The government has been asked to lift controlled trekking in the Manaslu area by Manaslu Conservation Area Project (MCAP). In a proposal to be submitted to the Ministry of Tourism and Nepal Tourism Board, MCAP argued that the area now has the infrastructure for trekking and can support an increase from 1,000 to 5,000 trekkers annually. In the last five years, MCAP built roads, bridges, campsites, lodges, piped water, toilets and has placed marking poles and signposts along the Jagat-Larke Pass route. Manaslu's rich biodiversity, scintillating views of the Himalaya and the friendly people make for a perfect trekking package, tourism experts say. This currently low-profile area is only a week's walk from Gorkha Bazar. "The limited number of trekking permits to Manaslu has meant the area has been unable to benefit from tourism," says MCAP's director Lal Prasad Gurung. Increased tourism in the area will help raise the living standards of the locals whose subsistence farming produces barely enough food for three months in a year.