Born to lead: Tashi Lhazom walks the high path for her people

29/05/2025

Tashi, a youth leader and climate advocate from Limi Valley in Nepal’s remote Humla District, is one of the Youth Glacier Champions for the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. She is also an active member of the Mountain Youth Hub and has represented mountain youth in national and international forums. Her voice is rising from one of Nepal’s most isolated valleys to the global stage—and it carries with it generations of Indigenous knowledge and the urgent warning signs of a warming world.

Limi, a high-altitude valley in Humla District, is home to just around 1 200 people, agropastoralists and yak herders by tradition, they are guardians of a language and way of life shaped by the mountains. Composed of three villages, Halzi, Til and Dzang, the valley is also home to Halzi's 1 000-year-old Rinchenling Monastery, a spiritual cornerstone and vital institution for governance and community life. But the way of life that once anchored this community is shifting fast, as a result of climate change.

On 15 May 2025, a thermokarst lake outburst flood struck Til village in the highlands of Nepal. It was not the first time that disaster swept through the Limi Valley—and without urgent action, it will not be the last. “The Halzi and Trakphu glaciers—unnamed in the eyes of the world but sacred to us—are retreating fast. No monitoring. No studies. No adaptation support” says Tashi.

In 2011 and 2012, avalanches and a devastating glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) tore through the valley, hitting Tashi’s home village of Halzi. Homes, fields and livelihoods were swept away. “After these natural disasters, my family, like many families, stopped herding together”, Tashi explained. The Limi community lost more than just yaks; they lost a vital part of their lives deeply rooted in their heritage.

But Tashi’s story is not one of mourning. It’s one of momentum.

In 2019, Tashi returned home and led a grassroots climate awareness campaign across the Himalayan villages of Halzi, Til and Dzang. It was the first time climate change and women’s empowerment were publicly discussed in the valley. Some elders believed the disasters they faced were due to karma, but Tashi gently introduced a new way of understanding—rooted in science and shared experience. For her, it was about giving people the language to name what they were already feeling. The campaign sparked awareness and growing courage, especially among women. As one of the few young women in her region to take on a leadership role, Tashi became a clear and courageous voice for change.

To amplify the voices of the Limi Valley, Tashi set out on a mission: to film No Monastery, No Village, a documentary that explores the plight of the villagers caught between their devotion to their heritage and the very real danger of impending floods. Filmed in her native language, Limi Kye, the documentary is as much a cultural artifact as a climate call-to-action. “Language is our root, and to speak in Limi is to resist erasure” she says. The film was the first ever made in Limi Kye and sparked both local pride and global attention, helping the monastery receive donations and putting the valley on the map. The documentary does not utter the words ‘climate change’, but the concept is felt throughout—in the uncertainty caused by the glaciers above, the voices of the community and the quiet resilience of those determined to remain rooted in their ancestral home.

Tashi has also co-founded “Born to Lead”, a female-led collective from Upper Humla, advocating for the official recognition of the Limi people as a distinct Indigenous group. Her work seeks not only justice, but inclusion—bringing visibility to a region often overshadowed by the global spotlight on Everest.

Tashi is now developing a new film on tent schools—mobile classrooms for children of nomadic families navigating changing pastures and climates. “These children learn with tents over their head and melting ground beneath”, she shares. “Their hunger for knowledge is fierce, their resilience breathtaking”. She hopes the film will spotlight their struggle and attract the support needed to scale their access to education.

For Tashi, this recognition is more than a political goal; it is a path to ensure that the voices, knowledge and struggles of her community are heard and respected on the world stage.

As a Youth Glacier Champion, Tashi has already taken part in several key events this year, including the High-Level International Conference on Glacier Preservation (ICGP 2025), where she will bring the voice of the highlands—and the urgent realities of communities living at the edge of melting ice—to the global stage.

Related links

No Monastery, No Village
Mountain Youth Hub
International Year for Glaciers' Preservation