Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 1 | Page 57

trees—a dwindling natural resource even in
lush, forested Nepal. The briquettes produce
lesssmokethanfirewood,especiallyimportant
as many villagers’ kitchens aren’t equipped
with proper ventilation. Here again, TLR had
expectedtohavetoruntheprojectindefinitely,
but the villagers again seized the opportunity
day and now have a nice little incomegenerating briquette business.
On the educational front, TLR initially offered
Englishlanguageclassesforlocalschoolteachers
but,asisfrequentlythecase,peopleoftendon’t
value something as highly if its for free; in this
case, teacher attendance was abysmal (I can

just imagine the students taking roll-call and
scolding the tardy teachers); however, when
TLR started requiring teachers to pay a small
fee, the situation reversed and attendance
climbed to 100%.
To date, TLR has invested approximately
US$45,000 in community development and
environmentalprograms.Equallynoteworthy,
nearly all of its 50 employees are local,
includingthetopmanagement,instructorsand
guides, especially important in Nepal, where
unemployment is high and opportunities to
developmanagementskillsandexperienceare
limited.
Nepalese, for whom TLR activities would
normallybecost-prohibitive,areoffereda35%
discount, and now account for nearly four out
of every 10 customers—a true achievement
in a country that caters so heavily to foreign
tourists.
Enjoying the activities does take a leap of faith,
but you can feel confident that this is one ecotourism company that takes ‘eco’ seriously.

www.royalmt.com.np

About the author: Michael
Straus took the plunge
into the green, organic
and sustainable void more
than 20 years ago. Based in
Northern California, he is
currently traveling in Asia.

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