Winterline Foundation is in the process of making a "project-related investment" in the Mountain Shepherds Initiative Pvt. Ltd., at MSI's request.  The funds mobilized will be used by MSI to establish a community-owned guide and hospitality training institute - an institute for adventure sports and sustainable livelihoods.

The outdoor/environmental education center will providing training to guides wishing to participate in the growing tourism industry, and will also be an educational resource for local inhabitants.  As a guide-training program, the institute will provide an alternative form of livelihood creation which will directly involve local communities in the tourism industry.  As an educational resource, the institute will balance western scientific knowledge with traditional ecological knowledge in a way which promotes conservation while maintaining the region’s unique cultural heritage.

Principals of MSI were among the moving parties who drew up and formalized The Nanda Devi Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism Declaration of October 14, 2001.  Mountain Shepherds is implementing this philosophy in its planning.

This program-related investment was a natural follow-on to two prior grants that enabled unemployed youth from mountain villages to go through two years of training at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi.

Links:

Mountain Shepherds Initiative: http://mountainshepherds.prayaga.org/

Nanda Devi Campaign: http://nandadevi.prayaga.org/

Nature Link:  http://www.nature-link.org/partnerships.html