Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to limit the number of permits issued for climbing Everest and other Himalayan peaks, a lawyer who filed a petition to this effect told AFP.
“She ordered to limit the number of climbers” on the highest mountain in the world, which peaks at 8,850 meters above sea level, said Me Deepak Bikram Mishra, as the spring climbing season begins in this country.
Nepal currently grants permits to anyone who wants to climb Everest and is willing to pay US$11,000. Last year, 478 were granted, a record.
The carrying capacity of mountainous areas “must be respected” and an adequate maximum number of permits must be determined, ruled the Supreme Court according to a summary of its decision which does not provide any figures on this subject.
The decision by Nepal’s highest court was handed down at the end of April, but the summary was only made public this week.
To preserve the environment
Me Deepak Bikram Mishra explained to AFP that the Court had thus responded to the population’s concerns regarding the protection of nature in Nepal, which is home to eight of the ten highest peaks on the planet.
In addition to limiting the number of mountaineers, she recommended “measures for waste management and environmental preservation” in mountainous areas, this lawyer underlined.
Every spring, when temperatures are milder and winds generally weak, Nepal welcomes hundreds of people in search of adventure to its mountains.
A massive human traffic jam on Everest in 2019 forced expedition members to wait for hours on the mountain in very low temperatures.
At least four of the 11 deaths recorded that year were attributable to overcrowding.
“We are putting too much pressure on the mountain and we need to give it a little breathing space,” said Deepak Bikram Mishra.