Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy felicitated for Everest summit

Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy was honoured by the National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation (NFRCEC), funded by the Diwan of the Royal Court.

On May 21 this year, Al Harthy became the first Omani woman to summit Mt. Everest.

Dr. Saif Al Shaqsi, Executive Director of the NFRCEC said, "This honour is part of the National Center's efforts to support the Omani youth and develop their capabilities in the field of environmental research and preservation of environmental systems and its natural components. We hope there will be more national achievements in the field in the future."

During the meeting between the Director of the Center and Al Harthy, they discussed aspects of cooperation and the possibility of benefiting from this national achievement, closely related to the environment and climate affairs. Also discussed was means to raise environmental awareness among different segments of society, especially athletes in the field of adventure and mountain climbing.

Al Shaqsi said,"This achievement is an addition to the environmental achievements of the Sultanate. Mount Everest is the focus of scientists looking to study the impact of climate change on mountains."

"I thank the National Center for this honour," said Nadhira Al Harthy. "Preserving the environment is one of the topics that are always associated with Mount Everest as the highest peak in the world. It is considered one of the most polluted mountains because of the trash left behind by tourists as well as remains of climbers."

"Despite the clean-up campaigns there, the difficulty of the area requires the transport of debris by helicopters or the help of the Sherpa tribesmen who are climbers. Garbage loads continue to be cleaned from the high camps throughout the year, but there is still a lot of work to be done to keep Mount Everest clean." Al Harthy added.

She further said, "Awareness and concern as well as commitment is important for conservation of the environment, and this applies to the Sultanate as well where we sometimes see the pioneers of adventure sports or tourists leave a lot of waste after practicing their favorite sport. Insistence on keeping the environment in all areas will ensure the continuation of its beauty and maintainence of natural balance."