Langtang cheese and ecological integrity

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The production of cheese has been regarded as one of the few rural successes of the Nepali Government´s development programme. One of the main areas of this success has been the Langtang region north of Kathmandu. The Langtang valley, a National Park in 1977, has two cheese "factories" that produce a total of i4,000 kg of cheese a year. The two units collect about 140,000 litres of milk annually and process it into cheese.

The cheese production in Lang tang, centred in the villages of Syabru and Langtang, each with population of about 500, has brought with it severe challenges. The introduction of cash economy into the highland communities has made the use of the natural resources unsustainable. The impact on the area´s wildlife has been especially worrisome.

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Himal Southasian
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