Nepal Engages Local Communities to Conserve Southern Plains

By Deepak Gajurel

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, August 18, 2004 (ENS) - After decades of nature conservation in the form of national parks, wildlife reserves, conservation areas, hunting reserves, national forests, and community forests, Nepal has initiated a new concept of conservation at the landscape level.

"There is no possibility of giving new areas for national parks or wildlife reserves. This is why the government has come up with landscape level conservation," states the 10 year strategy just adopted by the government of Nepal. The strategy paper, prepared with technical support from the World Wildlife Fund-Nepal, envisons an integration of wild plant and animal conservation with the needs of local communities.

The government has formulated a 10 year strategy for the newly introduced Terai Arc Landscape Program focused on landscape conservation of four types of protected areas - agricultural lands, national forests, wetlands and forest patches - all located in the southern plains - the Terai.

Rich in biodiversity, the Terai is inhabited by rare and endangered plants and animals.

To conserve them, the new strategy links the four types of protected areas with forest patches. Forest areas in between the national parks and wildlife reserves are either government managed national forests or community forests managed by local people.

The Terai Arc Landscape covers the 22,288 square kilometers from the Parsa Wildlife Reserve in the east through Royal Chitwan National Park - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - to the Royal Bardia National Park, and, in the far west of the Kingdom, the Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve.

Tiger caught in a camera trap in Nepal's Terai (Photo courtesy WWF Nepal)

The program is being implemented outside the protected areas by the Department of Forests and inside the protected areas by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) in partnership with local communities and local nongovernmental organizations.

The Terai Arc is inhabited by three of the most endangered species in the world - the Bengal tiger, the greater one-horned rhinoceros and the Asian elephant. About 125 breeding tigers, 612 rhinos and 120 wild elephants roam in the Terai Arc area.

This area also is important for species like the sloth bear, the Gangetic dolphin, the gharial crocodile, the swamp deer, the Hispid hare, the Bengal florican and the swamp partridge.

Altogether, 86 species of mammals live in the area, along with 550 species of birds, 47 species of reptiles, 126 species of fish, and over 2,100 species of flowering plants.

Tharu healer Shovan Mahato collects a piece of a pipal tree for medicinal use. (Photo courtesy Knut-Erik Helle)

Dr. Chandra Gurung, country representative for the WWF-Nepal Program, sees landscape conservation efforts as urgent for Nepal. "We need a new drive in natural resources conservation work. We have to protect the biodiversity, at the same time sustainable livelihoods of the local people too have to be secured," he says.

The endangered wild animals are concentrated in the Terai's protected areas. Populations of rhino, tiger, leopard and other wild animals are increasing,making the protected areas congested. Conflicts between wild animals and people living adjacent to the protected areas have become frequent.

"The rhino population in the protected areas of Nepal is growing too fast to sustain. In this situation, we have the choice of either kill these animals or expand their habitats," Dr. Gurung explains.

Nepal started formal conservation in the early 1970s with 80 one-horned rhinos in the Royal Chitwan National Parks. After 30 years, Nepal now has 612 rhinos, according to rhino census 2000. Though rhino population was concentrated in the Royal Chitwan National Park, some of the animals have, since last few years, been trans-located to Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve.

The Terai Arc Landscape Program will focus the efforts in five critical areas. Two of the areas are corridors - Basanta and Bardia-Katarnia - and three are bottlenecks - Mahadevpuri in Banke district, Lamahi in Dang district and Dovan in Palpa district.

The Babai Valley in Royal Bardia National Park (Photo by Kanchan Thapa courtesy WWF Nepal)

Forest corridors that connect the core protected areas will be managed to allow species to migrate and disperse between core refuges. The corridors will be managed under community and collaborative forest management modes, while leasehold forestry will be encouraged in the outlying areas.

Ecosystem conservation will be strengthened in protected areas for grasslands, forests and wetlands - including eradication of invasive species in wetlands, conservation of river ecosystems and community management. "Plantation of native species in both private and public lands will be encouraged," the documents states.

The strategy paper sets goals for tackling poaching and smuggling, strengthening trans-border co-operation for conservation management with India, and mitigating human wildlife conflict.

This approach of nature conservation has been well received by Nepal's scientific community. "Landscape conservation is the need for Nepal. We cannot keep viable populations of all endangered wild animals by the conventional conservation efforts which is limited in the protected areas." says Tribhuwan University zoologist Dr. Mukesh Chalise.

"If we succeed in achieving the goal as envisaged in the strategy for TAL, this will be a unique conservation area in the world," he adds.

Tharu healer Nanda Ram Mahato shows one important medicine plant in a Terai forest area. (Photo courtesy Knut-Erik Helle)

"Activities such as forest corridor conservation, sustainable community development, awareness generation and capacity building have been under way in cooperation with local communities, community-based organizations and nongovernmental organizations," says Bishwo Acharya, a conservation officer at the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation.

New vigilance posts have been constructed in Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Royal Chitwan National Park and Royal Bardiya National Park. Ponds and small canals are being dug to collect water for wild animals in these protected areas.

"We are working with active participation of the local people," says Ram Prasad Lamsal, area officer with the TAL Program. "Local communities are getting financial as well as technical support for the management of community forests. Community forest user groups are supported for marketing their non-timber forest products. Alternative energy such as biogas is being promoted for minimizing pressure on forests."

The program aims to achieve sustainable development in the Terai Arc Landscape area in a way that brings benefits to local communities, particularly the poor, and at the same time reduces the pressure on Nepal's forests and biodiversity.