How a village in the Himalayas was entirely relocated
A documentary for BBC Studios.
Produced for the Climate Guardians series.
“The story of people being forced to abandon their village because of the impact of climate change”
About the documentary
Producer: Jeremy Riggall
Director: Shanta Nepali
Produced as part of BBC Future Planet’s Climate Guardians series. All the films for this series were filmed and directed by local nationals from the Global south. Additionally, in order to reduce carbon emissions, no flying was allowed.
Upper Mustang in Nepal is a remote wild and beautiful landscape, where its people live close to nature and high up in the mountains. Upper Mustang was only visited by outsiders after 1992 and it still has a certain mysterious quality with strong influence from Tibetan culture.
The village of Samdzong and its people were struggling to survive as its water sources dried up and the fields became barren. After years of discussions, the 18 families decided to move their entire village 3 hours away to the newly built village of Namashung. This was a huge challenge for the villagers. Many struggled in the new village and regretted the loss of their family homes and a different way of life. They had to adapt to new farming methods and accept that going back to the old village was not possible.
The impact of climate change has forced the villagers to adapt. Not only have they had to move their entire village, they have also had to modify their agricultural practices and livestock rearing. They are on the front line of climate change, living high up in the Himalayas and experiencing the conditions that are prevalent across the entire Hindu Kush region.
