Veterinary Program in Chitwan: model for integrating livelihood in biodiversity conservation in Nepal.
Ek Raj Sigdel
If communities are consulted and involved from the very beginning of any projects, then the possibility of attaining success remains always higher. On top of that, serving people at their household level makes life difference and the chance of getting sustainability in such projects remains bigger. Sometime, small scale projects if implemented very cautiously and sincerely, makes easy in the life of local community, particularly poor, women and disadvantageous group. Wildlife and Domestic Veterinary Programme in Chitwan National Park Buffer Zone could be one of such examples that have been raising locals' income and biodiversity conservation initiatives simultaneously in Chitwan.
The Wildlife and Domestic Veterinary Program (WDVP) was implemented by Royal Chitwan National Park with the technical support of the Zoological Society of London in the Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP) and its Buffer Zone (BZ) between 1997 and 2001. Its aims were to address the veterinary needs of the RCNP and those of its immediate neighbors. During the project period, a total of four veterinary service centers were established in the BZ of the Royal Chitwan National Park. The WDVP provided the initial veterinary medicines, local technicians, an infrastructure; including office buildings and motorcycles, and a float of money to the local communities they served. The project evaluation report carried out in October 2002 one year after the end of the programme found that all the WDVP created VSCs were still running very smoothly. While consulting local people, it has been reported that, these services centers are in operation heretofore.
Most projects in Nepal do not continue much beyond project period. This would be the main reason why most people in Nepal believe that donor-funded projects are run for the benefit of a very few elite people ranging from the central to the local level. It is widely believed that, because of a project’s activities, the recipients’ creativity is reduced, particularly in undertaking collective actions. Unlike this, the WDVP has been serving its local communities smoothly even three years after the end of the project period. It has been found that the project’s objectives of encouraging a shift towards improved breeds of livestock, reducing grazing pressure on the Park, reducing park-people conflicts and improving the locals’ income has been achieved.
These were the main reasons why the project was a success in its endeavors: Firstly, stakeholders, particularly local users, were consulted about their needs from the very beginning. Their views were considered while hiring technicians, before the placement and during the building of the physical infrastructures of the Veterinary Service Centres (VSCs), by creating management committees, and developing a competent system for the management of the clinical service.
Secondly, the project was able to establish a strong institutional framework through coordinating various organizations that were active in the Buffer Zone of the Royal Chitwan National Park for several years. Based on their experiences, the project put emphasis on adaptive management. Realizing the need of garnering organizations’ support, the major institutions, including the King Mahendra Trust For Nature Conservation, the UNDP-supported Park and People Project later called Participatory Conservation Project, the Buffer Zone User Group, Buffer Zone User Committee and Buffer Zone Management Committee were consulted and their suggestions and comments were incorporated into the project from the early on. These partners also made various contributions to support the project and make it a success. The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation provided some financial support for the trust fund for Bachhauli VSC, one of the four clinics. The Park and People Programme / Participatory Conservation Project - trained technicians were hired and trained as Junior Technicians of the VSCs to run clinical activities smoothly. The Bachhauli Buffer Zone Management Committee provided the VSC with some land and furniture. Similarly, the Buffer Zone Management Committee has allocated some money to support BZVSC’s technicians’ salaries. The District Veterinary Service Center, Chitwan and WDVP have jointly implemented some activities in the buffer zone. For instance, a joint initiative of the Bachhauli VSC and the District Veterinary Service Centre undertook a vaccination programme for flood victims’ livestock at Bachhauli a few years ago. The scheme has helped to develop ownership of the different actors towards the VSCs.
Furthermore, the project has been able to transfer the entire management responsibility gradually to locals. In order to make that happen, people were informed about the objectives and scope of the project from the very beginning. They were convinced that the project was for them and hence they should be involved in managing it for the benefit of them as well as the National Park. The message was articulated to the local users formally as well as informally through organizing meetings and discussions at settlement and household levels.
Additionally, from the very beginning, politicians were discouraged from becoming members of the management committees. The local user groups elected all the management committee members themselves. The management committees include social workers, women groups, local farmers and other local organizations. However, the committees would work better if provision were made to include some people owning higher numbers of improved breed livestock in the management committee. This would be one of the main ways of preventing the prevailing political problems posing any obstacle to the project.
Moreover, all the decisions made by the project management committees were made transparent to the local people from the very beginning. For instance, the committees increased the price of services and medicines on an ad hoc basis on the grounds of making their clinics sustainable. No people objected to such an unpopular decision. People were informed from the very beginning that the project was not a donation to the local community; rather it was for the benefit of the Park. The Park officials as well as project staff asked people to find alternative sources of revenue so that the project could run even after the project period. It would be the main reasons why the people appreciated and supported the scheme of raising funds by increasing the costs of medicines and the services provided. It is worth mentioning here that no alternative veterinary services, such as those provided by government and private clinicians, have suffered due to the presence of WDVP created clinics.
On top of that, the project staff members were very committed and competent in their assigned tasks. The project staff members have the capacity of establishing a good rapport with their local communities and other organizations. All the technicians were trained on-the-job, not just with college courses. The training helped to develop their confidence to perform their tasks. However, the project staff needs to be further acquainted with modern tools and techniques for the smooth running of the project.
Finally, the project has been able to change to some extent people’s negative attitudes towards the Park. The project has been providing clinical benefits at household levels as against those most of the other projects in the buffer zone are active at settlement level. The home service has created the opportunity of disseminating Park’s benefits to the local people effectively too.
To date, all the clinics are doing fine. The clinical performances are well received by the local communities. Local user groups through their representatives are managing all the clinics smoothly. It seems that all the clinics are enriched with office buildings, adequate medicines and basic laboratory facilities. All the technicians have been satisfying their clients thus far. However, except the Jagatpur technician, all other technicians’ monthly salaries have been reduced slightly, in order to sustain the programmes. This has created some dissatisfaction of the technicians towards their jobs. It was known that the money charges by VSCs for medicines and services could meet the daily administrative costs of the Service Centers. However, in order to cope with the monthly salary of the technicians and caretakers, some of the management committees have been drawing money from the principal of the saving trust account, a rather unsustainable situation. If the situation remains the same, then the saved money would last for 5 – 6 years. Then, the entire programme would collapse. Thus, managing the technician’s salary remains as the main immediate challenges for sustainability. The project provides sufficient grounds for replicating such a scheme near Nepal’s other protected areas.
If communities are consulted and involved from the very beginning of any projects, then the possibility of attaining success remains always higher. On top of that, serving people at their household level makes life difference and the chance of getting sustainability in such projects remains bigger. Sometime, small scale projects if implemented very cautiously and sincerely, makes easy in the life of local community, particularly poor, women and disadvantageous group. Wildlife and Domestic Veterinary Programme in Chitwan National Park Buffer Zone could be one of such examples that have been raising locals' income and biodiversity conservation initiatives simultaneously in Chitwan.
The Wildlife and Domestic Veterinary Program (WDVP) was implemented by Royal Chitwan National Park with the technical support of the Zoological Society of London in the Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP) and its Buffer Zone (BZ) between 1997 and 2001. Its aims were to address the veterinary needs of the RCNP and those of its immediate neighbors. During the project period, a total of four veterinary service centers were established in the BZ of the Royal Chitwan National Park. The WDVP provided the initial veterinary medicines, local technicians, an infrastructure; including office buildings and motorcycles, and a float of money to the local communities they served. The project evaluation report carried out in October 2002 one year after the end of the programme found that all the WDVP created VSCs were still running very smoothly. While consulting local people, it has been reported that, these services centers are in operation heretofore.
Most projects in Nepal do not continue much beyond project period. This would be the main reason why most people in Nepal believe that donor-funded projects are run for the benefit of a very few elite people ranging from the central to the local level. It is widely believed that, because of a project’s activities, the recipients’ creativity is reduced, particularly in undertaking collective actions. Unlike this, the WDVP has been serving its local communities smoothly even three years after the end of the project period. It has been found that the project’s objectives of encouraging a shift towards improved breeds of livestock, reducing grazing pressure on the Park, reducing park-people conflicts and improving the locals’ income has been achieved.
These were the main reasons why the project was a success in its endeavors: Firstly, stakeholders, particularly local users, were consulted about their needs from the very beginning. Their views were considered while hiring technicians, before the placement and during the building of the physical infrastructures of the Veterinary Service Centres (VSCs), by creating management committees, and developing a competent system for the management of the clinical service.
Secondly, the project was able to establish a strong institutional framework through coordinating various organizations that were active in the Buffer Zone of the Royal Chitwan National Park for several years. Based on their experiences, the project put emphasis on adaptive management. Realizing the need of garnering organizations’ support, the major institutions, including the King Mahendra Trust For Nature Conservation, the UNDP-supported Park and People Project later called Participatory Conservation Project, the Buffer Zone User Group, Buffer Zone User Committee and Buffer Zone Management Committee were consulted and their suggestions and comments were incorporated into the project from the early on. These partners also made various contributions to support the project and make it a success. The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation provided some financial support for the trust fund for Bachhauli VSC, one of the four clinics. The Park and People Programme / Participatory Conservation Project - trained technicians were hired and trained as Junior Technicians of the VSCs to run clinical activities smoothly. The Bachhauli Buffer Zone Management Committee provided the VSC with some land and furniture. Similarly, the Buffer Zone Management Committee has allocated some money to support BZVSC’s technicians’ salaries. The District Veterinary Service Center, Chitwan and WDVP have jointly implemented some activities in the buffer zone. For instance, a joint initiative of the Bachhauli VSC and the District Veterinary Service Centre undertook a vaccination programme for flood victims’ livestock at Bachhauli a few years ago. The scheme has helped to develop ownership of the different actors towards the VSCs.
Furthermore, the project has been able to transfer the entire management responsibility gradually to locals. In order to make that happen, people were informed about the objectives and scope of the project from the very beginning. They were convinced that the project was for them and hence they should be involved in managing it for the benefit of them as well as the National Park. The message was articulated to the local users formally as well as informally through organizing meetings and discussions at settlement and household levels.
Additionally, from the very beginning, politicians were discouraged from becoming members of the management committees. The local user groups elected all the management committee members themselves. The management committees include social workers, women groups, local farmers and other local organizations. However, the committees would work better if provision were made to include some people owning higher numbers of improved breed livestock in the management committee. This would be one of the main ways of preventing the prevailing political problems posing any obstacle to the project.
Moreover, all the decisions made by the project management committees were made transparent to the local people from the very beginning. For instance, the committees increased the price of services and medicines on an ad hoc basis on the grounds of making their clinics sustainable. No people objected to such an unpopular decision. People were informed from the very beginning that the project was not a donation to the local community; rather it was for the benefit of the Park. The Park officials as well as project staff asked people to find alternative sources of revenue so that the project could run even after the project period. It would be the main reasons why the people appreciated and supported the scheme of raising funds by increasing the costs of medicines and the services provided. It is worth mentioning here that no alternative veterinary services, such as those provided by government and private clinicians, have suffered due to the presence of WDVP created clinics.
On top of that, the project staff members were very committed and competent in their assigned tasks. The project staff members have the capacity of establishing a good rapport with their local communities and other organizations. All the technicians were trained on-the-job, not just with college courses. The training helped to develop their confidence to perform their tasks. However, the project staff needs to be further acquainted with modern tools and techniques for the smooth running of the project.
Finally, the project has been able to change to some extent people’s negative attitudes towards the Park. The project has been providing clinical benefits at household levels as against those most of the other projects in the buffer zone are active at settlement level. The home service has created the opportunity of disseminating Park’s benefits to the local people effectively too.
To date, all the clinics are doing fine. The clinical performances are well received by the local communities. Local user groups through their representatives are managing all the clinics smoothly. It seems that all the clinics are enriched with office buildings, adequate medicines and basic laboratory facilities. All the technicians have been satisfying their clients thus far. However, except the Jagatpur technician, all other technicians’ monthly salaries have been reduced slightly, in order to sustain the programmes. This has created some dissatisfaction of the technicians towards their jobs. It was known that the money charges by VSCs for medicines and services could meet the daily administrative costs of the Service Centers. However, in order to cope with the monthly salary of the technicians and caretakers, some of the management committees have been drawing money from the principal of the saving trust account, a rather unsustainable situation. If the situation remains the same, then the saved money would last for 5 – 6 years. Then, the entire programme would collapse. Thus, managing the technician’s salary remains as the main immediate challenges for sustainability. The project provides sufficient grounds for replicating such a scheme near Nepal’s other protected areas.
posted by Ek Raj Sigdel at
January 06, 2009
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