Mingma Norbu Sherpa, 50, who grew up in the Himalayas near Mount Everest and became a leading voice for conservation in Nepal and Bhutan as an official with the World Wildlife Fund, died September 23 in a helicopter crash in Nepal.

The accident occurred near Kangchenjunga, the third-highest mountain in the world, about 200 miles east of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. All 24 people onboard were killed, including seven international officials of the World Wildlife Fund and several of Nepal’s environmental leaders.

Sherpa, who lived in Falls Church, Va., and worked in the WWF’s Washington office, spent about two-thirds of his time in Nepal and Bhutan as director of the environmental organization’s Eastern Himalayas program and was credited with spreading sound conservation practices throughout the region.

Known simply as “Mingma” because his last name is so common among the people of the Himalayas, Sherpa was a protege of Sir Edmund Hillary, who conquered Mount Everest in 1953.

After his mountaineering exploits, Hillary established dozens of schools in the remote villages around Everest. Sherpa was in the first class of the first school, and became close to Hillary.

Enacting Hillary’s ideals, Sherpa spent 25 years managing national parks, founding conservation areas and educating Himalayan residents about the environment. He was also credited for saving the single-horned Indian rhinoceros from extinction.

His career began in 1980, when he became a ranger at Nepal’s Sagarmatha National Park, which contains Mount Everest. Finding quick success in introducing sound ecological practices to local residents, he became the park’s chief warden within six months. He was the first Sherpa — the general name for the indigenous people of the region as well as his surname — to hold the position.

Despite skepticism from many in Nepal, Sherpa enforced policies to clean up the trash and devised plans to maintain the forests. He introduced conservation programs to schools and hired local people to work for the park and protect the forest from wanton cutting.

Sherpa came to Washington in 1998 to direct the WWF’s programs in Nepal, Bhutan and the Terai Arc region on the border of Nepal and India. Among other projects, he led efforts to protect endangered wildlife, including the Bengal tiger and the greater one-horned rhinoceros.

Once fewer than 200 in number, the rhino has recovered to a population of almost 2,500.