On The Way Up

Published on: 

It has been almost 15 years since Erik Eckholm's book Losing Ground hit the stands and made many aware of the perils of Himalayan ecological degradation. Since then, there have been many studies on the processes of erosion, "mass wasting", floods, forestry policy, stall feeding, topsoil runoff, and the perceived role of the hill peasant in all of this.

With more scientific study, there is today increasingly sophisticated under-standing of the process of erosion in the hills. Some swear by Eckholm's thesis of havoc in the Himalaya. Others go to the opposite extreme and profess not to know what the fuss is all about, for, they say, the Himalaya is "dynamic" and erosion is as natural as snowmelt in the summer. A few would even have you believe that there is no cause for worry.

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Himal Southasian
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