Annapurna Conservation Area

Explanation: Welcome to Annapurna Base Camp, in the midst of Annapurna Conservation Area in north-central Nepal, south Asia. We have helicoptered in from the town of Pokhara and landed on a tiny pad on the lip of a sheer drop.

The scene here is unbelievable. We are surrounded by massive snow- and ice-covered steep peaks all around us -- to the north and northwest are Tilitso Himal and Nilgiri South, to the east is Annapurna III, to the southeast is Machhapuchhare, to the south is Annapurna Dakshin, and more.

We are in the massive Annapurna Conservation Area, established in 1986 for protecting biological diversity and cultural diversity alike. Here, at Base Camp, visitors prepare for further trekking, or rest after reaching here.

Below us (the bottom image, above) stretches a massive glacial outwash valley, a huge gorge carved by ice. But it is also a dire warning, as well. Himalayan glaciers continue to shrink, and with them the water and life force for millions of people far to the south. Recent studies (Lovell et al. 2019) found that between 2000 and 2015, the total area of glaciers within Annapurna Conservation Area decreased an alarming 8.5%.

Information:
Baral, N., M.J .Stern, and R. Bhattarai. 2008. Contingent valuation of ecotourism in Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal: implications for sustainable park finance and local development. Ecological Economics 66(2-3):218-227.
Lovell, A.M., J. Rachel Carr, C. R. Stokes. 2019. Spatially variable glacier changes in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal, 2000 to 2016. Remote Sensing 11(12):1452; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11121452

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