Pastoralism and Rangeland Management on the Tibetan Plateau in ...

Photo 1: L<strong>and</strong>scape in Upper Mustang
(photograph © Narendra Lama)
The government has assigned a high priority to the road networks around
Upper Mustang, which could also have a great impact upon the mode of tourism
there. Once the rural areas of Mustang are connected by the road on a
year-round basis, an increased number of pasture areas that are presently solely
devoted to animal husb<strong>and</strong>ry can be developed as tourism destinations. This
would provide tourists with side trips to experience new modes of life <strong>and</strong> the
nature of the pastures. The rangel<strong>and</strong>s also have tourism appeal, as they offer
tourists the potential to observe endangered species such as the snow leopard,
brown bear <strong>and</strong> frequent herds of blue sheep <strong>and</strong> other fauna.
1 Introduction
Upper Mustang lies between 28°47’to 29°19’ N <strong>and</strong> 83°28’ to 84°15’ E in
Mustang District, which is a sparsely populated district of Nepal (Photo 1).
Upper Mustang with a fragile l<strong>and</strong>scape is drained by the main Kali G<strong>and</strong>aki
River <strong>and</strong> its tributaries in the high altitude steppe. It falls in the rain shadow
of Dhaulagiri Himal <strong>and</strong> Annapurna Massif <strong>and</strong> covers an area of 2,567 km2.
Upper Mustang consists of seven Village Development Committees (VDC)
<strong>and</strong> thirty-one settlement areas (Figure 1). Upper Mustang is dominated by
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