As I told in my previous article, here I have written little bit about International Mountain Museum and those parts which got my attention.

International Mountain Museum (IMM) located in Ghari Patan Pokhara, was officialy opened in 2 Feburary,2004. The basic objective for its establishment was made to record, document and chronicle the past and present development of mountaineering activities in the world in general and to preserve the saga of the momentous feats in the history of mountaineering in the Himalayan peaks in particular( as stated in their official website). Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) initiated the idea of establishing IMM.

Nepal boasts 8 of 14 highest peaks including the world?s highest peak Sagarmatha (Mount Everest). So Himalayas and its eco system play crucial role in every aspect of country. Many ethnic group especially Sherpa (popularly known for their climbing abilities) dwell in mountain and their life is totally determined by condition of mountain. So it?s quite important to establish international museum to show people, eco-system, and bio diversity of Mountain and history of Mountaineers, many of whom lost their life while conquering mountain.

For me, as agriculture student, climate change effect, life of ethnic group and mountain bio diversity matter most. I was glad to see museum encompassing these aspects.

Like I have said in my previous report, biodiversity of Mountain, Climate change and its effect was given much emphasis in museum. There were many boards with clear and understandable pictures even for general people which explained climate change effect. In one board there was picture of how we are contributing to climate change while in other board there was some mitigation methods explained in detail. In some board, black carbon sources were given, effect of drought and desertification were also mentioned. Also, drip irrigation method (water conserving irrigation method) was also explained beautifully.

One corner of museum was focused on biodiversity and importance of mountain. There were lists of animals and birds found in Himalaya Range, types of Rhododendron (national flower of Nepal) found in different parts of country. There were many boards which explained in detail about dependency of human in mountain and how it affects cultural, social and economic aspects of life.

There was honorable mention of GLOF, how it occurs, its causes, effects and mitigation way. This attracted most of foreigners? attention. And also there was beautiful handcraft made by reusing wastes and encouraged everyone visiting museum to go for reduce, reuse and recycle. Effect of debris in melting of snow was too explained and work done to cleanliness of Mountain was posted in the wall of museum.

It felt good to see presence of organizations like ICIMOD, Mountainwalks, which are mainly concerned with conservation of mountain eco system, at museum. I want to thank museum for keeping such boards with lucid explanation of environment conservation which educate general public and give precise and clear effect of changes in environment happening due to our activities.

My visit was worth the time spent in the museum and I got to know many things about mountain which I never thought of previously. I hope museum gives continuous priority to conservation and climate change aspects of mountain.