Conservation In Crisis

Kailali and Kanchanpur districts, located in the Far Western Development Region, are endowed with resources rich in biodiversity. However, the resources, especially wild animals that could face extinction, such as the tiger, wild elephant and rhinoceros, are facing great threats due to ever increasing human pressure on their prime habitat.

Human pressure
Deforestation, land degradation and fragmentation due to encroachment for settlement as well as agriculture expansion by landless settlers, those displaced from the Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (SWR), flood victims and the just freed bonded labourers are causing the destruction of the habitat of these wild animals, and posing increasing threats to their existence.
Basanta of Kailali, Laljhadi of Kanchanpur and the SWR are the three major chunks of forests that connect the Dudhuwa National Park and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary of India to the south and the Chure to the North. These forests are home to many wildlife species, including the swamp deer and blue bull. In principle, the big forests support a greater number of species diversity. Besides, the forests act as a dispersal corridor for mega fauna like the tiger and rhinoceros.

Given the need to conserve these valuable forests, the government has formulated the Terai Arc Landscape strategy and implementation plan for 11 protected areas that spread across Nepal and India. Within the framework of the Nepal Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Implementation Plan, the government with the support of various donor agencies, has been implementing conservation and development programmes in the Western Terai since the past few years.

However, the tendency of occupying forest land, especially on either side of the East West Highway and fringe area of the forests, for settlement has increased rapidly. Just recently, 2,000 huts in the Basanta Corridor, 400 huts in Laljhadi South and 3,000 huts in the SWR have been constructed. If the current pattern of occupying forests for settlement and agricultural expansion is allowed to continue, then these important forests will vanish from these districts in the next 8-10 years, which, no doubt, will ultimately lead to loss of globally significant biodiversity.

There are various factors why the situation is deteriorating. The government is dealing with conservation work on an ad hoc basis. There is no consistency in the Forestry Sector Master Plan, Forest Regulation, and ministry level directives for managing the Terai forests. The government is still discharging its programmes through an ineffective and inefficient bureaucratic system. The government always sees transferring of government officials from one district to another as a solution. In addition, forest dependent income, employment opportunity for the local people along with an ineffective law enforcement situation have aggravated the threats to the biodiversity.

Moreover, an opaque reward and punishment system and inadequate knowledge about and inexperience in participatory forest management that supports conservation and livelihood improvement of the local people have caused difficulties for effective management. Although the district level political party often shows commitment to discourage encroachment, in practice their commitment hardly translates into action.

Therefore, to deal with the conservation issues of the Terai, the government should review its forest and wildlife conservation related act, regulations and policies immediately. Though a policy for biodiversity conservation has been brought into effect, in the absence of biodiversity acts and regulations, the conservation initiatives have not proved effective.

In addition, the inefficient and ineffective institutional structure should be reformed and vitalised in accordance with the times. The forest management strategy should consider the local people who are dependent on the forests as an integral part of the ecosystem. While handing over forests to the community, greater attention should be paid to whether the local inhabitants’ right has been addressed or not. The revised policy and act should pay special attention to maintaining corridors and connectivity to facilitate dispersal of the wildlife species from one habitat to another.

As the habitat of the wild animals spreads over various land use systems, an institutional structure that can coordinate the various interwoven land use systems should be envisioned at the central and district levels, and their vertical linkage should be established and strengthened. As part of the reformation, the government should give priority to enhancing the management capacity of its staff members.

Human resources, equipment and budgets should be allocated adequately and in time. In addition, the government should pay special attention to promoting effective law enforcement. The government should identify competent, committed and well disciplined staff members and bring special programmes for upscaling their motivation. A scientific forest management system should be piloted in the big forest patches, especially those which are located outside the protected areas. While adopting the scientific management model, greater attention should be paid on social inclusion, distance users, customary rights, access to resources and biodiversity criteria.

Policy review
In a nutshell, to ensure long-term conservation and sustainable utilisation of globally significant biodiversity resources of the Terai, the government should review its policy, institutions and programmes as soon as possible. Over and above, to make the conservation work more effective and efficient, the government should immediately formulate Biodiversity Conservation Acts and Regulations that capture the spirit of the existing biodiversity conservation policies, focussing on corridors and connectivity of the Western Terai.