We would like our readers to know that Himal is not just an environmental magazine. To clarify, Himal is a magazine on social, economic, cultural and environmental matters which affect and afflict the people of the Himalaya. Treating this magazine only as an environmental advocacy bulletin restricts its reach and does less than justice to the enormously complex development issues our reporters and writers grapple with.
Since we never claimed to be devoted solely to ecological issues, it is interesting to speculate why we are so often pegged into that slot. One reason must be that concern for the "environment" is the fad of the moment for many journalists, administrators, development pundits and, yes, environmental gurus.
It is our view that the word "development", through overuse, has become invisible in South Asia. From the town of Galle on the southern rib of Sri Lanka to presently snowbound Leh in Ladakh, eyelids begin t? droop the moment they spot the first "d" of development. So it does not help that Himal's masthead screams "For Development and Environment". People simply skip over the first word and end up with "environment". That is how, again, we end up being thought as an environmental journal.
The point being made, I hasten to add that we certainly have no intention of ignoring ecological issues. In reporting on the Himalayan environment, we encourage our contributors to question received wisdom and we welcome debate. There are several thought provoking articles in this issue, on illegal fur trading, high dams in the Himalaya, the Doon Valley judgement and "environmental extremism". There is enough cud to chew on here till our next issue arrives at your mailbox.