The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

6. Landscape conservation initiatives in Nepal: opportunities and challenges
Box 1.
Case study. Terai Arc Landscape conservation initiative in Nepal
(cont.)
Some notable outputs of the programme are the establishment of agro-forestry nurseries with the
capacity of producing 330,000 seedlings; plantations in 161.5ha of land; the hand-over of five
community forests to local communities; the formation of 26 community forest user groups; and the
removal of encroachers from 5,500ha of land in the Basanta Forest corridor. A total of 536ha of
degraded land have been restored with the participation of local people, through plantation and
natural regeneration. Other activities have been the management of 250ha of grassland, construction
of five waterholes, and support for the operations of 17 anti-poaching units in the four protected areas
of TAL. Likewise, ten rhinos were translocated from Chitwan to Royal Bardia National Park as part
of the initiative to establish a second viable population in Bardia. Other achievements include
conservation awareness activities including the formation of 28 new Eco-clubs at various schools. A
number of community development programmes such as biogas, community services, incomegeneration
activities and awareness-raising programmes have been implemented in full partnership
with local communities to engage them directly in conservation, enhance the income of local people,
and encourage them to reduce the pressure on the forest.
Moreover, TAL’s other major success has been in both community mobilization and building
community institutions (termed institutionalization), which have given impetus to sustainable
development and forest restoration. For the first time, community-based anti-poaching operations
have been started in the forest corridors with the establishment of three community Anti-Poaching
Units (APUs). It is also important to note that, despite the current insurgency problem, the local
people as well as Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Community Forest User Groups, and
Community Forest Coordination Committees have endeavoured to ensure continuity in imple -
menting TAL activities. The TAL programme has been able to gain the involvement of local people
who have contributed voluntary labour and local materials valued at approximately 40% of the cost
for forest conservation and management of corridors and bottlenecks. Recently, the government has
approved the TAL strategic plan, which will be the main guiding document for planning and
implementation of natural resource management projects and programmes in this region of Nepal.
Sources: EcoCircular: Vol 9 No. 7 August 2002: www.wwfnepal.org.np accessed: 18/3/04;
DNPWC, 2003.
Scaling up conservation initiatives to a larger landscape level is not without its challenges.
Biological diversity in Nepal is closely linked to the livelihoods of many people and their
economic development. Among all the countries of the Himalayan region (the Himalayan part
only), Nepal has the lowest percentage of forest cover and has the highest density of people and
livestock per hectare of land. It also has the lowest availability of forest land per capita and
grazing land per unit of livestock. Particularly in the Terai, it will be a daunting task to manage
conservation initiatives at the landscape level as the human population has been growing and
natural habitats have been shrinking and becoming more and more fragmented. Moreover,
most of these forest frontier areas are inhabited by poor and economically marginalized
communities. In this context, the issue of meeting basic survival needs is the single greatest
challenge to the conservation of biological resources for the long-term survival of mega fauna
such as elephants, tiger and rhinos. A study by Cracraft (1999) reveals that Nepal has the highest
biodiversity-threat index and the lowest management capacity response index of all countries in
South Asia. In this context, scaling up of conservation initiatives means a more complex and
challenging task for conservation agencies.
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