Discussion

[The e-discussion on ‘Hills vs. Mountains’, sparked off by Masi’s posting to the MF-Asia list, lasted from March 27 to April 10, 2001. Masi asked if there was much difference between hills and mountains in terms of cultures and geographies. The ensuing e-discussion was, however, tilted more towards a search for the definitions of hills and mountains, with most participants towing the geographical line. Alejandro Camino, Assefa Kuru, B. K. Joshi, Bakht Jehan, Chan Jin Hooi, Elizabeth Byers, Dr. Jane Pratt, Margaret Percy, Martin Curd, Martin Price, Masi Latianara, Megh Ranjani Rai, Mervin Stevens, Muhammad Akhlas, Muhammad Ayaz Khan, Nyima Tashi, Rana Riaz Saeed, Seth Sicroff, and Shah Nawaz participated.]

• Geologists, soil scientists, hydrologists and other physical and biological sciences need to adopt naming conventions that facilitate research and scholarly discourse. Others have definitions as per the requirements of their disciplines. Rather than we define what a mountain or hill is, let us ask the local people.
• The search for THE definition of mountains either doesn’t matter or is an exercise in futility. No matter how useful it would be for lawmakers to have a definition of ‘pornography’, none has ever proved workable. And the same goes for ‘mountain.’
• People’s perception of the differences between hills and mountains are locality-specific or context-specific. In Nepal, the general distinction is hills are ‘green’ and mountains are ‘snow-covered.’ This distinction based on colour perception, however, is not universally applicable.
• Giving a new definition without accepting the existing names or describing the specific features according to the purpose only ties ourselves down to a rule that goes beyond what we have been following for years and years.
• How should one define hills and mountains from the human point of view (not just cold scientific point of view)? Can one define hills from mountains by the cultures that live on them? Defining hills and mountains without considering the human cultures that live on them as a vital parameter is a gross under-definition. The human network in hills and mountains combined is not as static an element as elevation and vegetation-type and geological make-up, but is rather a very dynamic and unavoidable part of what mountains and hills are.

• Hills may go as high up as 3,000 feet (about 1,000 m), with grassy, scrub and broad-leaved vegetation, while a mountain may be higher than that with pine forests and snow-covered peaks.
• Han Hunni in ‘Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in African and Asia Mountains’ (Royal Swedish Academy of Science 1999, Ambio, Vol 28, No 5, August 1999) gives altitude and slope as the two major criteria for the physical definition of a mountain eco-region. As these two factors influence the climate, vegetation, soil formation and hydrological processes, the most significant difference between mountain area and lowland is the abrupt changes in vegetation. At any latitude, the hill area is not high enough to show a significant change in vegetation, whereas a mountain area is high enough to demonstrate various vegetation belts.
• From the kind of analysis that Mr. Hurni conducted, I believe relief maps of the terrain (characteristics) are important, not the names of the terrain.
• Hills and mountains are elevated features of the earth’s surface the standard measure of which is the ‘altitude’. There is an indirect relationship between altitude and vegetation, but a direct relationship between climatic conditions (temperature and humidity) and vegetation. The climatic conditions change with altitude at the same grid location (higher the altitude, lower the temperature), thus influencing vegetation. The climatic conditions also change with ‘latitude’ at the same altitude (generally temperature decreases from equator to poles), thus influencing the vegetation. (From Hurni’s analysis, it appears as if there will be similar vegetation at 500m altitude all over the world, but this is not so.)
• The mountain is a landform that rises 3,000 feet vertically over a distance of 1 mile.
• ‘Hills’ are those landforms having more sand/soft texture of soil irrespective of height and with good vegetation; whereas the mountains contain more hard rocks irrespective of height.
• The above definition based on texture doesn’t cut it. There are plenty of ‘hard hills’ and bountiful vegetation in the Himalayas that extend quite a bit higher than the highest Swiss Alps. Hills are often parts of mountains. Should one say a feature is a hill up to a certain point and then becomes a mountain? Or perhaps that the front of a lump is, according to the anthrocentric definition, a hill, while the backside is a mountain? And what does one do about the fact that hills may be growing into or ground down from mountains?
• Platforms and hills correspond to the 200-500m mean elevation class and have a greater degree of roughness (RR>20%). Plateaus (16.8 M km2), with mean elevations between 500 and 6,000m, have a medium degree of roughness (RR from 5 to 40%). Mountains (33.3 M km2) are differentiated from hills by their higher mean elevation, (>500 m), and from plateaus by their greater roughness (>20% then >40%) in each elevation class. Accordingly, Tibet and the Altiplano are very high plateaus, not mountains. (Source: Meybeck M., Green P., Vorosmart C. A New Typology for Mountains and Other Relief Classes: An Application to Global Continental Water, Resources and Population Distribution, MRD Journal, Vol.21.1, pp 34-45)
• The criteria for defining mountains laid down by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) are:

While altitude and slope have commonly been used, the local elevation range (relief) criterion is also critical, as those of us who live in and near low-altitude mountains know. The slope criteria of 2 and 5 degrees were essential to remove high-elevation plains and plateaux. The resulting digital map is beginning to be a standard reference, and is already being used as the basis for a number of other studies, both regional and global, of mountain regions.

Commentary by Elizabeth Byers <ebyers@mountain.org> on a press release dated 29 January 2001, and posted to the <mf-asia@mtnforum.org> e-mail list

Please see below the link to a press release that celebrates the legal recognition of indigenous peoples’ territorial rights by the Philippine Supreme Court. Owen Lynch, an attorney at the Centre for International Environmental Law, is a pivotal figure in the story. Many of you know Owen as the lead author of the recent Mountain Forum report on ‘Mountain Laws and Peoples’. As a personal note on this release, Owen writes: “The event truly is extraordinary and successfully culminates a twenty-year, intensely collaborative effort that profoundly changed the course of my life... It remains to be seen how all this can actually help local people improve their lives and livelihoods. Meanwhile, hats off to all of my wonderful friends and colleagues in the Philippines who bore most of the burden and deserve most of the credit.” Having worked closely with Owen on the mountain law report, I would like to add my admiration and thanks for his talented and tireless advocacy of the rights of indigenous peoples. For the complete story: <http://www.ciel.org/philippinesscourt.html>

By Yuri P. Badenkov <baden@l-card.ru> from a message to the <mf-asia@mtnforum.org> e-mail list

I am happy to inform all of you that The Treaty and Charter of the University of Central Asia (UCA) was signed in the last days of August by the Presidents of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan and HH Prince Aga Khan in Dushanbe (28.08), Bishkek (30.08) and Astana (31.08).

After ratification in the Parliaments of these Central Asian States, the new University oriented mountain development issues will begin full-scale activities. The location of the core UCA campus is Khorog, Tajikistan. Two other campuses will be opened in selected places in mountain areas of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan.

It’s a very significant event for the international mountain community and mountain communities in Central Asia particularly. Maybe it’s the first International University in the World oriented to sustainable mountain development issues. It’s a good gift for International Year of the Mountains, also.

I’m happy to say that well-known ‘mountain people’ —Jane Pratt, Klaus Lampe, Jack Ives, and Yuri Badenkov—were involved (as members of the Organising Committee) in the process of establishing the philosophy and programmes of this institution from the very beginning—the year 1996. Co-Chairs of the Committee were Dr. Munira Inoyatova, Minister of Education, Tadjikistan; and Mr. Shamsh Kassim Lakha, President of Aga Khan University, Karachi.

By Falch <office.vienna@falch.at> from a message to the <mf-asia@mtnforum.org> e-mail list on 13 March 2001

In preparation for the International Year of Mountains 2002 (IYM) and the International Year of Ecotourism 2002 (IYE), development perspectives and visions of people living in mountainous areas will be raised for discussion and exchange during a ‘Month of Mountains’ at PAITHOM-Institute, Pakistan, in May 2001.

The 2–3 day workshop will address the following topics: Integrated Tourism Policy in Mountainous Regions, Cooperation between Agriculture and Tourism, Village Development and Tourism Development in Mountain Villages, and Mountaineering and Guiding/Mountain Guide Associations.

The problems, experiences, and perspectives of mountainous regions—on a national and international basis—will be considered in discussions between people who live in these regions, experts, consultants, administration, students, and NGOs.

It is envisaged to strengthen the know-how potentials of the Himalayan/HinduKush/Karakoram region, as well as to support capacity-building initiatives and to raise awareness for problems, potentials, and interests of mountainous regions.

For more information about the Month of Mountains: E-mail: <info@ mountains2002.org.pk>, Web: <http://www.mountains2002.org.pk>

By ANSAB <ansab@mos.com.np> from a message to the <mf-asia@mtnforum.org> e-mail list on 1 January 2001

Asia Network for Small-Scale Agricultural Bioresources (ANSAB) has recently published a manual: ‘Enterprise Development for Natural Products.’ It helps to promote a strategy for natural product enterprise design that contributes to conserving biodiversity and promoting social equity. The manual provides a framework of enterprise development planning in natural products in general and non-timber forest products in particular. The manual also includes practical tools for addressing the issues of marketing, resource assessment, business fundamentals, and policy environment.

'The manual is available at: Business Service Centre, Asia Network for Small-Scale Agricultural Bioresources (ANSAB), Kathmandu, Nepal, Tel: 977-1-497547, Fax: 977-1-487916, E-mail: <ansab@mos.com.np>

By Andre A. Kalden <akalden@muktinath.org> from a message to the <mf-asia@mtnforum.org> e-mail list on 15 January 2001

Muktinath is a pilgrimage place for both Hindus and Buddhists in the Himalayas of Nepal.

By sending this mail I hope you will visit our Muktinath website at <http://www.muktinath.org> and decide to support the local nuns and the preservation of Muktinath by putting one of our specially designed banners on the website of your organisation, or by creating your own link to our website.

Dr. Sudhirendar Sharma <sudhirendar@vsnl.net> from a posting to <mf-asia@mtnforum.org> email list on April 30, 2001

Kargil, a district perched atop the Himalayan plateau at an altitude of over 10,000 feet above sea level, has turned out to be a stage for cross-border aggression. It has not only faced two major wars, in 1965 and in 1971, but has been witness to low-intensity cross-border aggression between India and Pakistan for a decade now. However, it was during the armed aggression of May 1999 that the region shot into prominence. But for the conflict, the region would not have been known to the rest of the country.

Where is Kargil?

Spread over the inaccesible mountainous terrain of the western Ladakh region in the Indian Himalayas, Kargil town lies to the northwest of Kashmir valley at a distance of 204 kilometres from Srinagar and 234 kilometres from Leh, the capital of Ladakh. It can be reached by road from both Srinagar and Leh, which are linked by air. Stretching like a lunar landscape high in the remote regions of the Karakoram, Kargil town is situated on the banks of the river Suru at a height of 9,300 feet.

Till 1979, Kargil was part of the erstwhile largest district in the country, Ladakh. Covering 14,036 square kilometres, the district is characterised by sparse vegetation on mountains that range in height from 8,000 to 18,000 feet. The district remains snowbound and inaccessible for half of the year, from October to April. Its population of over 95,000 people is distributed in 131 villages. Drass, a small town to the west of Kargil, is reputed to be the second coldest inhabited place, with temperature dipping down to minus 75 degrees Celsius. Over 90 per cent of the population in the district are Muslims; Buddhists and Hindus constitute small minorities.

In January 1999, recalls activist Raza Abbasi from Kargil, he and his colleagues had to explain to the police the existence of Kargil during a protest rally in favour of their rights in Delhi, India’s capital. Said Raza, “The war helped the country know that we do exist as part of this nation.” Raza echoed the concern of most Kargilians who were piqued by the lack of concern of the mainland for the small community living in this high-altitude region.

Unfortunately, the war was timed (from May to September) to coincide with the most productive summer months for the local population, the time during which not only are farming operations accomplished but enough food is stored for the coming winter. Consequently, the impact of war had wider human dimensions too. Though only 30,000 people were directly displaced, the impact of cross-border aggression was felt by the remainder too as they had given shelter and support to the displaced during this period.

Much to everybody’s surprise, the affected population in this war-torn region demanded fuelwood as a relief supply. Normally, one is conditioned to hear ‘food’ in such situations. It was quite a bit of learning for outsiders that survival in such high mountainous areas is dependent on fuelwood. One may survive the winters without ‘food’ but not without fuelwood to keep oneself alive. No surprise, therefore, that most of the better months of summer are spent on collection of fuelwood.

Since local people had missed out on the opportunity for collecting and storing fuelwood for the winter, fuelwood figured top on the relief package for most relief agencies. The district administration distributed 20,000,00 kg of fuelwood while relief agencies distributed another 12,000,00 kg. Clearly, this quantity was nowhere near the actual wood requirements of the affected population for the six winter months.

A Unique Institution

The mosque is a social institution in Kargil that addresses the problem of energy in its own unique way. Each village has, on an average, two mosques. These mosques provide hot water facilities for bathing during winter months. Hamams (traditional water heaters) are kept in these mosques. Not only do the hamams keep the praying arena warm but they also provide hot water for devotees as well. Needless to say, most of the devotees who use this facility pay for it according to their capacity.

It seems this tradition came to the region of Ladakh from Iran. Ever since, the local communities have not only nurtured this institution but sustained it too. The Government too has contributed to the survival of this unique practice. Each year, the forest department contributes a fixed quota of fuelwood to the mosques. In the post-war period, it contributed 4,000,00 kg of fuelwood to these mosques.

According to the estimates of the forest Department in the district, the average requirement for wood for a family for the entire winter is around 30 quintals. By this estimate, the total requirement for the displaced population alone came close to 120,000,00 kg. Clearly, the relief package was only touching the tip of the iceberg. Private vendors were expected to cover the shortfall. Even during normal conditions, most wood supplies are met through private vendors who transport fuelwood from the Kashmir valley. In 1998, 480 truckloads (approx. 3500 kg per truck) of wood were sold in the area. It was quite clear that, war or no war, the issue of energy was paramount for this region. The dependence of the local population on supplies from the valley and the plains makes them more vulnerable in the event of unfortunate calamities. With energy being crucial to human and cattle survival in the region, long-term plans need to be developed to tide over the crisis-like situation that crops up year after year.

People in Kargil are surviving in a land-locked situation. Gone are the days when Kargil used to be at the centre of the silk route, bartering barley, wheat, mustard, apples and apricots for salt, wool and meat products. With the closing of the silk route and the creation of the Indian State, the region has become totally dependent on the State. Today, life in the region is fully dependent on food and fuel supplies from the plains.
Over 12,000 metric tonnes of grain are imported into the region each year. Count petroleum products and other essential commodities, and the situation is much more severe from the point of view of a community that was, not long ago, leading a self-sustaining life. Each year, over 5,000 kilolitres of petroleum products and over 7,000,00 kg of fuelwood are consumed in the region. With the population projected to increase at a dicennial growth rate of 47 per cent, the dependence is bound to increase.

A distressing feature in the development process has been the culture of subsidies and handouts. In the entire Ladakh region, of which Kargil is a part, subsidies constitute a substantial proportion of development expenditure, which multiplies manifold in the wake of a conflict. This has virtually destroyed such qualities as self-reliance, sustainability and even self-respect; so vital for an area that remains cut-off from other parts of India for many months each year.

Kargil poses a development challenge that warrants a radical shift in present development design. There can be no two opinions as to the necessity to change the strategy for economic development of the region. An integrated development model taking into consideration the natural constraints and available resources of the area needs to evolve and be implemented at the earliest if the people of the region have to ensure a future for themselves. The new model needs to be built on the traditional way of life, avoiding the problems created and dangers posed by the present system, and adopting new and appropriate technologies and paradigms to achieve greater productivity and efficiency at all levels, with a maximum of self-sufficiency as the ultimate goal.

There are no easy solutions for a region that is faced with natural and manmade uncertainties. It is both a challenge as well as an opportunity to address the livelihood needs of the region.

(Dr Sudhirendar Sharma is a New Delhi-based energy analyst and Editor of the Rural Energy Journal. The above paper, based on the study he conducted during the war of 1999 in Kargil, first appeared in the March 2001 issue (no. 46) of the journal Boiling Point, published by ITDG, London.)