Nepal’s UNESCO-listed Sagarmatha National Park, which includes the Everest region, has banned leisure helicopter rides in its vicinities. This ban, announced on December 11, has earned bouquets and brickbats.
While tourism industry leaders and helicopter operators are opposed to the ban, local government officials, environmental experts and a section of Sherpa have welcomed the government move.
The ban will come into effect from January 1, 2025. However, it is not a blanket ban on all helicopters in the Everest region. Medical evacuation flights are exempted as are choppers ferrying essential commodities for climbers and others participating in expeditions up to Pangboche (3,985 meters). The restriction on chopper flights applies mainly to regions that are above 4,000 meters of altitude.
Sagarmatha National Park authorities have cited environmental reasons for the chopper ban. According to Sushma Rana, senior conservation officer at the Sagarmatha National Park, “We are taking this unpopular decision to provide justice to wildlife.”
Interestingly, government regulators are divided over the ban.
While the Sagarmatha National Park has imposed the ban, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the country’s aviation regulator, issued a notice on December 13 terming the ban as “illegal.” Banning choppers does not fall under the jurisdiction of the national park, it said, urging helicopter operators to continue running their services as before.
The local government in the Everest region is backing the ban. On December 10, the Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality held a meeting with local stakeholders, where it was decided to ban commercial helicopter flights starting January 1. The municipality issued a notice thereafter drawing attention to noise pollution from choppers and other impacts on forest, wildlife and the environment of the buffer zone, Sagarmatha National Park and the local community.
The chopper ban will have immediate impact on Nepal’s helicopter industry. According to helicopter operators, over 60 percent of their business comes from the Everest region. They have protested the ban. There are 11 helicopter companies and 32 functioning helicopters in Nepal, according to official figures.
Ankit Babu Adhikari, co-author of the bestselling book “Sherpa” told The Diplomat that the debate over the chopper ban is not as straightforward as it may seem. “There are Sherpas on both sides of the debate,” he said, referring to the ethnic community that has played a stellar role in mountaineering expeditions and rescue missions in the Himalayas.
According to Adhikari, choppers have “provided a lifeline to the Sherpas, reducing their workload, and more importantly, mitigating the direct risks associated with rescue and evacuation in the Himalayas.”
Sherpa, who operate big-budget helicopter rides and expeditions for deep-pocketed clients, are opposing the ban on chopper rides. According to an expedition leader, who wished to remain anonymous, ”daily kitchen essentials are easier to ferry by chopper from Kathmandu. Buying essential commodities from local shops is not feasible as they do not provide invoices for our purchases which is mandatory for our business.” Besides, “there aren’t enough local porters to carry commodities needed for expeditions,” he said.
“While we must acknowledge that some Sherpas have grown as luxury service providers, thanks to the technologies in place including the choppers, the government should step in to regulate the extent of these luxuries,” Adhikari adds. “A blanket halting of chopper operations will affect the ecosystem of the existing business, so it may not be a sustainable solution to problems at hand. Rather, there has to be some fine balance, strictly regulating the frequency of these operations, the highest altitude up to which a chopper can be allowed, and so on.”
Everest has many identities. It is the pinnacle of the earth, a major Himalayan tourism revenue-earner for Nepal, a Sino-Nepali border region, and more
A major chunk of Nepal’s earnings from the Himalayas comes from the Everest. Over 600 climbers, including 200 foreigners scaled Everest this season bringing in millions of dollars from the expensive Everest royalty.
Elite climbers mostly use helicopters either to reach Everest’s base camp for an expedition or to return to Kathmandu. Off-season helicopter sightseeing also accounts for Nepal’s major tourism activities and earnings.
Still, many are in favor of Nepal adopting the Bhutan-style low-volume, high-value tourism strategy for Everest. Seeing the mess at the Everest base camp and surroundings during her travels there this spring, Bhutan’s award-winning journalist Chencho Dema remarked, “After reaching Mt. Everest Base Camp, I felt my government was right in its tourism and mountaineering policy.”
The fast-melting glaciers, piles of garbage, whirring of helicopters and the notorious Everest traffic jams are prompting people in Nepal to speak up against the problems that beset Everest.
Kanchha Sherpa, the lone surviving member of the maiden 1953 Everest summit expedition is advocating a reduction in human presence on the Everest. In his biography “Tough and Cheerful,” Kanchha says, ”I think that Everest needs a rest for a few seasons. And maybe this will make a better value of Everest.”
When I asked him over video call why he advocated giving Everest some rest, the nonagenarian Kanchha said, “I am more concerned about the longevity of Everest and the Himalayas than my own life.”
