Imja Tsho Action Event on anvil

Himalayan News Service

KATHMANDU: Initiatives for Development and Eco Action Support (IDEAS), with the aim of responding to climate change and its effect, is planning to organise ‘Imja Tsho Action Event 2009 - Beat the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Action Run and Khumbu Festival.’

The Imja Tsho glacial lake in the Khumbu region has been identified as the most threatening and likely to burst its banks at any time.

“If the glacier burst its banks, it would unleash a catastrophic GLOF-causing devastation along the downstream valleys affecting communities and the ecology of the mountains, hill regions and also the densely populated areas of the Gangetic plains to the south,” said Dawa Steven Sherpa, ambassador for climate change in Nepal.

According to Nepal Tourism Board chief executive officer Prachanda Man Shrestha, the outburst of the glacier will affect about two billion people.

“The festival is a simple project to draw national and international attention towards climate change and its effects in the Himalayan areas,” he said.

The Beat the GLOF Action Run on June 18 is being organised to show the world what effect the phenomenon will have.

North Face is the major sponsor of the action run which aims to demonstrate that even the fastest runner will not be able to outrun the fury of the glacial lake outburst floods.

The day after the action run, Khumbu Festival will be held in Khumjung village on June 19. The Khumjung Festival is being organised with the support of World Wildlife Fund Nepal and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD ).

NTB will promote the ‘Plant/Adopt a Tree’ programme among representatives of the entire mountain community during the Khumbu festival.

This programme was initiated by NTB at the call of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation on the occasion of World Tourism Day in September.

The event is being organised with the objective of mitigating the effects of climate change and promote eco-sensitive tourism while at the same time contributing to reducing the adverse effects of global warming and climate change.