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March 4, 2008

UCSC lecturer organizes campaign to remove landmines in Afghanistan

By Scott Rappaport (831) 459-2496; srapp@ucsc.edu

Since 2000, Afghanistan's highest mountain, Noshaq, has been inaccessible because the route to the base camp of the 24,580-foot peak has been blocked by landmines.

The mines were laid by the Northern Alliance to prevent the Taliban from attacks via the nearby Qazideh Valley in Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor. As a result, the approximately 1,000 villagers of Qazideh are unable to let their livestock out in the pastures where they have traditionally grazed, and the people risk their lives whenever they need to gather firewood from the fields for cooking and to heat their homes.

In January, UCSC lecturer John Mock helped launch a campaign to solve this problem by appealing to the international mountaineering community to fund the removal of the landmines.

"The goal is to reopen the valley for the villagers, end landmine casualties and suffering, and reopen Noshaq for climbers and trekkers," said Mock. "This could generate much needed sustainable tourism income for the people living in the whole region."

"For mountaineers, access is an important issue—it's one of the biggest mountains in the world with a long history of mountaineering expeditions," Mock added. "And this project addresses the larger issues of biodiversity, conservation, and development in a very remote and interesting part of Afghanistan."

Mock teaches all of the Hindi and Urdu language classes at UCSC. His expertise includes the cultures of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, and he speaks Urdu, Wakhi, Hindi, and Nepali, among other languages.

Mock is also a consultant for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Afghanistan Biodiversity Project and a member of IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas. He currently serves on the board of trustees of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies and on the executive council of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies.

"In October 2007, the HALO Trust, a nonprofit organization engaged in clearing landmines in northern Afghanistan, finished a survey of the Qazideh Valley--it's the same trust that Princess Diana was involved with," said Mock. "Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world and HALO has a limited budget. The trust estimates that removing the mines will cost almost 100,000 U.S. dollars."

Clearing the mines could begin as early as June 1 if funds are raised by March 31. If that date is missed, the project could shift to 2009 with an alternative fundraising deadline of March 31, 2009. Mock noted that nearly $8,000 dollars have already been donated as of mid-February.

For more information about the campaign, visit Return to Noshaq web site.

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