Maoist Insurgents Join Nepal's Rhino Conservation Effort

By Deepak Gajurel

KATHMANDU, Nepal, August 28, 2006 (ENS) - Maoist insurgents, who for years have been mounting armed attacks against the Nepalese monarchy, have joined hands with conservationists to save the one-horned rhinos in the Royal Chitwan National Park.

At a time when illegal poaching of rhinos is escalating in and around the park, representatives of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), mainstream political parties, and governmental, nongovernmental and international conservation agencies met to initiate a proactive approach to rhino conservation.

An "all party" gathering held in Royal Chitwan National Park last week decided to form a Rhino Conservation Coordination Committee. They also decided to conduct educational activities to sensitize the local people to the value of conserving endangered wild animals.

Representatives from across the political and NGO spectrum attended the all party gathering at Royal Chitwan National Park. (Photo courtesy WWF Nepal)

The Maoist rebels' representative committed his group to rhino conservation. Akash, general secretary of the Maoists for Nawalparasi district, said, "We would sensitize organizations affiliated with us as well us all levels of our party for rhino conservation."

Royal Chitwan National Park stretches across the Chitwan and Nawalparasi districts in central Nepal.

During their 11 year long insurgency, aimed at overthrowing the monarchy and establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat in the Kingdom of Nepal, Maoist rebels have been adversely affecting efforts to conserve natural resources.

Currently, Maoists are in a peace process with the government and there is a cease fire until the end of October. But the rebels have not given up their weapons and are threatening every now and then to take up arms. More than 15,000 people have lost their lives in the armed struggle that started in 1996.

The effort to sensitize and bring all stakeholders together for the cause of rhino conservation was initiated by WWF Nepal, and conservationists see the Maoists' involvement in wildlife conservation as encouraging.

"We are hopeful that the new participatory approach involving all stakeholders - including political parties to local people and conservation agencies - would bear fruit," says Trishna Gurung, communications officer with World Wildlife Fund Nepal.

"Poaching of wildlife would certainly have impact because of Maoists' image in the country," says Tribhuwan University biology professor Dr. Mukesh Chalise. "Everybody knows that going against the wishes of the rebels means physical action."

By "physical action" Chalise means severe beating or killing, and he hopes that this threat may help scare poachers and illegal wildlife traders.

There has been a rise in rhino poaching in and around Chitwan National Park during last couple of months.

One-horned rhino in a community protected forest adjoining Royal Chitwan National Park (Photo © Deepak Gajurel)

In early August, an electrocuted rhino was found dead in Nawalparasi district. An injured pregnant female with a bullet wound in her left thigh was rescued and sheltered by park officials.

These incidents were preceded by the death of another female rhino on the banks of the Kageri River in Chaturmukhi Community Forest, adjacent to the park, which is frequently used by rhinos as a corridor.

Altogether six rhinos were killed in July and August 2006, according to official figures.

This increase in rhino poaching raised the red flag among park officials and locals alike. Of special concern is the fact that the recent poaching incidents took place outside the protected areas.

Nepal formally started wildlife conservation after the establishment of Royal Chitwan National Park in 1972, when only 70 to 80 one-horned rhinos roamed the forests and grasslands of Chitwan.

Success of the effort was evident and conservation officials were pleased. The rhino census of 2000 found 544 rhinos in Chitwan, and a bonus herd of 67 rhinos in the Royal Bardia National Park, western Nepal.

Experts said then that Nepal's rhino population was increasing at the rate of 3.88 percent a year.

But this encouraging trend was shattered by the rhino census in 2005. Experts found only 372 rhinos in Chitwan, down 172 animals in five years.

Some of the Chitwan rhinos died when their habitat was destroyed, and others met their deaths at the hands of poachers. Raw rhino horn and rhino horn powder are worth far more than their weight in gold for the Asian medicinal trade.

To combat the poachers, the newly formed committee will review conservation policies and recommend changes for effective implementation. It will coordinate conservation partners and other agencies to raise financial resources and conduct rhino conservation activities.