On the way up

We would like our readers to know that Himal is not just an environmental magazine. To clarify, Himal is a magazine on social, economic, cultural and environmental matters which affect and afflict the people of the Himalaya. Treating this magazine only as an environmental advocacy bulletin restricts its reach and does less than justice to the enormously complex development issues our reporters and writers grapple with.

Since we never claimed to be devoted solely to ecological issues, it is interesting to speculate why we are so often pegged into that slot. One reason must be that concern for the "environment" is the fad of the moment for many journalists, administrators, development pundits and, yes, environmental gurus.