The Karnali: Nepal?s sacred gift to the living earth

Nepal is a kingdom of immense natural beauty with a deep-rooted cultural heritage. A great part of this natural beauty comes from the many rivers that flow through the majestic Himalayas to the lowlands of the Terai. For decades the isolation of Nepal has helped to maintain the pristine nature of this environment. The rural towns, political neutrality and ruggedness of the mountainous terrains have limited the development and exploitation of Nepal?s few natural resources such as. Because of this Nepal has not followed suit with other developing countries such as India or China, by using modern technology to extract resources from it?s landscape and therefore spoiling the pristine nature of the environment. It has not followed suit until now. It is our goal in this proposal to explain why we need to protect what some would call; ?The last, Best Place in Nepal: The Karnali River?. Over the last 25 years, projects funded by the World Bank have researched the hydroelectric potential of most major rivers in Nepal. These sites have been evaluated on the basis of the cost of building a facility versus the profits to be made from Power Generation. To date major Dams have been built on the Marshyani, Kali Gandaki, Chilime and Bhote Kosi rivers. Construction is also nearing completion on the Modi Khola, middle Marshyagdi and Khimti and a new project is being planned for the upper Marshyangdi, Bhote Koshi, Tamba Koshi and West Seti Almost all the rivers in Nepal have some form of hydroelectric development scheme planned for them within the next 10 to 20 years. The question is, ?Where will it stop?? Nepal is currently modifying its ?Water Resources Policy Act? to encourage more foreign investors to quickly develop this resource. The Government has already received tenders from several energy companies from the developed world to bid for what has been dubbed as; ?The Karnali / Chiso Pani and Middle Karnali Project?. Most countries that already use hydroelectric power have found that the benefits of this clean and energy efficient fuel source come at another price ? the destruction of the landscape and fragile eco-systems around them. Entire species of fish can be lost due to dams and river ecology has been fractured because of rampant development.