Silent slopes: Environmental economics for the Nepalese hills

Abstract

Environmental deterioration in the hill region is one of the main contributors to the increasing social and agricultural crisis in Nepal (Bailey, 1975; Eckholm, 1976; Blaikie et al., 1979). Four years of extension work and research in Nepal (Calkins, 1968-1975; Calkins and Sisler, 1979) have led this writer to conclude that six environmental problems face the human population of the Nepalese hills and that, without ignoring local social structures, the government of Nepal could employ a judicious combination of five economic policies to retard environmental degradation. The data presented here derive primarily from a study conducted under the auspices of the Social Science Research Council and Cornell University's Program in International Agriculture in Nuwakot District, Nepal in 1973-1975. The survey population included 300 respondents from three villages (Thansing, Ganeshthan, and Lower Kaule) below 1,230 meters (m) and 300 respondents from three villages (Kakani, Lachyang, and Upper Kaule) above 1230 m (Fig. 1).