By traveling with Cheesemans’ to Nepal, you invest in a way of life that melds the preservation of the ecosystems with traditional cultural practices. When you are tracking tigers in the national parks and trekking in the Himalayas, you stay in lodges that actively mitigate adverse impacts on the environment by relying on solar energy, sourcing supplies as locally as possible, using water purification systems to avoid single-use plastic bottles, and employing local people to build, decorate, and work in the lodges. The lodges themselves are made with local materials by craftsman who incorporate indigenous motifs and products in the design and use traditional techniques to optimize natural temperature efficiency. While the utmost care is taken to provide ecologically responsible accommodations, equal or greater emphasis is placed on strict adherence to guidelines on safari to respect and protect the wildlife. Additionally, to help you better enjoy the natural beauty of the mountains, you will be assisted by porters and sherpas who are continuing a multi-generational profession. In Nepal, it is apparent that ecotourism is steeped in the rich culture of the region. This provides an invaluable experience for travelers as you invest in the effort to protect the Nepalese environment and to continue traditional practices.
Nepal’s ecotourism industry, in addition to subsidizing environmental and cultural preservation, provides an avenue to create initiatives that offer essential services for vulnerable people. For example, the Nepal Green Tara Foundation, founded by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s grandson, Tashi, and his wife, Nima, educates and cares for at-risk youth in rural villages. This work is motivated primarily by the desire to protect young girls who are vulnerable to human trafficking because of poverty. Each year, approximately 20,000 Nepalese girls are lured away from their families with promises of well-paying jobs but are taken abroad and sold into slavery. To help end this practice, the Nepal Green Tara Foundation has built five schools and has over 700 students who get protection, an education, healthcare, and possible college scholarships. Ecotourism in Nepal is essential in raising awareness and funding for invaluable work like this.
