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Initiatives
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Location
 The location of the Sacred Land Projects is the spectacular and diverse mountain landscape of the Solu Khumbu district of North East Nepal.
Solu is the southern part of the district whereas Khumbu refers to
the upper area that reaches up to Mount Everest itself.
The main work is undertaken in Khumbu which is a sparsely populated area covering over 11,000 sq. kilometres with altitudes from 2800 metres to some of the highest mountains in the world. More than 95 % of this region is above 4000m.
In Tibetan, Mt. Everest is known as Chomolungma , which refers to Miyo-Langsangma, the Sister Goddess of the Earth who provides nourishment. In Nepali, it is known as Sagamatha or Mother goddess of the world. The Sagamatha National Park was created in 1976 in order to protect this fragile mountain ecology. This area has been recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage Site for "outstanding universal value" giving great importance to the people, the flora, and the fauna of the region.
Most of Khumbu is high alpine country, an area of ice, alpine tundra
and lichen. The snow line is at 6000m on southern slopes and 5800m on
northern aspects. Only 2 % of Khumbu is forested. The lower valleys
are conifer country; higher up are fir, pine, birch, rhododendron and
juniper, but the trees thin out and growth rate slows down. Above
4000m come the highly scented dwarf rhododendrons, alpine shrubs,
herbs and grasses. It is in the pristine alpine meadows that many of
the herbs used in Tibetan medicine grow.
The climate in Khumbu varies considerably and in each small pocket of
the landscape has its own special microclimate. In monsoon it is
eerily misty with heavy rain and temperatures up to a warm 20 degree
Celsius. In winter, the climate can be extremely hard, dropping below
minus 20 degrees and snowfall is frequent. However, Khumbu is
somewhat protected from the worst extremes of the weather by a
surrounding wall of mountainous ridges. This gives it its hidden
valley quality and creates partial rain shadow conditions that keeps
out the worst of the torrential monsoon rains coming up from India
and the icy winds that blow across the Tibetan plateau from the north.
 Tengboche Monastery
Tengboche Monastery lies at an altitude of 3867m on the main trekking route to Mount Everest base camp. Tengboche Rinpoche, the abbot of Tengboche Monastery, is the chairman of Sacred Land and he encouraged the first plantation to be established just below at Devoche, close to a small nunnery. Later, approximately 3 acres of land were bought in Decho about 1 hours walk from Namche Bazaar. Since Decho is located away from the primary trekking trail in a more quiet and secluded neighbouring valley, it is an ideal place for the expansion of the medical plantation and the pharmacy for the making of medicines, herbal tea and incense.
Traditionally medical herbs grow best where the elements are brought
together in harmony and the local spirits are peaceful. Medicines
made from plants grown in these places posses a special quality that
is very helpful for the people taking them. Tengboche Rinpoche has
said that Khumbu is such a harmonious, pure place and will benefit
the many people from all over the world who use medicines, tea and
incense made there.
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