ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

sustainable livelihoods requires an approach thatcan integrate all the actors by providing each withsufficient latitude for collaborative management.Participatory and Collaborative ApproachThe joint consideration of the ecosystem andlivelihood comes closest to this collaborativeapproach. Focusing on the integrated managementof land, water, and living resources, it seeks topromote conservation and sustainable use in anequitable manner. It recognizes the wealth ofbiodiversity, not only on account of its variety, butalso because of the dynamic processes that occurbetween living organisms and their environment.These processes provide many essential goods andservices that are critical for supporting life. Theecosystem approach embraces cultural diversity asan integral part of the ecosystem, since culturalattitudes to the environment influence many of theother processes that actively affect the ecosystem.People cannot be seen as separate from theirecosystem, and rich and poor all have a role to playas they are all part of the same system. Ensuringcontinued access to essential environmental goodsand services for the poor and ensuring theircontinued collaboration is basic to any system thatseeks to improve their livelihood, since pastexperience has shown that the environmentdeteriorates when users do not own and control theresources (NPC 2003).Nepal includes many different interactingecosystems. Indigenous people evolved appropriateadaptations to seasonal change so that the resourcesin different ecosystems were harnessed throughseasonal migration. In more recent times, withdecreasing transhumance of the population, thisprocess has almost ceased to exist and now eachecosystem is under continuous pressure year-round.Experience has shown that with betterenvironmental management this need not be thecase (NPC 2003). Nepal’s forests, high mountaingrasslands, wetlands, and Siwalik hills are all underdifferent environmental pressures and the challengeis to come up with innovative approaches for theirsustainable management. The Terai Arc Landscapeproject is an important initiative that needs to beclosely studied for its “lessons learned”, particularlyfor the Terai which is the rice bowl of Nepal (MOFSC2002). The Siwaliks are also experiencing tremendouschanges with very far reaching implications, asare the high mountain areas, though many of thesechanges are not well understood (NAP 2002).In the past there was a tendency to categorize allecosystems as either forest or agricultural. Many ruraldevelopment programs did not adequatelyunderstand or recognize the critical role thatenvironmental goods and services play in householdlivelihood strategies (MOFSC 2002). This needs tochange, and some of it is changing already. But clearlyin a mountainous country like Nepal, it is necessary todevelop and promote an approach that integratesboth the ecosystem and livelihood in a unifiedapproach to the rural economy and the environment.Harnessing Ecological, Economic, Cultural,and Institutional OpportunitiesIntegrating ecosystems and livelihood opens up thepossibility of harnessing ecological, economic,cultural, and institutional opportunities. Ecologicalopportunities for successful conservation areprovided by Nepal’s extensive system of protectedareas, which already houses 80 of Nepal’s 118ecosystems. These protected areas contain manyrare and endangered species of flora and fauna.While they face a number of problems, theynevertheless represent an important opportunity forthe conservation of Nepal’s unique natural resourceendowments, and can contribute to environmentalsustainability in terms of soil and water conservation,carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation.Equally important to the protection of conservationareas is the protection of their contiguous borderareas. Natural ecosystems are not bound by humandemarcations, and protecting the endangeredspecies within conservation areas requiresprotecting outlying areas that are part of the sameecosystem.The availability of unique natural resourcesmakes it possible to consider and promote economicopportunities such as ecotourism. Small countrieslike Costa Rica have made very effective use of theirnatural resources in furthering economicopportunities, and Nepal needs to learn from thistype of experience. Nature-based sports and outdoorrecreation, for example, have great potential. Someparts of the country have already developed this withconsiderable success and are continuing to do so(IUCN 1999 and WWF 2000), but new areas can alsobenefit from this type of activity, particularly ineastern Nepal where infrastructure has reached agood level of development. In addition, culturalopportunities do not conflict with ecological andeconomic ones. In many historic sites, the culture,the economy, and the environment have functionedquite synergistically in the past, and this could be animportant component of ecotourism in the future.High-value products such as NTFPs, medicinaland aromatic plants, orchids, pheasants, butterflies,and other green-area-intensive products can bepromoted on fragile slopes where landholdings aresmall. Rural markets near growing urban areas haveconsiderable potential for trading these, thus provid-208 Environment Assessment of Nepal : Emerging Issues and Challenges