The high altitude and dry climate of Ladakh result in wonderful night skies where you can identify numerous stellar objects. This makes it a region perfect for astro-tourism. Mountain Homestays identified this clear night sky as a resource available to the locals that has a huge potential for creating opportunities for livelihood. Mountain Homestays is a livelihood Initiative of Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) designed to empower remote off grid communities through community based tourism.
Mountain Homestays has created Astrostays in various villages of Ladakh by installing high-end sophisticated telescopes. The local women running these homestays are not just trained in hospitality but also in operating the telescopes and reading the night sky.
The village communities have shown a lot of enthusiasm for this new development and have already started attracting tourists with their knowledge of the stellar objects and constellations. The local folklore about the stars and planets also play an important part in the traveller experience of astro-tourism.
The long term impact of this new development is immense. Apart from the additional income for village women and community, looking at the night sky opens up the minds and increase their appetite for science. Who knows the future astrophysicists are from Ladakh and they are taking their inspiration in these villages.
When you travel to these Astrostays, you can also look forward to learning some bits of astronomy and look at the space objects, like rings of Saturn and moons of Jupiter. You will also become an astronomer at the end. Also, do not forget to ask for an astro-souvenir at the homestay.
Maan Homestays
Maan is a remote village with stupendous scenic beauty and astoundingly clear night skies. Driving along the Turquoise Pangong Lake for a couple of hours you reach this remote heaven where we are promoting Astro-tourism. The locals are trained to operate a 10-inch telescope through which you can see various stellar objects. Spot Jupiter and its satellites, Saturn and its rings, the craters of Moon and beautiful nebulae like Orion, and hear the folklore from the villagers. Your host – Tsewang Dorjey (Village Coordinator).
Activities:
- Stargazing session in the village
- Yoga session at Pangong Lake
- Hands-on farming experience in village
GHE, winner of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Awards
The United Nations has recognised Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) as a winner of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Awards. GHE has been commended for its efforts to combat climate change and create resilient mountain communities through its development interventions, involving tourism and technology. Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) has become the only Indian company to be recognised as the winner of the 2020 United Nations Global Climate Action Awards. The recipients of the 2020 Awards are some of the best examples of what companies across the globe are doing to combat climate change in a year that has cast darkness upon so many.
GHE is one of the world’s first organisations using the force of tourism coupled with technology to bring solar energy to remote communities, GHE conducts “Impact Expeditions” to remote Himalayan villages and uses a portion of the expedition fee to fund the capital cost of the hardware, transportation, installation and training of village-scale solar micro-grids. The micro-grid infrastructure set up by GHE is owned and operated by the community. A fine example of climate friendly financing.
UN Secretary General António Guterres in his message to the winners said “I congratulate the champions of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Awards, who provide tangible proof that climate action is under way around the world. It is exciting to see these climate solutions, which reinforce my call for decisive leadership on climate change by governments, businesses and cities, and for a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Let us keep pressing ahead to build a more sustainable and equitable future for all.”
Enabling livelihood
To date, GHE has solar electrified more than 131 villages in 3 regions of India, directly impacting the lives of more than 60,000 villagers through its Impact Expeditions. More than 3,200 households are now CO2-free as kerosene oil has been replaced with solar energy. A total solar capacity of 360 kw has been set up in some of the most remote villages of India. This has cut an aggregate of 35,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from these communities by eliminating the need for kerosene. To ensure sustainable development of these villages, GHE has created livelihood opportunities in the local indigenous communities through tourism and local handicrafts. Enabling livelihood through homestay tourism has enabled a 45% increase in the annual household income.
The UN Global Climate Action Awards are spearheaded by the Momentum for Change initiative at UN Climate Change. GHE has been recognised for its innovative solution that not only addresses climate change, but also help drive forward progress on many other sustainable development goals, for example, innovation, gender equality and economic opportunity. The 2020 winning activities were selected by an international Advisory Panel as part of the UN Climate Change’s Momentum for Change initiative.
Along with GHE, this year’s award-winning projects demonstrate leadership on climate change by nations, businesses, investors, cities, regions and civil society as a whole. They range from Caribbean’s only carbon-neutral hotel, to the world’s first platform fully dedicated to green bonds, to the first all-women solar team in Lebanon.
The award announcement is part of the wider effort to mobilise action and ambition as national governments work toward implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. It also sets the stage for two upcoming events in the climate change calendar: the Race To Zero Dialogues from November 9-19, which will serve as critical input to the UNFCCC Climate Dialogues from November 23 to 4 Dec 4, which are advancing work governing the rules of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
