Spanning 1700 kilometers across some of the most pristine places on the planet, the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT) is truly wondrous. Present in Nepal as a network of existing treks and trails, the GHT forms one of the highest and longest walking trails in the world. Now, climber Apa Sherpa, a world record holder for scaling Mt. Everest 21 times is walking this distance across 120 days to promote the trail.
The trek cuts across some of the most vulnerable places in the country to climate change. Called the climate smart celebrity trek, the Himalayan Climate Initiative (HCI) is organizing this trail to highlight the fact that the Himalayas that provide water to more than a billion people in Asia is being critically impacted by Climate Change. Apa Sherpa is joined by Dawa Steven Sherpa, a fellow mountaineer, Saurav Dhakal and Samir Jung Thapa. ” As somebody who lost all his property to a Climate Change related disaster in 1985, I consider this my duty to prepare my fellow country-men and women against its threats”, saya Apa.
Photo Credit: Samir Jung ThapaOne of the objectives of the trail is to also promote local tourism along the route that can also benefit impacted and impoverished communities as a much needed climate adaptation project. The organizers are appealing to celebrities around the world to join a part of the trail and help promote it. The stories and facts from the trail, they believe, will offer the Government of Nepal and its development partners new ways in addressing climate change.
350.org shares a special relationship with friends and communities in Nepal. Back in 2009 during our international day of climate action, Climber Pemba Sherpa took a trip to the everest base camp to highlight the impacts of climate change on the Hilmalayas. Prashant Singh of the HCI says that now, Apa Sherpa, by walking 1700 km for 120 days, is not just fighting for people in the Himalayas, but for the entire world. The world must reciprocate by valuing his gesture.
Apa and his team are helping us connect the dots between extreme weather events and dangerous climate change. Their stories offer a stark reminder to all of us that our over reliance on dirty fossil fuels must come to an end.