Document 2722146

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SaleemAli
isa g i o n ,b u t c o u l db e t r a i n e da s r a n g e r sr e s p o n s i b lf eo r m a i n t a i n i n gt h e p a r k .
TheSrachen
Glacielin the Himalayas,
"We havetried to reachout to the armed forcesdirectly,"saysAli, who has
The20,000-foot-high
f rozen
battleground.
of a a l r e a d ye n l i s t e dt h e s u p p o r to f f o r m e rm i l i t a r yo f f i c i a l isn b o t h I n d i aa n d P a k regionof Kashmir
hasbeenthesource
c pporone that has i s t a n ." l n o r d e rf o r t h i st o w o r k , y o u h a v et o t h i n k o f s o m es t r a t e g i o
longstandingownershipdisputebetween lndia and Pakistan,
c o s tt h e n a t i o n sm o r e t h a n 1 5 , 0 0 0c a s u a l t i ecso m b i n e dI.n a d d i t i o nt,h e d e - t u n i t i e sf o r t h e a r m y . "
which
The peacepark proposalhasbeensubmittedto both governments,
cades-long
conflict hasgeneratedtons of humanand militarywaste,contami, u t t h e r o a da h e a dw o n ' t b e e a s y
of threatenedfloraand fau- a r e p l a n n i n gt a l k sl a t e rt h i sy e a r ,A l i s a y s b
natinga glacierthat is home to numerousspecies
c e e t i n g f, u n d e d b y t h e
F o ri n s t a n c ew, h e n A l i h e l p e do r g a n i z ea s c i e n t i f i m
of people
to hundreds
of millions
freshwater
naandsupplies
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ended
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Now, the
"peace u p h a v i n gt o s h u t t l eb a c ka n d f o r t h b e t w e e nt w o d r f f e r e n m
t eetrngs-one
eem Ali is lobbyingto turn Siachenintoa nonpolitical
butalso i n I n d i a o, n e i n P a k i s t a n - b e c a u snee i t h e rg o v e r n m e nwt o u l d a p p r o v ev i s a s
an important
ecosystem
park,"a movethat couldnot onlypreserve
l e e t i n gi s p l a n n e df o r t h i sf a l l
s . t r u l yb i l a t e r am
the f o r t h e o t h e rs i d e ' ss c i e n t i s t A
for bothnations.
In thisway,Ali says,
provide
exitstrategy
a face-saving
peace.
promote
in
Nepal,
relatively
neutral
territory.
can
be
used
to
of
conflict,
sooftena source
environment,
"Fartoo often,we consider
scarA s t h e w h e e l st u r n o n t h e S i a c h e np r o p o s a lA, l i w i l l p r e s so n w i t h o t h issues
in termsof resource
environmental
studies e r p r o l e c t sH. i se d i t e dv o l u m eo n p e a c ep a r k sw i l l b e p u b l i s h e tdh i sf a l l ,a n d
andisnowan environmental
city,"saysAli,who grewup in Pakistan
"Thatnecessitates
or Muslim
somekindof a con- he will continuehis involvementwith the Pakistanimadrassahs,
professor
of Vermont.
at the University
s
c
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e
n
c
e
c
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r
r
i c u l u mH. e
pie,
you
w
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e
h
e
i
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a
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a
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v
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you're
end
up
in
a
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c
h
o
o
l
s
,
divide
up
the
tryingto
Whenever
flictframework.
the problem
andmakeenvironmen-hassecuredfundingfrom the USInstituteof Peaceto work with the schools,
But,he says,"youcanreframe
conflict."
is goingto be which are often viewed as incubatorsof ethnic conflictand sectarianviothe qualityof the environment
tal qualityan issue.Depleting
lence.Ali hopes,however,to illustratethe importanceof harmonyand acoverit."
something
that neithersidewouldwant,soyoucancooperate
t sl,i h a sd r a w nu p p l a n tsh a tc a l fl o r cord by fosteringan appreciationfor science."Sciencehas a certainobjecI nc o l l a b o r a t iw
o ni t h o t h e rs c i e n t i s A
r t oa c o n s e r v a t a
i onndr e s e a r c htive quality,"he says."ln orderto reallyget good science,you haveto have
c l e a n i nugp S i a c h eann dt u r n i n gt h eg l a c i ei n
fromthe re- somesortof cooperation."
zone Thearmedforceswouldnot haveto withdrawcompletelv
I
P h o t o g r a p hb y M a r k M a h a n e y