Case study presentation: The Upper Mustang conservation and development project, Nepal

Upper Mustang, situated on the northern border of Nepal adjoining Tibet, is an isolated, economically impoverished region of Nepal which was recently opened for trekking tourism. Until the political change in Nepal in 1990, Mustang was considered a strategic area from a border security perspective and was closed to outside visitors, but since 1992, a limited number of trekkers have been allowed to enter the area. In the early 1990s the Nepalese government embarked on an ambitious project to use tourism as a means to foster economic development, nature conservation and cultural heritage in this region. Even though they have made some progress, numerous problems have been reported which threaten the sustainability of the approach and seriously comprise the goals of economic uplift and nature conservation. This case study shows how rapid, poorly planned tourism development in remote mountain areas like mustang can have matters worse, and undermine the chances for long term improvements in social welfare and biodiversity management.

The paper is a case study on The Upper Mustang Conservation and Development Project, (UMCDP), Nepal (Mountain Forum email conference on community-based mountain tourism).