Celebrating its 25th year in Nepal, the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) organized a photo exhibition named Himalaya Changing Landscapes at Hanuman Dhoka Durbar square from December 2-8, 2008.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Hisila Yami, Minister for Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA).
The exhibition showcased 30 posters divided into two section; peoples and mountains. In the people’s section different community people of the regional ICIMOD members were highlighted where as in the mountain section repeat pairs of the mountain panoramas taken in the 1950s and in 2007 to compare the effects of climate change.
Speaking at the program Dr. Andreas Schild, Director General of ICIMOD said, “We have organized this exhibition to create awareness about the negative changes that is taking place in the mountains due to climate change. As still today people are unaware of the effects of climate change and its harsh aspects. This exhibition would do just that. Mountains are highly fragile and the changes in between the 50 years have certainly put forward the effects of Climate change as a global issue.”
Hisila Yami, Ministry at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) said, “Nepal is famous in the world for mountains and creating such awareness about deteriorating mountain environment is really appreciable and the role that ICIMOD is playing in regard is credible. Taking part in global awareness campaign, the Nepal government has recently established a Climate Neutral Planet Fund which would help in raising awareness about the different harsh aspect of environment pollution and climate change where we should all contribute all we can.”
“I believe Nepal is rich in bio diversity and landscapes. We have a lot of resources for tourism which we need to materialize and move towards the path of development.” added Yami.