As an anthropologist, Dr Hildegard Diemberger, from the University of Cambridge, has lived and worked with Tibetan communities in the Himalayas for many years. Here, she describes the unique relationship she frequently encountered between the people and their environment, particularly the snow-capped mountain peaks. The position of the snow-line on the mountains, for example, is often used as an indicator of the 'health' of their community, and a proxy for gauging environmental change.
