July 4, 2001
Kathmandu

THE JALJALE HIMAL PROJECT

the missing piece from
THE GREAT HIMALAYAN CONSERVATON CORRIDOR
the spine of the earth

1. Overview: Jaljale Himal Project and Himalayan Conservation Corridor
The goal of the Jaljale Himal Project is to connect the Sagarmatha (Everest) and Makalu-Barun National Parks with the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area to complete the Great Himalayan Conservation Corridor. (map attached) With four of the five tallest mountains in the world, this is literally the spine of the earth. Including the contiguous Quomolangma Nature Preserve in Tibet, The Great Himalayan Conservation Corridor will exceed 36,000 square kilometers, making it the largest continuous protected area in the world. Melting snows from the land of blue sheep and snow leopards washes China to the north and Nepal and India to the south. Calling the overall biological significance of this complex Öformidable, IUCN, in its 1999 Nepal Country Report on Biological Diversity (p. 109), stated: These protected areas represent the highest terrestrial ecosystems on earth, and also contain deep valleys which sink below 1000m, producing tropical ecosystems juxtaposed with temperate and alpine conditions along the verticality of the mountain slopes. The IUCN report goes on to note that the Quomolangma Preserve and Makalu-Barun National Park were established as sister projects with the initiation of The Mountain Institute.
The 2,349 square kilometer Jaljale Himal Project area is the missing piece from this ecological jigsaw puzzle. Its steep gradients and deep valleys cram ___ climatic zones into a horizontal distance of ____ kilometers. This biologically rich area not completes the ___ kilometer east-west corridor, but also provides eastern Nepalís most accessible north-south genetic passage across the Himalayas to Tibet. While first and foremost a conservation project, the Jaljale Himal Project rests on three fundamental principles: 1) the biological necessity of ecosystem conservation, 2) the ethical necessity of improving the condition of impoverished peoples, and 3) the justice necessity of compensating those who agree to give up specific traditional uses of natural resources. We believe that these principles can best be complied with through the use of conservation easements for the first time inn Asia and by building close alliances with the 45,000 people who live in the project area. Fully implementing the Jaljale Himal conservation strategy will take fifteen years. This proposal covers the first three years.