Nepali mountaineer duo receive 'Leaders for a Living Planet' award
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The stunning Nepali mountaineer duo Apa Sherpa and Dawa Steven Sherpa have bagged World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) most prestigious award "Leaders for a Living Planet," WWF Nepal Program Office in capital Kathmandu said Wednesday.
Sherpa Duo who left Nepal on Nov. 19 for Czech Republic to the "European Expedition" as a part of the campaign titled "Climate for Life... a call from the Himalayas" received award at the Gland, WWF's Secretariat in Switzerland, according to WWF Nepal release issued on Wednesday.
Apa Sherpa, also known as "Super Sherpa," is the 19 time Mt. Everest (Mt. Qomolangma) Summiteer and World Record Holder, whereas Dawa Steven Sherpa is an enthusiastic young Mt. Qomolangma summiteer.
Sherpa duo, the two Ambassadors of "Climate for Life," will be traveling through 10 European cities starting from the historic city of Prague, through Brno, Bratislava, London, Rome, Geneva, Chamonix, Vienna, Brussels and finally Copenhagen.
"Climate for Life" is the campaign launched by WWF Nepal to raise the global climate debate in collaboration with the Nepali government and a large number of non-profit as well as private organizations.
According to WWF Nepal release, the duo Sherpa were felicitated by WWF International's Director General Jim Leape with the highest honor given an individual by WWF, the global conservation organization.
"Apa and Dawa represent real people from the real world. Their experiences are not based on somebody else's data or research, they have witnessed with their own eyes the melting Himalayas. Their examples make us realize that Climate Change is not just a term rather it will have very real and very severe impacts on the lives of billions of people in the world," the release quoted Leape as saying.
The award was given to Apa in recognition of taking up the role of a true global citizen by drawing the attention of world leaders to the impacts of climate change being felt by the people of the Himalayas and the need for urgent action.
Dawa Steven Sherpa received the award for his dynamic leadership and personal drive in helping people throughout the world to realize the perils faced by the people of the Himalayas as a result of climate change.
Receiving the award, Apa said, "The Sherpa people have always been close to nature and in turn nature has taken good care of us. But in recent times, we have had to face the wrath of nature and we realize that this is not because of our own doing but stems from the actions of industrialized nations."
Dawa Sherpa said, "We represent the Sherpa community who are at the forefront of Climate Change impacts. However, we also represent the millions of people living downstream from the Himalayas who will also be directly impacted by this phenomenon."
The expedition initiated by WWF is being supported by the Nepali Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, the World Bank, the Department For International Development among others, according to the organizers.
