sustainable local economies.

The project aimed to provide continuety for kerosene depot and seek other alterneative energy system so that juniper shrub felling could be controlled. Like wise support will also be provide to produce seabukthorn juice and kitchen gardening as part of livelihood initiatives.