OneWorld.net (U.S.)

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jul 12 (OneWorld) - Edmund Hillary--who with his local guide Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 became the first climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest--is urging that the world's highest mountain be classified an endangered site.

Hillary's call, issued Monday at this week's meeting in Durban, South Africa of the U.N. Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee, boosted environmentalists' demands that more be done to protect the mountain from global warming.

''The warming of the environment of the Himalayas has increased noticeably over the last 50 years. This has caused several and severe floods from glacial lakes and much disruption to the environment and local people,'' Hillary said in a statement issued by environmental group Friends of the Earth International.

The organization's Nepalese chapter, Pro Public, is spearheading the campaign to have Everest, known locally as Sagarmatha, bumped up from UNESCO's register of World Heritage sites, of which there are 788, to its critical-care List of World Heritage in Danger, which covers 35 sites.

The 21-nation UNESCO committee was expected to decide this week on whether to open the endangered list to Everest and national parks in Belize and Peru.

''Mount Everest is a powerful symbol of the natural world, not just in Nepal,'' said Prakash Sharma, director of Pro Public. ''If this mountain is threatened by climate change, then we know the situation is deadly serious. If we fail to act, we are failing future generations and denying them the chance to enjoy the beauty of mother earth.''

The 1972 World Heritage Convention requires all countries to pass the Everest National Park intact to future generations. Campaigners said this would not happen unless urgent action is taken to stop the melting of the Himalayas and to prevent many glacial lakes from bursting, threatening the lives of thousands of people and destroying a unique and irreplaceable environment.

''The melting of Himalayan glaciers as a result of climate change has swollen Himalayan lakes, increasing the risk of catastrophic flooding,'' said Friends of the Earth. ''There is wide agreement that many lakes are at risk, but a lack of adequate monitoring means that there is no realistic assessment of how close any are to bursting. Putting Everest National Park on the danger list would mean the committee would have to assess Nepal's glacial lakes and stabilize those most at risk.''

Environmentalists at this week's UNESCO talks also have called for coral reefs in Belize and glaciers in Peru to be added to the danger list as a result of climate change.

''The climate change problems faced by Nepal, Belize, and Peru are not of their own making but are the result of greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized countries,'' Friends of the Earth said. ''The World Heritage Committee must make it clear that international law requires governments around the world to reduce their countries' emissions to ensure that the world's most spectacular places remain for future generations.''

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is responsible for implementing the 1972 U.N. convention protecting cultural and natural sites. Its members come from Argentina, Benin, Britain, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Russia, Saint Lucia, and South Africa.

At the local level, Nepalese authorities long have contended with another environmental assault on the so-called roof of the world: pollution from climbers and tourists.

Climbers--including Hillary--traditionally dump spare equipment, tents, food packaging and other items so their expeditions can travel lighter as they descend the mountain. Over the years, this has earned Everest a reputation as the world's highest garbage site.

Of even greater concern to government officials, tourists increasingly take advantage of improved transport infrastructure and safety to visit the Everest base camp and to explore the lower portions of the national park. Just as they spend money and boost Nepal's export earnings on the one hand, on the other they litter all over the countryside.

Authorities have attempted to rein in the refuse by imploring tourists to take greater care, by requiring climbers to pay deposits returnable only if they bring their trash back down the mountain with them, and by giving local porters incentives to fill empty bags with rubbish they find along their way down the mountain.

But given the sheer volume of visitors--some 379,000 tourists visited the area last year, officials told the BBC, and at least 2,249 climbers have reached Everest's summit, according to EverestNews.com--officials and environmental activists alike have said it remains to be seen whether such measures will prove equal to the task.