Ek Raj

Poverty and Environment nexus in relation to rural development in Nepal

2011-05-21T03:50:00.000-07:00

Intriduction
Environment and livelihood of local communities are linked very closely. Poverty is considered as a root cause as well as consequences of environmental degradation in Nepal. Environment friendly development supports maintaining fragile environment, while pro-poor development supports for a more robust livelihood for rural poor. In this regard, it is imperative to reform governance policy that supports pro-poor and pro-environment activities which is the very foundation of sustainable development. Therefore, for this to happen it warrants a strong policy commitment for restructuring and improving the overall governance of the environmental domain.

Economic Significance of Environmental Resources
Nepal’s economy is heavily reliant on natural resources – agricultural land, rangeland, mountain ecosystem, protected areas, wildlife, wetlands and forests. About 50% of the total income of the country is derived from natural resources based income like forest, fisheries, wetland, agriculture and tourism. Agriculture alone contributes over 50% of household income for over 80% of the total population of the country. Nepal depends heavily on traditional energy resources, which comprises 93.2% of total energy requirements. Nepal has witnessed a decrease in poverty levels from 42% in 1996 to 31% in 2004. However, there is a wide gap in poverty level between urban and rural areas which stand as high as 45%.

Resources are Being Depleted
Qualities of all the natural resources are being degraded rapidly due to over utilization and unsustainable use. Forests resources are being lost at the cost of expanding cultivated land and infrastructure development. Economic value of wetland resources are also being degenerated due to unsustainable agricultural practices in the peripheral areas and over utilization of wetland resources. Likewise, protected areas and wildlife are being threatened due to habitat loss and poaching incidence. Agricultural productivity despite the increasing coverage has been in decreasing due to excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. This together with natural hazard such as floods is expected to contribute to the annual loss of 20-25 tones/ha.

Poorer are the Hardest Hit
Natural resource dependent communities mainly the economically poor have been facing more problems compared to other income group in Nepal. In the absence of reliable alternative income and employment opportunities, poor people depend heavily on the natural resources for their subsistence need. Any changes in the resource asset will large impact the front line communities who are vulnerable to environmental shocks. Due to the loss and degradation, the drudgery for poor people has increased. They spend more time in the collection of water, firewood, fodder these days. In addition, indoor pollution has caused other heath related problems particularly, asthma, TB and vision problems. Due to the burgeoning problem, a large of number of unemployed youth leaves the country in search of employment opportunities.

Creating a “Win Win” Situation
Realizing the above scenario, it is clear that there is a clear linkage between the environment and poverty. If environment is degraded, the poorer people would be the ultimate losers. Since these variables have a positive correlation it is imperative to adopt a strategy that helps addressing both the issues simultaneously. The development should on one hand address the need of poor, while on the other it should take account of the already fragile ecosystem. In this regard, the development measures should take into account the facets of good ecology and economics. Poverty issues can be addressed by reforming the existing governance policy and institutional framework while environmental issue can be tackled through employing Social and Environmental Safeguard Framework strictly.

Address Poverty Issues
Towards the governance and institutional reforms, the decentralized process should include more poor families and minority ethnic groups in mainstream development process. The governance system should be able to address downward accountability and be socially inclusive. The field activities should be implemented through a mechanism where representation from local bodies and civil society are made mandatory, taking into account the need and aspirations of economically deprived communities. Policies and programs should give priority for people-centered development approach. Poor people need to be made a part and parcel of any development plan to make them the real owners and ultimate beneficiaries. In this regard, the local bodies should adequately allocate resources for pro poor families.

The government should co-manage and co-invest resources for the poor. In addition to the above, special focus should be given towards infrastructure development to create access to market and employment opportunities emanating from the above interventions.

Address Environmental Assets
Rural development should consider the importance of environmental assets that are so important for rural livelihood. In this regard, as environment is a cross cutting issue, it is imperative to manage environment more coherently through a partnership approach. From the policy level, an integrated planning framework that enhances multi sectoral coordination and partnership approach needs to be employed. In this regard, the role of National Planning Commission and Environment Protection Council could be very crucial. Ministry of Environment should be developed as a central lead agency to execute environment plan and programs.

As per the mandate given by the Local Self Governance Act and Regulations, an enabling environment should be created so that the Local Body can implement environment friendly development activities on their own. To ensure the environment friendly development, District Forests Coordination Committee in the district level can be made more functional. As per the size, location and cost of the sub projects, IEE or EIA needs to be strictly complied. If the aforementioned measures need to be taken seriously, then environment friendly rural development can be ensured.

Constraints/barriers
Presently, lack of elected government and fledgling capacity of the existing staff members are the major obstacles for effective implementation of the above mentioned activities. Likewise, in the name of forging political consensus for implementing activities, it sometime makes a sort of compromise and misuse of resources.

Conclusion
The environment and livelihood of local communities are inherently linked. To make the rural development sustainable, it is imperative that both poor as well as environment are safeguarded. Governance system should be reformed that address pro-poor and pro-environment policy, plan and programs.

Barhakund Lake Conservation: A case of payment for environmental services

2011-04-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

The wetlands of Churia hills have been working as water reservoirs for centuries. However, these wetlands are under serious threat as a result of siltation and deforestation together with longer drought periods may be due to climate change, in recent years.

Take a case of Barhakunda- a network of 12 ponds- that ranges from quarter to one and half hectares areas are located at the Churia hills near Bhimdataa town (earlier known as Mahendra Nagar) of Kanchanpur District. Ever increasing population in the town and declaration of nearby forests as Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, increased pressure for firewood, fodder, timber and grazing in forest areas situated outside reserve - such as one around the Barhakunda. This resulted rapid loss of vegetation coverage, increased siltation and decreased water level in the ponds. This adversely affected the wildlife that depended on these ponds for water.

To address this issue, Western Terai Landscape Complex Project through Churia Conservation Network, a local NGO build a retention wall and planted bamboo and trees around the ponds, maintained inlets and outlets of the ponds. Besides, community were educated on need of plantation around barren areas surrounding Barhakunda and motivated to conserve and wisely use water resources. The aim was to retain water level and to make it a suitable habitat for wildlife species, and to provide water to nearby communities for farming and to maintain was for long times.

With three years of conservation efforts and local communities' participation the water level and greenery around the pond has significantly increased. Today, Barhakunda has been providing 78 local households including 18 Dalit households, water for irrigating their paddy fields of of Dalit community. Moreover, the Barhakunda has become a reliable source of drinking water to wildlife including leopards, pea-cocks, deers, and wild boars.

For maintenance of the wetland system, the community has made the scheme of raising income of Rs 10 per hour for irrigating their field. The generated money in turn has been utilized to hire a local guard for maintaining wetland. The rest of the money has been deposited in community forest account. In this way, a kind of understanding between community forest user group and the wetland user have been reached. This can be considered as a payment for environment services.

Climate Change Adaptation Matrices and Western Terai Landscape Complex Project

2011-03-26T03:50:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
Landscape Manager
Western Terai Landscape Complex Project is a joint undertaking of the government of Nepal, GEF, UNDP, SNV, WWF, Bio-versity International, NARC and LIBIRD. The eight year project, which is now running in six years, intends to conserve and sustainable use globally significant biodiversity resources of the Western Terai, lowland of Nepal, which is being included in two WWF Global 200 Eco-regions. The approach intends to address the issues of fragmentation of once extended habitat of the globally significant endangered wildlife species like elephants, tigers and rhinoceros.
The project has implemented wide ranged activities including forest management, watershed management, restoration of corridor and connectivity. The activities are additional to the regular government supported activities as they intend to benefit international communities. It has been realized that the landscape level biodiversity conservation activities address regular development objectivities as well as climate change adaptation issues. With this backdrop, it can be said that the Landscape Level Biodiversity Conservation contributes to livelihood improvement of local communities, conservation of biodiversity resources and also address the issues of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The project has implemented wide ranged activities including documentation and replication of indigenous knowledge based adaptation practices, conservation of agro-biodiversity resources, and restoration of forests along corridor and connectivity areas like Bio-engineering along river side, plantation in degraded land, management of grassland, and restoration of watershed areas, maintenance of wetlands and promotion of non-timber forest based income generation activities.
While interacting with Tharu communities, local inhabitant in Shankarpur Village Development Committee of Kanchanpur District in Nepal, it was revealed that they have adapted some activities in response of flood damage. For instance, they have practiced storing agricultural production at second floor of building, river bank cultivation of groundnut, tomato, bottle gourd, cucumber, watermelon etc, early maturing rice plantation to escape flood (Chaite -4, Chaini, Hardinath, Radha-4, Anjana, Nimoi) and established community seed banks.
Western Terai Landscape Complex Project has piloted some community based conservation and livelihood development activities such as bio-engineering, restoration of corridor and connectivity, biogas promotion, water reservoir maintenance and non timber forest product management. These activities in one or another way are contributing to climate change adaptation.
Bio-engineering along the river bank has been carried out by using simple and low cost technology. Saccharum Munja, broom grass, bamboos and sand sacks are the key ingredient of this technology. It has been found very effective to control flood as the plant materials grow faster and helps withstanding flood pressure.
WTLCP’s role in maintaining corridor and connectivity has also helped facilitating dispersal of wild animals in different landscape matrices. In this regard, the project has carried out enrichment plantation and effective forest management exercise in the corridor and connectivity areas. Local communities are managing 3, 000 biogas plant which have helped a lot in reducing locals’ pressure on nearby forest resources. The strategy of increasing areas and enhancing quality of fragmented forest patches and connection of these patches to form corridor will be instrumental to escape the mega species from one place to another during emergency. This ultimately helps maintaining healthy population of the wildlife species as it supports maintaining gene pool of these creatures.
With the support of WTLCP, Water Reservoir along the foothills of Siwaliks / Churia has been maintained. Plantation around lakes, regulation of inlet, outlet and removal of invasive species has supported maintaining water levels. With this initiatives, water level of some of the lakes have been restored during winter seasons and this has become a new source of irrigation to local communities and become sustainable source of drinking water to wildlife species like peacock, deer and common leopard. It is hoped that the strategy of maintaining water reservoirs along the watershed region will help responding drought impact of climate change in a long run.
Non Timber Forest Product based income generation activities are considered as a major component of this project. Camommile, mint and lemon grasses are the key herb species that have been promoted to cultivate along the buffer zone of protected areas. Local people are getting three crops instead of the previous trend of harvesting only two crops i.e. rice and wheat. The crops are not palatable to wildlife species and hence contributing to deter wild animals. This has become a viable option to minimize wildlife people conflict in and around protected areas. In addition, the strategy will be instrumental for diversifying livelihood opportunities to local communities which would be necessary to respond climate change impact.
Aforementioned activities are additional activities of the government’s regular development programs which are designed and implemented as part of enhancing incremental benefits of biodiversity conservation.

Adaptation Matrices
Methodology
Performances of the aforementioned activities are being assessed through household survey and joint monitoring by local stakeholders. Likewise, the output level impacts of the executed activities are monitored jointly by central level stakeholders including policy makers, donor communities, researchers and academia. Overall impact of the activities against the stated objectives was evaluated in the fifth year of the project period with the support of international consultants. Based on these monitoring and evaluation recommendation successful initiatives have been documented, up-scaled and replicated. Household survey, remote sensing and GIS, MIS are the tools which are being used to assess performance and effectiveness of the activities.
Lesson Learned
Adoption of participatory monitoring and evaluation practice helps enhancing the capacity of local stakeholders towards institutionalizing climate change adaptation activities in local development plan and programs. Use of scientific data is important mainly to showcase the linkage of local action with global thinking like climate change and adaptation strategies and need clear legal base, policy, institution, and demarcation of understanding between development activities and adaptation programs for institutionalizing adaptation matrices
Challenges
While monitoring there should be clear demarcation between regular development activities and adaptation programs. As adaptation program cannot be limited into a single political boundary, it would be difficult to institutionalize adaptation matrices at various levels (Political units). Therefore it needs an integrated adaptation monitoring framework at central and local levels that takes into account cross sectoral and cross boundary issues. To design, implement and present the adaptation activities it is necessary to enhance the capacity of stakeholders ranging from local level to policy makers. Over and above there should be an overarching climate change adaptation plan supported by regional and local level plans and programs and they need to be linked together.

The paper was presented in a Workshop on Climate Change Adaptation Matrices in Bangladesh in March 5-6; 2011

Protected Area Management Issues in Nepal

2011-02-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

Five days long 27th Warden Seminar was concluded on 12th February 2011. The participants were divided into three group – terai protected area, mid hills and mountain area to identify key management issues of the protected areas. Theses are the key issues of the protected areas.

1. Policy
Common
1.National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Acts, Regulations and Guidelines needs to be revised
2.Policy formulation for managing non timber forest products in protected areas is necessary
3.The revised buffer zone guidelines should include the provision of leasehold forestry program in buffer zone
4.There should be a provision of returning mountaineers fee at local level
5.There is a provision of kerosene as an alternative energy to protected area based Nepal Army personnel. Similar kind of facilities should be provided to protected area staff members
6.Protected area based Nepal Army are not effectively mobilized in buffer zone as well as national park
7.The existing ration scale of protected area staff needs to be revised
8.There should be a provision of distributing timber from buffer zone private forest to even outside of the buffer zone communities.
Terai
9.Boundary of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve and Parsa Wildlife Reserve is not clear
10.There is no any program for newly declared Banke National Park Buffer Zone
11.There is no provision of using drift wood as a source of income to buffer zone communities. Because of this, annually significant amount of revenues has to be lost by the nation.

Mid Hills
1.Expedite approval process of Sagarmatha National Park Regulation, which is necessary to early implementation of the National Park and Tourism Plan that was prepared in 2005.
2.Khaptad National Park Regulation approval process need to be expedited
3.Hotel inside the protected area, mainly in Langtang National Park where over 50 hotels are in operation without paying any tax to the government should be regularized.
4.Khaptad Area Tourism Development Committee should include representatives of buffer zone and Nepal Army. Warden of Khaptad National Park should be represented in the capacity of executive director of the committee.
5.Need additional financial resources to manage Manaslu and Kanchanjunga Conservation Area. There should be a provision of returning upto 100% conservation fee to local development as in the case of Annapurna Conservation Area
6.The seminar discussed some issues that need further study like; does Makalu Barun National park need security force? Musk deer research center in Kathmandu needs to be strengthened and there are some historical sites in Shivapuri National Park which needs further exploration and renovation. There is a very few research in Khaptad National Park.

2. Institutions
1.Need a buffer zone coordination unit in Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Office
2.There is an enough room for coordination amongst stakeholders. Even it is essential to maintain coordination within Nepal Army in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve and Parsa Wildlife Reserve
3.Inadequate guard posts and staff number in protected areas
4.Need training to lower level protected area staff members on forest based resources identification and management
5.Protected Area based Nepal Army are facing many operational difficulties like, mobility during rainy season, motor board and river crossing equipment, vehicle arrangement for quick response, budget and infrastructure for anti poaching operation and store house of ammunition. Similarly, they are facing difficulties of infrastructures like drinking water, communication and compounding of armed post. There should be a provision of training, insurance and reward system. To work effectively, it was advised to recruit ladies in Nepal Army so as to make easy to confiscate women defaulters.
6.Almost all the buffer zone management committees were in need of an office assistant to discharge their daily activities effectively and efficiently. Even some of the low income buffer zone communities were asking for basic infrastructures support like office building and furniture.
7.Buffer zone officials were of the view that small industries in buffer zone like saw mills; brick factory etc should be registered only with the recommendation of buffer zone organizations.
8.Buffer zone needs timely availability of approved budgets
9.Buffer Zone management committee need standard format for reporting

3. Biodiversity
Biodiversity across the protected areas are threatened by poaching and illegal trade; deforestation and degradation of wildlife habitats due to encroachment for settlement expansion, over grazing, over utilization of forest based natural resources; illegal logging and trade; and ineffective management of resources and research are the key issues of biodiversity conservation in protected areas.

3.1 Species Conservation
As realized by the participants poaching and illegal trade of wildlife was common across the country. Illegal trade of non timber forest product was reported mainly from mountain protected areas.

There is an increasing number of blue sheep in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve so it was recommended to increase license for hunting. Also, recommended to shift Blue Sheep from the status of CITES Appendix 1 to other categories so that the increasing hunting demand can be addressed. Musk deer in Godawari need special attention for management. Buffer zone communities requested to be involved in the existing anti poaching operation structure that has been formed by Nepal Army and protected area personnel.

Wetland species are declining. Koshi Tappu wildlife reserve has witnessed decreasing number of bird species. Similarly, pollution in Narayani River has posed threats to survival of fish species and Gharial Gohi.

3.2 Habitat Management
Forest encroachment has been identified as one of the major threats to biodiversity conservation across the country. Encroachment in Terai was happened mainly due to settlement expansion in the name of bonded labors and delay in evacuation of the age old settlement from all terai protected areas. Invasive species like Michaenia in Chitwan and Lantena camera in Bardia National park are succeeding wildlife habitats. In the recent days, the illegal logging has become a serious issue in Bardia National Park and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve.

Similarly, in Shivapuri National Park, encroachment for market expansion has been done mainly towards north of Nagarjun site. In case of Himalayan National Park, age old settlements exist inside Langtang and Sagarmatha National Parks and Manaslu and Kanchanjunga Conservation areas.

3.3 Over grazing
Some of the wild animals like black buck in Khairapur, Bardia and wild buffalo in Koshi Tappu are competing with domestic livestock for grazing. Similarly, grazing pressure is escalating in Khapad National Park.

3.4 Over utilization
Over utilization of natural resources like stone, gravel and sand have been reported from all the protected areas in Terai. Likewise, over collection of non timber forest products like Yarsha Gumba from Himalayan National Park and illegal trade of logs and NTFP resources were reported in Langtang National Park and Gaurishankar Conservation area.

3.5 Forest fire
Forest Fire is a major issue in all protected areas across the country. Forest fire has been found very destructive in planting cardamom after undertaking slash and burning.

4. Livelihood
Wildlife has been depredating livestock and damaging crop in protected area near by communities. Even, some time human casualties have been reported. Because of this, wildlife people conflict has been happened. To address this issue, the government has provisioned wildlife damage relief fund. However, this kind of fund is not provisioned for Himalayan protected areas.

Annually, large amount of land has to be lost by protected area nearby communities to the rivers in terai protected areas. They are trying to be compensated from limited Buffer Zone Fund. Therefore, participants were of the view that river cutting should be compensated by the government from other sources instead of the buffer zone development fund. Despite having enough potential, in absence of adequate infrastructures, tourism has not become a sustainable source of income to local communities in mountain protected areas.

Concept note on Piloting Integrated Landscape Planning Framework in Mohana Kailali Corridor

2011-02-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

Mohana Kailali Corridor

Mohana Kailali River, a boundary between Knahcnapur and Kailali has been recognized as Mohana Kailali Corridor for few years. Community forests along the eastern and western bank of the river are developed in such a way that they together have formed a corridor between Chure in the North and Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the south. There are altogether 57 community forests including 40 in Kailali District and 17 in Kanchanpur district. In Kanchanpur the community forests are distributed in three village development committees namely Baisebichuwa, Raikawarbichuwa and Krishnapur. Similarly, towards Kailali the community forests are stretched over Dhangadi Municipality, and three VDCs such as Geta, Malakheti and Godwari.

The corridor has high conservation and livelihood value. It acts as a buffer for Laljhadi Corridor, a 16,000 hectare block of forest towards west. Until 10 years back, people of Dhanagdi had to rely on Laljhadi Forest for firewood, timber and fodder. However, after regeneration of forests along the Mohana River, the pressure on Laljhadi has been reduced noticeably.

A recent study carried out by WTLCP reveals that forest coverage has been increased significantly in this area. Likewise, the areas have evolved as a suitable habitat for dispersal animals, mainly between Dudhwa Tiger Reserve and Chure area. There are 94 bird species and more than 100 tree species. Likewise, it inhabits wildlife species like blue bull, spotted deer and wild boar. The basic need of local people mainly fodder and firewood has been fulfilled from these community forests and all forests along the eastern bank of the river have worked as live fence mainly in safeguarding people of Dhangadi Municipality from flood. With this fodder grasses facility, people re attracted towards adopting stall feeding livestock. Being market nearby, people of this area are motivated towards adopting improved livestock.

Western Terai Landscape Complex Project has supported local communities of this area with various conservation, livelihood improvement and institutional capacity building activities since 2005. With the support, a network of 24 community forests along the eastern bank called Mohana Kailali Community Forest Conservation Committee has been formed and strengthened. In addition, a coordination committee of 16 community forests along the river catchment area has been established at Godawari VDC of Kailali. Similarly, towards Kanchanpur District, coordination committees are formed and functional in three VDCs. In total, there are five coordination committees are established along the corridor - three in Kanchanpur and two in Kailali.

Need Integrated Landscape Plan
In essence, landscape level conservation advocates for integrating biodiversity conservation criteria in local development plan and programs. It requires consistent activities in corridor VDC, Municipality and DDC that ultimately lead to achieve common vision of conserving biodiversity resources at landscape level. In this backdrop, conservation activities that support landscape elements like forest ecosystem, wetland ecosystem, watershed, and grassland etc are to be included in the respective Municipality, Village Development and District Development plan and programs considering corridor area as sub set of their respective political boundary. The integrated landscape planning approach can be considered as a strategy of sustaining WTLCP supported activities in the days ahead. Considering it as a viable planning tool, WTLCP is supporting preparing an integrated management plan of Mohana Kailali Corridor in 2011.

Methodology
The integration process shall be carried out in three phases. Firstly, a management plan of the entire corridor shall be developed following stakeholder consultation and research process. Secondly, the priority activities of the management plan that are to be integrated in corridor connected local government's plan and program shall be sorted out through stakeholder consultation process. Finally, capacity of the respective local authority and community forests user committees shall be strengthened so that they together will be able to integrate biodiversity criteria in their respective periodical plan and implement coherently in the entire corridor areas.

While preparing the management plan, recently project supported study reports on biodiversity assessment and livelihood development findings will be taken as primary reference materials. In addition, various news and reports that have been produced during the project implementation period shall feed into the plan. Similarly, towards stakeholder consultation process, wider stakeholder meetings and workshops shall be carried out. The study findings and stakeholder perception shall be integrated while producing the management plan.

At the outset, efforts will be put towards developing stakeholders' ownership on the integrated plan concept as such. In this regards, through formal and informal meetings and workshops, the stakeholders shall be given with the concept note. Once they feel comfortable with the concept, the execution processes begin.

As part of integrating conservation criteria in local development plan and programs, WTLCP has already shared its annual plan in all corridor adjoining VDCs and Municipality by attending in person their ongoing planning workshops. In addition, some of the VDCs have been influenced to formulate environment related activities and allocate budgets as matching fund for WTLCP supported biodiversity conservation activities.

Basanta Corridor towards Extinction

2010-03-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
Dhangadi

Basanta forest locally called "Badhkaban" is the largest chunk of Kailali district with 17,500 hectare. It serves as an important wildlife corridor connecting Churia hills in north and Dudhwa National Park of India in south. The area is endowed with rich biodiversity resources. It is a dispersal habitat of endangered wildlife species, like tiger, rhinoceros, and wild elephants. Besides, Ghodaghodi Lake, a Ramsar Site of Nepal is also situated adjacent to Basanta Corridor. Dolphins and 43 species of fish species are available in various river systems around the Corridor. The forest is a source of various products like firewood, timber and non timber resources for over 50,000 households of 14 Village Development Committees of Kailali District.

However, about 2,000 hectare of the forest is encroached mainly in the name of freed labour, flood victims, and landlessness for human settlement development and agriculture expansion. Analysis of Basanta forest reveals that 17,560 hectare forest was lost between 1958 and 2001 which was 408 hectare forest reduction per year. If the existing deforestation trend continues, then the Basanta forest which has been an icon of national and international conservationist for few years will be vanished forever by the next 40 years.

The encroachment issue has become a prime agenda of discussion for wide ranged people including policy makers to implementers for few years. To understand the ground reality, the area has already been visited by higher level officials including Minister, Parliamentarians, Director General, District Forest Coordination Committee and many conservation experts. Besides, local and national media have brought out the issues in lime light forcefully.

Programs
To address the issues, the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation has implemented conservation activities through Terai Arc Landscape Program for over eight years. Conservation work has been initiated through community forestry program as an entry point since 2001. Thus far, a total of 38 community forests covering about 2,000 Hectare land have been handed over to local communities. To make the conservation efforts more effective, a Range Post level Community Forests Coordination Committee has been formed.

Contrary to this, deforestation trend has been on raise. The trend has aggravated even after peace building process in the country. With this encroachment the once intact wildlife habitats got fragmented. The land which was registered in the name of landless people in 2002 has already been purchased by elite people. It resulted in trapping the poor and landless people in a poverty vicious cycle. Besides, flood and siltation are other problems which have threatened the very life of local people in this area. Therefore, it seems that neither real poor and marginalised communities nor wildlife realised benefits from conservation and development work thus far.

Underlying causes
Policy is one of the major factors that have stimulated encroachment in Basanta Corridor. In the absence of clear role and responsibilities between Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation and Freed Labour Resettlement Council under the Ministry of Land Reform, about 6,000 Phyllenthus emblica in Radha Krishna Community Forest was removed to resettle freed labours without consultation and field verification in 2008. Kailashpuri Check Dam has posed great threats of over flowing of water in Dhansingpur, Narayanpur and other adjoining VDCs of Basanta Corridor during rainy season. It compels flood victim to refuge in Basanta Forest.

In the given resources, Kailali District Forest Office has not been able to discharge their responsibilities effectively and efficiently. For instance, the law enforcement mechanism has been badly hampered owing to the lack of adequate weapons and funding. In the program level, people participation in planning, implementing and benefit sharing mechanisms seems to be very poor. The local people are yet to be represented fairly in the decision making positions. Various NGO and INGOs in the name of humanitarian ground, has been flushing huge amount of money to supply onsite relief package including plastic roofs, water pump, among others. It resulted in increasing encroachment. Over and above, people opine that even the donors' money committed for conservation has not been reached to the real beneficiaries thus far.

Magnitude of Issue
The issue of encroachment is extended from local to national to international level. Therefore, the solution should be sought from these three tiers. From international level, the issues of flood are associated with ever degrading Chure Watershed and Kailashpuri Check Dam. Therefore it should be resolved through bilateral discussion between Nepal and India From national level, the government should formulate corridor policy and regulations that prohibit settlement in high conservation valued sites like corridor and connectivity areas. Even, policy of provisioning conditional land tenure to local people for promoting agro-forestry program could be an innovative option. The policy should emphasize on integrated land use planning that gives importance to partnership approach to conservation and development. In the changing socio-political scenario, the government should fix its knot and bolts so that it helps discharging its services effectively and efficiently. Likewise, principle of no free lunch should be strictly followed. A mechanism that requires performance based donor and government support to local communities should be designed.

The forest should be managed in multiple use concepts. Core area should be strictly protected while the fringe area should be managed scientifically so that both local communities and wildlife can be benefited. Alternative income and employment generation activities like non timber, timber and ecotourism management programs should be implemented effectively. Likewise, conservation communication strategy should focus on over all ecosystem benefits instead of existing strategy of focusing more on tiger and elephants. To address the issues of poverty, social mobilisation through saving and credit program should be implemented. Utmost efforts should be made to represent locals, Dalit and women in the decision making positions of user and coordination committees. If these efforts are made sincerely, then the issue of encroachment can be halted. It ultimately makes the corridor more functional.

Conclusion
Basanta Corridor encroachment issue has been in a lime light for few years. It is a prime concern of conservation as well as development workers. To maintain intrinsic value of Basanta Corridor, a package program that addresses conservation and poverty issues should be implemented at the earliest. Over and above a separate corridor conservation policy should be formulated timely. If government comes with the aforementioned policy and programs sooner, then there is a better chance for reviving Basanta Corridor.

Participatory Planning for Landscape Approach to Biodiversity Conservation

2009-11-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
November, 2009

I have been involved in participatory planning process of Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) for four years. I have learned that the process, though it is very challenging in the present Nepalese context, when all the government institutions are not functioning properly is essential for landscape level biodiversity conservation. The participatory planning process helps developing common understanding amongst wider stakeholders. However, it takes relatively longer time framework to produce desired results compared to top down approach. To show early impact, it is essential to adopt course-filter-strategy while formulating activities and attaching budgets. Attention should be given for implementing package program in relatively higher conservation valued areas and general awareness program in other sites. I am confident that once the results are produced, then it gets higher chance for sustainability.

Landscape approach to biodiversity conservation considers local people as an integral part of an ecosystem. It gives emphasis on community based biodiversity conservation. It demands community initiatives to integrate biodiversity criteria in various inter woven land use system, that includes agriculture land, forest, grassland, wetland and watershed areas. To initiate the integration process, community should have higher level of conservation awareness. To enhance conservation awareness, it is essential to diversity livelihood opportunities of local communities. Contribution should be made on strengthening over all livelihood frameworks such as social capital development, institutional development, natural resources management, financial capital generation and human resources development. Linking livelihood with conservation is prerequisite to develop community stewardship towards biodiversity conservation. In this front forging partnership of various actors is necessary. Formation and strengthening of a stakeholder network at Village and District level is utmost important. Participatory planning process that brings all actors in a common platform could also act as a viable tool for supporting integrated conservation and development activities.

Participatory planning process can be viewed differently in the context of landscape approach to biodiversity conservation. It is widely acknowledged that participatory planning is one of the best methods for developing local community ownership towards conserving biodiversity resources. It supports holistic development approach. As landscape approach to conservation seeks biodiversity friendly activities in various matrices of land use systems and different jurisdictional framework, development and strengthening of network of concerned agencies is paramount. This helps to develop a common understanding of stakeholders on the goal of conserving biodiversity resources following landscape approach.

Realizing the fact that integrated development is essential to fulfill the community development to biodiversity conservation, WTLCP has adopted participatory planning approach from its inception phase. Every year the planning process starts from July and ends in December. The planning process begins with in-house reviewing of past activities and implementation experiences including relevancy, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. Then, the planning process goes to settlement level, where forest / buffer zone user group prepare a list of activities to be implemented in the following year. Then the project supports two-day planning workshop in each working Village Development Committee (VDC). The VDC level workshop attends by village based stakeholders including VDC secretary, political parties, community based organizations, and field based line agencies and civil societies. Considering monitoring is an integral part of planning process, this year the project mobilized VDC level monitoring committees to observe WTLCP implemented field activities just before VDC level planning workshops. The monitoring feedback was also taken into account while promulgating activities for 2010. Each workshop comprises of more than 40 participants. After completing the VDC level planning, the plan comes to District Level Stakeholders Workshop. Then, the community plan finally gets endorsed from District Forest Coordination Committee, a mini parliament at district level. Finally, the plan goes to Project Executive Board (PEB) via Landscape Coordination Committee (LCC) and Project Coordination Committee (PCC) for final approval.

It’s a rigorous process. As it demands wider stakeholders' participation all project staff members are to be mobilized very tactfully to make the planning process as participatory as possible in the given time framework. The field level planning process alone needs at least one month. As the planning process demands contribution in terms of time and knowledge from each and every participant, it helps generating their ownership over the project activities. Further, as VDC and DDC are directly involved in the planning process, they suggest the local communities to bring their development agenda through VDC and DDC councils which ultimately become a matching development programs for the project supported conservation activities. Because of the joint planning exercises, some sort of informal linkage establishes between line agencies and local community based organizations too.

With this relationship, some community based organizations in the project sites have already enjoyed a few development benefits from the concerned line agencies in 2009. Birendra Adarsha community forest user group of Kanchanpur got improved grasses seed from District Livestock Service Office (DLSO). Similarly, Kailali DLSO supported pig farming to 50 households of Gyan Jyoti Community Forest in Kailali. Shankarpur Community Forest Coordination Committee of Kanchanpur accessed four water engines and a tractor from Kanchanpur District Agriculture Office. Likewise, Amargokul Community Forest User Group (CFUG), Kanchanpur accessed various infrastructure development activities like gravel, bridge maintenance, and school renovation from VDC and DDC budgets.

There are some drawbacks which we need to be cautious while undergoing participatory planning process. It is known fact that every participant of the planning process seeks inclusion of his/her voices in terms of activities for his/her area of interest – sectoral or geographical. Therefore, matching stakeholders' interest without compromising the project goal is really a very difficult task of the planning process. Otherwise, their grievance can be burst out any time during project implementation stage. Likewise, sometimes unmanageable numbers of activities are to be handled as stakeholders ranging from field to central level want to reflect their voice in the annual work plan.

On the whole, we should not expect encouraging result from the participatory planning process in a short run, but as it creates an enabling environment for establishing linkage of local communities with the development partners there remains higher chance of getting support from them even after completion of the project period. Investing resources following course-filter approach would be a best option for landscape level planning. Formulation and implementation of package programs focusing strategic location and general conservation awareness program in less conservation values area would be a viable strategy to create win-win situation of local communities and biodiversity resources. In the mean time project should be prepared for coordinating various developmental partners to fulfill community demands of developmental activities.

In a nut shell, participatory planning process could not be a panacea for addressing the need of landscape approach to biodiversity conservation. However, there is no alternative approach too to address the issues of biodiversity resources and livelihood improvement of local communities.

HOW FAR WE CAN GO FOR CLOSE MONITORING?

2009-11-23T20:07:00.000-08:00

November 21, 2009
"Today was one of the happiest moments in my professional life when I knew that the project benefit realised by poorest of the poor sections of a society in Baisebichuwa, Kanchanpur and I also got disappointment today when I knew that the project money was not fully spent for the benefit of the target communities"

Two years back, Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) extended partial financial support for boring engine to 25 dalit households of Santitole settlement of Baisebichuwa, Kanchanpur. The support was provided in a cost sharing basis between local people and the project itself in 2:3 proportions. But, the community committed fund could not be generated in time. It resulted in incomplete work. Consequently, they were not able to irrigate their agricultural land in 2008.

The local community came up with a proposal that if project extends additional support of only Rs. 15,000 then they could manage the rest of engine establishment process, including construction of a shed by themselves which could costs a total of Rs. 30,000. Accordingly WTLCP extended the required support through a local NGO called Dalit Right Forum in April 2009. With this boring machine, this year alone some nine hectare land of 100 household, of which 90% were Dalit family got timely irrigation facility. The water user group provided the irrigation facilities to other neighbouring families in rent too. According to the local communities, rice productivity increased by six folds this year compared to previous times. Until 2008, firewood was one of the major sources of income to about 90% households. However this year only about 65% people relied on firewood for incremental income. In addition, many of the households have planted tree species in home yards. It made me happy.

I got disappointment when I knew that actually 53% of the total project contributed money was spent for fixing the boring engine. Still the engine shed was not constructed completely. Moreover, I came to know that the unspent money was being tried to be pocketed by the chair person of the NGO itself. When the Chairperson had come with an activity completion report with local communities' signature, I released the final instalment a few months back. Further, at the outset of the activity implementation stage, I had attended a village meeting and informed them about terms and conditions of the agreement. It made me basis for releasing the final instalment even without field verification.

Today I along with the NGO Chairperson and a WTLCP Community Motivator reached to the village to monitor performance of the boring engine. The local communities applauded the economic benefit of the engine. Also, they shared their happiness over the easiness brought in their life by the irrigation. In the mean time, a villager raised an issue of incomplete work and unavailability of all the agreed money. When, I made clear that no money should go to the pocket of any person involved in this activity, then the NGO chairperson admitted that he still had unspent Rs. 7,000. Then he vowed to provide the left out money to the local communities for completing the engine shed soon. Also, with this money the community promised to complete the entire work within November, 2009. If we were not there today it seemed that the NGO Chairperson could have misused the poor and dalit community targeted money.

From this case it can be learned that even a small activity should be monitored closely so as to ensure the wise use of project money. It associates with project image too.

Biodiversity

2009-10-23T19:56:00.001-07:00

Biodiversity conservation

Biodiversity

2009-10-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

New Hope for Encroachment Minimization

2009-08-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
Kailali District is endowed with rich biodiversity resources. However, the valuable properties are facing unprecedented challenges for their survival. The ever increasing population pressure followed by unplanned settlement has aggravated the problem of deforestation and degradation in Kailali. Because of this the prime habitat of globally endangered wildlife species including tiger, elephants and rhinoceros are disturbed heavily. On the other hand, in the absence of easy access of food, and security situations the lifestyles of the real poor who infringe the forests resources for settlement and cultivation are leading towards more miserable livelihood. Therefore, finding an amicable solution that contributes to biodiversity conservation and supports to uplift the socio-economic condition of the real poor is the need of the hour.

Kailali district located between Bardia National Park in the east, Laljhadi and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in the west, and Dudhuwa National Park of India in the south is considered as a store house of biodiversity resources. The big chunks of Kailali forests like Basanta, Bhadtal and Baraban provides dispersal habitat for the globally endangered wildlife species. Likewise, Ghodaghodi Lake, a Ramsar Site in Kailali houses many migratory bird, tortoise and fish species. In addition, the fragile Chure that covers more than 40% of the total of 200,000 hectare forest land of Kailali deserves high watershed value which supports livelihood of the entire Kailali communities.

Forest encroachment for cultivation and settlement expansion is common in Kailali District. To date, some 30,000 households encroaches 19,443 hectare forests land of Kailali. Many of the encroachment are being done in the name of landless people, freed bonded labors, and flood victimized communities. Many of these infringe lands are located in the high biodiversity value areas, like Basanta Corridor, Bhadtal Jungle, Chure foothills, and around Ghodaghiodi Lake. Because of the growing human pressure the prime habitats of the wildlife species are fragmented and it resulted in disintegration of the wildlife populations. If the encroachment issues are not addressed timely then the very resources will be loss for forever from the Kailali Forests. On the other hand, the condition of poor will be further deteriorated.

A solution that contributes to biodiversity conservation and diversifies the livelihood opportunities of local community is necessary. Two pronged strategies should be adopted timely. Firstly, the corridor and connectivity settlements are to be evacuated as soon as possible. In the mean time, the genuine poor should be identified and compensated fairly. Secondly, the government in consultation with central to field level stakeholders should promulgate land use policies that discourage settlement, at least in high biodiversity conservation value areas.

The District Forest Office staff members should be made more resourceful in terms of knowledge, skills and equipment. Community forest user groups and their federations should be oriented to discourage encroachers in high biodiversity values forests. It is interesting to note that the district level political parties of Kailali are reiterating their commitment for discouraging encroachment in the high conservation value areas through making frequent appeal and joint field monitoring visits. They are equally concerned about the well being of the poor people, specially freed bonded labors who have attachment with forest resources since immemorial times.

The recent decision of Kailali District Forest Coordination Committee (DFCC) meeting to form a special task force to evacuate encroached settlement of Kailali is an upper level commitment of political parties and stakeholders towards conserving biodiversity resources of this district. The committee represents District Forest Office, Police Office, Chief District Office and local stakeholders. The committee is also planning to work with District Freed Bonded Labor (Kamaiya) Management Commission (DFBLMC) mainly to address the issue of freed bonded labors, poor and marginalized communities.

Now, it can be hoped that if the political commitment is really translated into action and community forest and their association supports whole heartedly to the mission of encroachment evacuation, and DFO staff are fully equipped for effective law enforcement then it can be hoped that in a near future the large part of the encroached forest areas will be recovered. Similarly, only a close coordination between DFCC and DFBLMC will help finding a viable option to ensure the sustainable livelihood of poor and marginalized communities including freed bonded labors.

Community-based Tourism for Conservation and Development in Shankarpur Village: Concept note for feedback

2009-07-09T03:14:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

Shankarpur Village Development Committee (VDC) of Kanchanpur district is situated in between two ecotourism destinations of Nepal; Bardia National Park in the East and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in the West. The safe and secure village can be reached by driving eight kilometer gravel road towards West from Dhangadi, Kailali and 30 Kilometer gravel road towards South-East from Mahendra Nagar, Kanchanpur.

Over 95% of 761 household are Rana Tharu, local inhabitant of this area as against the only 23% Tharu in the entire district. Rain fed agriculture is the main source of income to over 85% people of this area. Out of the four categories, the VDC falls under third rank in human development index, and first in human poverty index (DDC Kanchanpur, 2005). According to local people, each year two to three Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve destined tourist group pay visit to the area to experience Rana Tharu Culture.

Rana Tharu, who are confined only in Kailali and Kanchapur wear a distinctive short embroidered skirt along with blouses covered with silver coins. They complete their dress-ups with the heavy silver jeweler around their neck and ankles. Similarly, they have unique style of house construction, religion and historic background. The unparallel cultural integrity including dress, food habit and style of celebrating festivals are gradually modernized. Moreover, very little is known about the lifestyle of Ran Tharu (Gurung, 1992*).

In the absence of viable alternative resources, people’s dependency for firewood, fodder and settlement on Laljhadi Corridor has increased rapidly over the years. It resulted in the loss of wildlife habitat of wild elephant and tigers. To safeguard the higher conservation value of this jungle, the government of Nepal has implemented Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) for a few years. The village experienced an intense rainfall followed by an unprecedented amount of flood after 42 years in September, 2008. The flood displaced over 60% people to the fringe area of the Laljhadi Jungle.

On the whole, the village is endowed with rich cultural and biodiversity resources. However these resources are gradually being deteriorated. Now, the village needs programs that address issues of livelihood, culture, climate change and biodiversity simultaneously. In this backdrop, community based tourism would be a viable option. Kanchanpur District Periodic Plan and Landscape Level Ecotourism Plan of the WTLCP recognize this village as a potential tourism site. Besides, recent interaction meeting with local communities including teachers, village leader “Bhalmansa”, youth and conservation activist expressed strong desire to promote village tourism in Shankarpur.

Based on the community consultation and suggestions from various quarters, some activities are to be implemented in Shankarpur in the near future. First, villagers are to be exposed with village tourism sites like Sirubari, Sauraha and Shaktikhor. Second, an interaction meeting is to be held to share study tour experiences with stakeholders including DDC, Journalists, Tourism Board, Kanchanpur District Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI), and private sectors. Third, a feasible study on community based tourism is to be carried out jointly by local community, Nepal Tourism Board and Kanchanpur DCCI. Then, once the report is prepared, it needs to be duly shared with various stakeholders, including Nepal Tourism Board, local and national private sectors, villages and other donors for funding. Finally, the area is to be included in Nepal Tourism Year Program 2011. To put the concept into effect, it needs supports from various quarters.

Acknowledgement
Thanks due to Ex-TRPAP staff members including Mingma Sherpa, Chet Nath Kanel, Ram Hari Devkota and Ramchandra Sedai; Basan Shrestha and Shree Kumar Maharjan for their kind feedback while conceptualizing this report.

Governance: Concept Verses Action

2009-06-19T05:02:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

June 18, 2009 was the last day of two-day Natural Resources Governance training for forest user committees of Jhalari, Kanchanpur. With the financial support of Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP), the training was organised by Range post Level FECOFUN, Pipladi, Kanchanpur. A total of 16 including 50% female participated the training. The closing session of the training was attended by Ms. Manju Singh, Mr. Janak Bahadur Singh and Mr. Ek Raj Sigdel from WTLCP.

During closing session, as asked by Ms. Singh, a member of the training organisation committee read out the expenditure of all the agreed budget of Rs. 25,000 in broad headings, like report writing, resource person and materials. Then the chairperson asked the participants to endorse the expenditure by giving clap. Accordingly, some of his closers obeyed. However, some others showed the gesture of dissatisfaction.

As the training was for good governance, Mr. Sigdel reminded them that transparency is an essential component of good governance. It needs to be practiced. Therefore, he insisted them to bring out the expenditure of each and every penny into public and get signature of all the participants. In the mean time, Mr. Singh helped them writing the detailed expenditures against the approved budget. Then, he got the tentative expenditure of only Rs. 19,000 of the total planned budget of Rs. 25,000. The participants realised that the chairperson along with some of his friends was trying to pocket the unspent money.

Then, one of the participants asked to the WTLCP Officials where does the unspent money go then? Later, Mr. Sigdel responded them that the money has to be deposited at the project account. Surprisingly, some other participants expressed their desire of sharing the unspent money amongst them. This is a reflection of our society. This was not the first of this kind of case that the project had encountered.

Despite repeated request Godawari CFCC, another implementing partner of WTLCP in Kailali showed adamant to form a joint monitoring committee to monitor performance of WTLCP activities at local level. The project put its utmost efforts to convince the executive committee members to work in favour of local, poor, women and Dalit communities. All the efforts to change their attitude went into vain and finally in consultation with the local people a local NGO was identified as an implementing partner of WTLCP in Godawari.

While reviewing underlying factors of ill-intention of both of these aforementioned actors, both of the organisations were formed in a hurry and without adequate consultation with local communities. It seems that they had formed the organisations with the only objective of misusing project fund.

These could be the symbolic actors / organisations of the Nepalese society. From these two cases, it can be learned that reaching to the poorest of the poor by navigating various layers of elites groups that are cemented one above another in a form of pyramid is not an easy task. Strong social mobilisation followed by close monitoring of each and every activity is the must to bring benefits to the poorest of the poor sections of a society.

From this case, I got a mixed feeling, I am very much happy in the sense that we were able to expose the ill-intention of local leaders in front of the public on the other side I wondered how this kind of deep-rooted contractor "thekedari" mindset can be changed, which is essential for attaining the goal of the project.

Indefinite Strike Over

2009-05-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

May4, 2009

Indefinite Strike

The indefinite Terai closure called by the United Tharuhat Struggle Committee has been over after 12 days. According to them since the government had ignored the March 14, 2009 six point agreement made between the Government and the Tharuhat Committee, the Tharu community was compelled to adopt a strong measure against the government. The strike caused multiplier effects on the people of Terai as well as mountain region. The following sections describe the impact of the strike on Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) working areas, such as Kailali, Kanchanpur and Bardia and its mountain regions.

Impact on Livelihood
The continuous closure crippled entire services and facilities, like transportation, industry, education, and business, banking sector and government offices. During this period, import and export of essential commodities, like sugar, clothes between India and Nepal was blocked totally. It resulted in a daily loss of huge amount of revenue to the country. Mountain people (Dadeldhuhra, Bajhang and Doti) underwent a crisis of food and other essential commodities, like sugar, salt, fuel etc. According to a local FM, because of blockade of rabies vaccines at Dhangadi, some rabies affected people in TIM hospital of Dadeldhura were struggling against the death. Diesel and petrol in Terai as well as in Mountain regions were in short supply. Many people en-route to mountain areas from India had to make continuous walk of some 100 Km in the hot summer days (400 C!). Transportation and industrial labors in market centers were facing the problems of hand and mouth.

Impact on WTLCP Work
Despite observing long strikes, because of having committed local staff members, many of the field activities of the WTLCP project were in implementation even during the strike period. As the implementing partners have been involved in the entire project management cycle, with very clear understanding of the project goal and objectives, it helped a lot to smooth implementation of the project, even in such an unfavorable condition. In addition, based on the past experiences, this time, many activities were clumped together and made a bigger seized agreement with the implementing partners, mainly community forest user groups, and committees before the strike commencement date. As a result, field activities, like fire line maintenance, trench construction, solar tuki distribution, community nursery management and ground work for wetland maintenance have almost been completed.

However, district based project activities got impacted by the project. From the very beginning of the strike days, project had to discharge its activities from a close door. Even in some days, considering deteriorating security situation, the project office had to be closed completely. The deteriorating situation hampered day to day work of the project. Similarly, the strike impacted negatively to some field activities, like field monitoring, trainings, technical back up to community nurseries, transplantation of jatropha seedlings and some wetland maintaining activities.

As local community had to manage resource person and training materials from their respective district head quarters, due to unavailability of transportation facilities most of the trainings could not be organized in time. Likewise, timely unavailability of poly bags at the field has caused delay in fixing about 20% seedlings of about half million tree species. Besides, the strike hampered regular coordination and interaction meetings with implementing partners and other stakeholders. Moreover, the long transportation strike has posed difficulties to collect local land races from different parts of the country to be distributed to local farmers. Similarly, the strike has made difficulties to find appropriate sites for establishing agro-diversity blocks and monitoring of school awareness activities.

Observation
Compared to March 2- 14, 2009 strike called by the same agitating group, this strike was found less effective. We saw small number of protesting people on the road compared to the previous strike. It seems that except a few agitated people, large sections of the society were unhappy with this strike. According to them, though the issues were genuine, majority of them had disagreement with the time and way of strike.

From this closure, the protestors could have learned that the indefinite closure will always not be a panacea for fulfilling their demands. Further, the nation will have different models of strike in the days to come, which will neither hamper the daily life of local people nor obstruct smooth implementation of development work. From the development projects’ point of view, it reiterates the fact that community based activities can only be implemented smoothly even in a difficult field situation if they are involved in the entire project management cycle. Also, it is learned that there should be some flexibilities to the project to adjust planned activities according to field situations.

Perception Changed: A Case Study

2009-04-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

April 27, 2009

"While going through the field verification report, I caught with a picture of plantation. Based on my previous knowledge, I could not imagine that the picture was really taken from the plantation site. Then, I decided to visit the site in person. After visiting the plantation site, I got surprise and changed my old aged perception that if done properly and ownership is fully transferred to local community, then any work can be successful" said Janak Baral, one of the UNDP Commissioned Auditors, who was in Dhangadi to audit Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) records between April 13 and 16, 2009.

With the community consultations at household level and several rounds of mass meetings, some 180 families of the local communities of Kailali, Phulbari 3, Lalitpur, were convinced to plant various tree species in two third of the 30 hectare degraded open grazing land in July 2008. The land was being grazed by some 2000 unproductive cattle every day. On their own initiation, the local community encircled the planted land by two kilometre trench. They also appointed a forest guard to safeguard the plantation. In total, the plantation work coasted Rs. 3, 75,750, of which 40,000 tree saplings of eight different plant species, like eucalyptus, bauhinia, bombax, bamboo equivalent of Rs. 1,16,000 was supported by WTLCP-Dhangadi.

Luckily, the devastating flood of Septembe 2008 did not disappoint the committed local communities, though it uprooted some 20% of the total seedlings.

Now, pointing towards the greenery land "these are my child and I should take care of the seedlings" said the forest guard. It is hoped that as the plantation being done in bottleneck area between Dudhuwa of India and Basanta of Nepal, it will work as a corridor for wildlife movement on the one hand and on the other grasses and fodder that comes from the land will support sustainable livelihood of the local communities.

[WTLCP is a joint undertaking of the government of Nepal, UNDP, GEF, SNV, WWF, Bioversity International, NARC and LIBIRD].

Note: (First Photo taken in February 2008; Second Photo taken in July 2008 and Third Photo taken in April, 2009)

Coordination and Cooperation for Promoting Tourism

2009-04-26T01:28:00.000-07:00

Report prepared by

Ek Raj Sigdel

Interaction Workshop
In interaction workshop on "Coordination and Cooperation for Promoting Tourism in Mid and Far West" was held at Thakurdwara, Bardia in 20 - 21, April 2009. A total of 31 participants from Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur representing journalists, hotel and travel and tours entrepreneurs, ecotourism forum, youth forum, Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Bardia National Park and WTLCP were present at the workshop. Over 50% participants were journalists. The workshop was organised by Far Western Media Development Centre, Dhangadi and supported jointly by WTLCP - Dhangadi, Nepal Tourism Board and Bardia National Park. Nepal Tourism Board supported the program by sending a Resource Person and Bardia National Park shared tourism development activities in Bardia and arranged jungle safari for the participants. Likewise, WTLCP extended financial support for transportation, lodging and fooding and stationary of the participants.

Mr. Udaya Bhattarai, Assistant Manager, Nepal Tourism Board, made presentation on "Understanding Tourism & Tourism System". He covered a wide range of topics, including introduction and definitions of tourism, destination mix, attractions of Nepal, tourism system, tourism marketing, sustainability, key players and new trends in tourism and hospitality. Similarly, Bardia Ecotourism Forum Chair Person Mr. Bishnu Bhattarai shared Bardia experiences on tourism promotion and development. Likewise, Mr. Tika Ram Adhikari, Chief Warden of Bardia National Park shared importance of protected area management for tourism development in Nepal. The presentations were followed by a group exercise and sorted out various efforts made by different stakeholders to promote tourism in the Western Development Region. Also, the group exercises identified major problems and made various recommendations.

Efforts for Tourism Promotion
Bardia National Park has facilitated tourism development in Thakurdwara, Bardia by provisioning various activities, like jungle drive, elephant safari, rafting, fishing and camping. Also, road and nature trails are maintained inside the Jungle for tourists. Similarly, visitor information center, tharu cultural museum, wildlife view tower, and signposts are maintained at various strategic locations of the national park. Being a member of the Executive committee of the Nepal Tourism Board, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) is being involved in preparing tourism policy and programs at national level. In addition, tourism sections in DNPWC and tourism units in protected areas are established which have helped in mainstreaming tourism development activities at institutional level.

Likewise, Kanchanpur Tourism Promotion Committee, Kailali Chamber of Commerce and various other tourism related community based organizations, like hotel associations, nature guide associations, and ecotourism forum have been formed and functional at local level. Similarly, to promote tourism, various tourism fair and festival are being organized in disaggregated manner. In addition, some promotional CD and brochures are prepared.

Problems
Despite putting various efforts and having unparallel natural and cultural beauty, the region has not been able to attract an expected level of tourists thus far. The following are reasons were identified why the tourism is not developed satisfactorily in the Western Development Region.

Tourism development and promotion
It was realized that, there is no systematic study on tourism promotion and marketing in the Western Region. Evan all the tourism sites are not explored and hence the government has put those areas in low priority. Fair and festivals are not regularly organized. In addition, the capacity of the tourism entrepreneurs, mainly in English language, nature guide, and cookery and bakery preparation are to be enhanced.

Air fare from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj is very expensive. Even, the price difference between Nepali and foreigners has discouraged foreigners to visit the Western Region. The government policy of making same fee structure for entering protected areas and experiences jungle safari does not favor tourism promotion. Tourism code of conduct for promoting responsible tourism is yet to be developed. Tourism income and employment opportunity is not distributed fairly at local level. Increasing number of locals and youth are yet to be engaged in tourism business. The government does not have a clear policy for promoting eco-tourism. In addition, lack of basic infrastructure, including communication, road network, and electricity was pointed as the major obstacles for tourism development and promotion in this region.

Park management
The Bardia National Park management needs further improvements for attracting greater number of tourists. Local communities are exerting pressure on the park for collecting fuel-wood, fodder and timber. Poaching of wild animals and encroachment for settlement and agricultural expansion is prevalent in the park. The rampant forest fir in the summer season may have caused shocks to wild animals and also posed visual pollution. The National Park management has perceived that the tourism promotion is their secondary priority. Further, tourism management capacity of the national park and reserve staff needs to be further enhanced.

Coordination
Tourism promotion and development activities are being done in a piecemeal approach and in an isolation manner. There is a very weak coordination amongst tourism entrepreneurs, and concerned government line agencies. Tourism development work is being done in an ad hoc basis. Bardia Tourism Plan, Western Terai Landscape Level Ecotourism Plan, and Khaptad Tourism Development Plan are yet to be fully implemented.

Recommendations
Firstly, tourism development activities are needs to be mainstreamed in the protected area management system. In this regard, the status of Reserve of Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (SWR) should be upgraded as National Park. To attract tourists, a resort should be established immediately inside the SWR. In the mean time, possibility of declaring Appi, Nampa Himal as conservation area should be explored. Moreover, the protected area administration should be more transparent and media friendly, mainly they should disclose wild animals data timely and easily. Efforts should be made to plough back part of the protected area revenue towards promoting tourism.

Secondly, close coordination amongst tourism stakeholders, including hotel, park authority, I/NGO, local authority, journalists, political leaders and local community should be maintained. Formation of a District Tourism Development Coordination Committee could be an option to embark planned tourism development.

Thirdly, fund for tourism development should be explored. In this regard, BZMC should give pressure to the DDC for allocating part of the development fund for tourism infrastructure development. Also, the part of the park revenue should be shared for tourism development in the protected areas.

Finally, the tourism site people should give priority to improve sanitation, drinking water, communication, electricity and transportation facilities. Over and above, the prevailing culture of highway blockade should be discouraged.

Action Points
The participants identified following activities for immediate implementation.
A loose network for coordination amongst partner organisations, like journalists, tourism entrepreneurs, Chamber of Commerce, women and youth needs to be formed immediately.

A promotional souvenir like hat, baskets from Banana leaves needs to be developed and potential of agro tourism should be explored.

Politicians should be made aware on the higher importance of tourism and conservation for income and employment generation.

Ambassador of India should be requested to play a proactive role for promoting tourism in the Mid and Far Western Development Region.

Media coverage on tourism promotion and marketing should be increased

Media persons, including editors and reporters should be trained on conservation and tourism so that the level of understanding amongst the stakeholders about tourism development could be equal.

Conclusion
Finally, realising the importance of coordination amongst the diverse stakeholders a 19 member loose network forum of journalists, tourism entrepreneurs, Chamber of Commerce, women and youth was formed. The program reiterated a slogan "Now turn of West".

Chure Conservation Initiatives

2009-04-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

Report prepared by
Ek Raj Sigdel

Interaction
District Forest Office Kanchanpur organised an interaction program on Chure Conservation at Mahendra Nagar, Kanchanpur on April 17, 2009. Far Western Regional Forestry Director Mr. Govinda Prasad Kafley chaired the program. A total of 47 participants, including six women attended the program. The participant represented District Agriculture Office, Kailali District Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Office, FECOFUN, Journalists, political parties, Terai Arc Landscape Program, WTLCP, District Forest Office, Chure conservation network, NGO and community forest use groups. Mr. Jaya Raj Pandey, resident of Krishnapur, Kanchanpur and Mr Surya kanta Sigdel, District Forest Officer, Kanchanpur presented working concept papers on Chure Conservation. Then, participants made comments on the papers and discussed on some Chure conservation issues.

Issues
After undergoing a thorough discussion, mainly chure conservation issues of the Kanchanpur district, the participants identified various chure management issues, like decreased wild animals and degraded their habitats and management of NTFP and eco-tourism for livelihood, flood, stone quarrying, over grazing, unplanned settlements and cattle sheds. Forest and water ecosystems are gradually covered by water hyacinth, Eupatorium spp, Lantena camera, and Mikenia micarantha. The major problems of Chure conservation include landslide and soil erosion, poor soil quality, recurrent flood, loss of agricultural productivity and changing water courses. Moreover, soil erosion ad land slide is conspicuous.

Under lying cause
Encroachment for cattle sheds, and agriculture land expansion has been in practice in the Chure Range for many years. Increasing trend of stone quarrying and tendency of keeping greater number of unproductive free grazing animals has caused has soil erosion and land slides. Likewise, poaching, and over utilisation of forest resources for firewood, timber and fodder has degraded wild animals' habitat and consequently reduced their numbers. Over and above, the law enforcement for discouraging illegal activities in the Chure Region is weak. Growing poverty incidence, lacking of specific policy and political commitment for chure conservation, increasing population, and growing number of unemployment are the major under lying causes of the ineffective conservation of Chure region.

Effect
Because of the aforementioned causes, as said by the participants, the water retention capacity of Chure has been decreased. Due to over utilisation of forest resources at foothill of chure, the north south movement of wild animals has become tenuous. People's dependency on Chure for various use have been on rise. To address those issues, the participants felt the urgent need of safeguarding the watershed and biodiversity value of the Churia and ensuring the sustainable livelihood of local communities. The meeting identified following activities to attaint the objectives.

Activity
District Forest Officer Kanchanpur has initiated to remove the unplanned cattle shed from the foothills of Chure for few months. With the mobilisation of local youths, a total of 126 cattle shed, including 36 permanent and 90 temporary have already been dismantled. It was estimated that some 800 cattle sheds are located in the Chure range. The meeting expressed commitment for making the chure as cattle shed free zone by two months.

Realising the trampling effect of unproductive free grazing animals on fragile chure area, particularly by goats, the meeting decided to replace those animals gradually by productive stall feeding livestock. Also, realised the need of planting fodder species in the chure area. In this regard, the Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Office Kailali, made commitment for availing necessary fodder saplings.

The meeting participants asked for more activities, mainly alternative energy, and community based anti poaching operation in chure range. They opined that the poaching of deer and leopard is still in practice in the chure range and beyond boundary. Therefore, anti poaching operation should go beyond Kanchanpur district and its chure area. Biogas and bio-briquattee should be promoted as an alternative energy. Promotion of bio-briquattee helps addressing the issue of invasive species.

Awareness program for controlling forest fire should be launched immediately. In addition, the government should make the law enforcement very effective and efficient for discouraging encroachment, illegal logging, forest fire and other unwanted activities. Further, the participants decided to plant various species like bamboo, amriso, salix, jatropha in chure area in this summer. Moreover, the participants were of the view that to conserve the chure effectively, it is urgent to transfer the ownership to local community by handing over it as community forests soon.

Government should prepare and implement an integrated management plan for chure conservation as soon as possible. To implement the plan, it is wise to create a conservation fund at the district level. Source of funding could be, paying environment services, carbon trading, CFUG contribution, donor supports and so and so forth. In this regard, the District Development Committee can initiate the process by keeping aside part of the forest, stone and gravel revenues for the development of churia region. Further, participants from the downstream also expressed their commitment for their continuous support to conserve chure. Because, they got realise that one of the causes of the last years devastating flood was the result of chure degradation.

According to the meeting participants, the conservation and livelihood improvement activities should be implemented simultaneously in the Chure range. Forest and NTFP based micro enterprises should be promoted. In addition, some part of the chure range vouchsafes higher eco-tourism value. Therefore, tourism promotion and development activities should be implemented timely. In this regard, efforts for attracting private sectors should keep vigilant. Over and above, the government should come with a very clear policy and plan for conserving chure area.

A separate multi stakeholder’s forum to facilitate implementing the integrated development plan of the churia should be provisioned. In this regard, role of the District Forest Coordination Committee should be made more effective. In addition, the government should initiate to elect local authority as soon as possible so that the chure conservation work can be made further effective. Likewise, efforts should be made to integrate the chure conservation agenda in the upcoming constitutions.

Need More Responsible Society

2009-04-24T02:05:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
March 14, 2009

The indefinite Terai Band, called by Tharu and other local community group is now over after 14 days. They have put forth the demands of their own language recognition in government works and guarantee of federal structure based on ethnic, regional and lingual identities, among others. The strike was relaxed only for two days during holi festival. However, the agitation was intensified immediately after celebration of the Phagu Purnima, one of the biggest festivals of Terai.

From the very beginning of the strike, all public and private services, like educational institutions, government offices, transportations, and industries, among others were closed completely. Large numbers of Tharu people from nearby villages were thronged at district headquarters of Kailalil and Kanchanpur Districts to make remonstration more effective. They used all the available tools, like steak and torch rally, road blockade, tyre and effigy burning, vandalizing government and private offices and vehicles, among others to make the agitation more audible and effective. In addition, they made their demand public through various local and national electronic and other Medias. The life of local people further crippled when a separate group of students and civil society came onto the street to demonstrate their agitation against the government for its ambiguous decision of establishing university in their district headquarters. Additionally, a group of landless people staged demonstration in front of the District Administration Office, Kailali for including their representatives in Landless Commission and ensuring their daily requirements like food and shelter.

The strike has posed a multiplier effects. Every sector, including economic, environmental, political, and educational institutions was in immense impact from the indefinite strike. Income and employment opportunity of the poorest of the poor segments of society was curtailed. Supplies of goods and services in hilly districts such as Bajura, Bajhanag, and Dadeldhura were completely blocked. So, the hardest hit was in hilly area compared to Terai people. Similarly, over a thousand people of Baisebichuwa, Shankarpur who had to depend on Dhanagdi Market for various income generating activities, like rickshaw riding, and industrial and other labors were desperately waiting for strike free days. In the absence of transportation facilities, daily over 250 mountain people had returned from India were to be stranded at bus parks of the district headquarters. According to a reliable source, Mohana Trans-border Revenue Office, Dhangadi is going collect hardly 50% of the total expected revenue during the month of March 2009.

Burning large number of vehicle tyres, and other plastic materials on the road during these hot days caused several kind of impact, such as headache and hypertension. Consequently, it could contribute to the climate change, which may warrant a separate study. The dependency of poor on firewood increased significantly. However, no notable negative impact on the forest resources for timber and encroachment for settlement was reported during that period. The implementation and monitoring of biodiversity friendly activities were completely obstructed and hence there could be other illegal activities, which is yet to be known.

During the strike period, the public security of the region was further deteriorated. As the smooth flows of public and private services blocked, many people fearfully used nearby Indian road networks. A son of Mr. Ganesh Datta Joshi, Raikabarbichuwa, Kanchanpur who had to return to Kathmandu for resuming service, could not make it due to the ongoing strike and insecure situation on the highway. Government officials and other service holders got threatening for not to open their respective offices. Citing to the field difficulties, the constitution members, who were in the Far Western Development Region had to postpone the community consultation process. Likewise, a group of unidentified people vandalized few Village Development Committee Offices of Kailali. Additionally, some of the protesting students also damaged over a half dozen government institutions, such as District Plant Resources Office, District Education Office and a couple of public and private vehicles.

It is worthwhile to notice that some school children organized a protest rally in front of the Kailali Chief District Office, for halting the strike and resuming their school. This news was also aired by BBC Nepali Service. Because of the strike, regular exams of grade eight and 10 were postponed. Likewise, there is an ongoing strike called by college students of Kailali and Kanchanpur for establishing university in their respective district headquarters. Even, one of the political parties of Kanchanpur has threatened to obstruct movement of government vehicles on the road until decision is made in favor of establishing an university in their district.

On the whole, the strike severely impacted all the sectors of livelihood. At the cost of various difficulties including loss of public life, the demand of the agitating groups is now fulfilled. While looking underlying cause of the protest, it was found that local people were seemingly well aware on their right. To a large extent, this kind of organized movement was an upshot of donors support for making various community groups’ aware on their right. Also, the agitators’ leaders were able to link the poor people’s right with their livelihood opportunities. In addition, the locals’ ambition for fulfilling their demand for livelihood and peace has not satisfactorily addressed by the present government.

In conclusion, it can be learned from the strike that the government should response locals need timely on the one hand and on the other the community groups should simultaneously be made well aware on their responsibilities and consequences of such kind of strike on livelihood opportunities of all sections of society. In the mean time, the donor communities’ support should be for making communities more aware not only their right but also towards their responsibilities for making New Nepal, the very mission of the government.

Conserving Mountain Environment

2009-03-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

By Ek Raj Sigdel, Nepal

Having immense natural and cultural value, Nepal's Mountain can be termed as the `Epitome of Paradise' for tourists, trekkers and expeditionary. Fragile mountain environment and subsistence agriculture are contributing to the degradation of the mountain ecosystem. The consequences are aggrandizing the poverty situation in the mountain regions. In order to address these diverse issues, development of sustainable tourism base would be the only viable option for the long-term conservation of environment and thereby contributing to betterment of the mountain communities.

The mountain environment of Nepal, by virtue of their inaccessible nature, has narrow scope for modern development in a cost effective way. Subsistence agriculture and livestock are the main economic source of mountain people. Migratory works elsewhere in Nepal and India is the complementary source of income to these people. The economic condition of the majorities of people in mountain is marginal. Likewise, the agriculture land is limited by the steep topography.
Including the Mt. Everest, Nepal houses eight of the world's fourteen highest mountains. The country has 79% of its area under mountainous topography. Similarly, out of 118 Nepal's ecosystems, 38 are in Mountain region. The mountain region is the meeting point of the major geographical realms of the world - the palaearctic and Indo-Malayan.

The series of the mighty Himalayan ranges separated by some of the deepest gorges are the striking attractions for tourists. While trekking in Nepal, one can see the fantastic snow capped peaks along with the beautiful lakes and smile faced people. Unique flora and fauna are other potential tourist attractions in the mountain environment. Moreover, traditional village, historical sites, culture and architecture of local people deserve special attractions for tourists.

Realizing the higher tourism value, the government of Nepal opened its border for foreigners in 1950s. Since then, the flow of tourists has been in an increasing trend. No doubt, the growing tourist number has contributed a lot to local and national economy of Nepal. For instance, people in Khumbu, Annapurna Conservation Area and Langtang National Park and adjoining areas have been enjoying significant tourism benefits for many years. It has been reported that, because of well managed tourism, once declined cultural value of Sagarmatha region has been revived through local initiatives. Monasteries Management Committees, Youth Group, and Youth Club are actively engaged in conserving cultural and natural heritage in this region. Because of the concerted efforts; the environment of Sagarmatha National Park seems to be improving for the last few years.

Yet against this backdrop, concentration of tourism pressure in limited mountain areas has been posing various challenges. Every year hundreds of tons of firewood are used for cooking and campfire. Signs of massive deforestation in some of the trekking sites of Nepal are evident. The destruction of scant vegetation in the alpine regions of Nepal also leads to frequent mudslides, landslides, creep and rock falls as well as silting of the river. The country is experiencing severe inequalities of wealth, low living standards, high unemployment, uneven economic development, as well as heavy dependence on foreign investment and foreign aid. Some high altitude plant species, such as Abies spectabillis, Tsuga dumosa and Rhododendron nivala, are under intense economic pressure aggravated by the tourist pressure. If the present trend continues, the degradation of the mountain environment may cause irreversible damage to the mountain fragile ecosystem and lifestyle of the people.

Recognizing the higher conservation value of mountain ecosystems, His Majesty's Government of Nepal has established 7 Protected Areas (PAs) all along the border of China, covering 78.54% of total PAs in Nepal. These PAs represent 30 on of the 38 ecosystems of the highland. Though, it is relatively less diverse in flora and fauna, they possess a significant number of endemic species. Mountain, endowed with the rich biodiversity, provides an excellent source of revenue for His Majesty's Government of Nepal through eco-tourism management. The most important regions for mountain tourism in Nepal are Annapurna, Khumbu, Sagrmatha and Langtang-Helambu. The three regions, namely Sagarmatha, Langtang and Annapurna Conservation Area combined accounts around 95°l0 of all mountain trekking permits issues and the remaining 5% of trekkers visit Rara National Park, Dolpo, Humla, Makalu and Kanchanjunga. Similarly, about 43% of all international leisure arrivals in Nepal go for trekking.

The relationship between tourism and environment is that of a delicate balance between sustainable community development and safeguarding the environment. Tourism where it has been allowed to run free, has caused more disaster to the natural beauty of the surroundings, destroyed traditional value system, greatly helped accelerating the deforestation and has not really helped population in true, rather it has exploited unmercifully.

To maximize the tourism benefit to the Mountain people and environment, the government should undertake various activities in a planned way. Firstly, locals should be trained on
lodge management, tour guide and interpretation skills. Secondly, in order to develop appropriate tourism facilities and services, a credit facility for local entrepreneurs should be in place. Most importantly, locals should be aware on the importance of maintaining the village architecture, traditions, and wildlife management. Finally, trans-boundary tourism across the trans-border areas, such as Nagpala, and Chhentang - Kimathanka should be promoted.

The efforts of HMG of Nepal in establishing the National Parks and Wildlife Reserves in the country are very appropriate strategies towards developing sustainable tourism in Nepal. Integrated mountain environment conservation, community development and tourism promotion is the only option for the betterment of people. It warrants the immediate need of formulating Integrated National Tourism Master Plan and a separate Mountain Development Policy.

Text courtesy: NTTR July 04 - 10, 2005. The Telegraph thanks the publisher of the NTTR.and the author of the article.

Need More Responsible Society

2009-03-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
March 15, 2009

Developing tourism in far west

2009-02-02T00:36:00.000-08:00

Developing tourism in far west
Published in Kathmandu Post

By Ek Raj Sigdel
The Far Western Development Region (FWDR) is rich in biodiversity and cultural resources. However, the region is lagging far more behind in terms of income and employment opportunity to the local people than the other development regions of the country. The traditional agro-based income could be backed strongly by the tourism-based economy, if the latter is fully explored and managed timely. Tourism development could be the second best option after agricultural development for reducing poverty as well as ensuring long-term conservation of cultural and natural resources of FWDR.

In spite of full fledged implementation of 20-year Agricultural Perspective Plan and programs, the agricultural production has not matched people's expectation. On the other hand, forest is seen as a short-term lucrative business for the ever-increasing population of this region, especially in lowland terai. Over the last few years, forest encroachment for agricultural production has been on the rise. If the current trend of deforestation and degradation is not curbed, the country will lose thousands of hectares covered by forests let us say in two decades. As a result, the fertile soil of lowland terai will also be washed away gradually. The phenomenon will cause further loss in region's agricultural productivity, which will in return lead to the loss of biodiversity resources, making the situation of the poor even worse.

Therefore, the time has come to explore alternatives to uplift the socio-economic condition of the local people as well as ensure the conservation of biodiversity resources. In this regard, tourism development could be a viable option to achieve the dual goal of conservation and development simultaneously.

The Tenth Five-Year Plan recognizes tourism as a means to raise income of rural communities and also contributes to balance regional development of the country. With the objective of addressing rural poverty through tourism, the government, with the financial support of UNDP, has already piloted Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Program in 48 VDCs of 6 districts. The final evaluation of the project reveals that the project can be categorized under one of the successful programs in Nepal. And, hence recommends for replication of similar type of community based rural tourism in the rest of the country. In this background, replication of similar type of project in FWDR would help reduce rural poverty, contribute to biodiversity conservation and supports to the very objective of balanced regional development.
The area has some unique natural and cultural heritages, which could be a source of inspiration for outsiders to learn and experience. For instance, Bardiya National Park (BNP), the largest park in lowland terai houses globally endangered wildlife species, including Bengal tiger, wild elephants, greater one- horned rhinos, black buck, and crocodile, among others. Likewise, the last remaining population of black buck is found in Khairapur, very close to BNP.

Similarly, Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (SWR) is worldwide famous for the herd of swamp deer, the number of which currently stands at about 2000. It is also a home to Bengal tigers and wild elephants. According to the SWR source the number of tourists in the Reserve increased from a total of 16 in December 2005 to a total of 62 in the same month in 2006. The Ghodaghodi Lake, one of the Ramsar Sites in Nepal is also present in this region.

In addition, basking crocodiles at the islands of the Karnali river and dolphins at the confluence of Mohana, Geruwa and Karnali River in Bardia could entertain tourists. Mahakali and Karnali bridges, which are considered as the longest bridges of their types in the world, are other attractions. Birendra Aishowrya Park and Devaria Park in Dhangadi and Botanical Garden in Tikapur of Kailali district enhance tourism value of this region. A large number of Indian pilgrimage paying visit to Brahmadev, Betkot and Thakurdwara temples of Kanchanpur and Bardiya districts flock to the area. Tharus, mainly of Rana and Dangaura residing near the Park, are the local and original inhabitants of this virgin land.

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has recently identified and promoted Wild Western Triangle for Rara, Bardia and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve for few years. Repackaging of all the aforementioned attractions in the Triangle could form a good package for tourism in this region. Moreover, eco-tourism corridor can be developed between Dudhuwa National Park and Katarnia Ghat Widlife Reserve of India and Bardiya National Park and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve of Nepal. The air-link between Dhangadi and Kathmandu established by Buddha Air has raised a new hope for local communities of this region towards developing their areas as tourist destinations. In addition, availability of basic facilities like telephones, hotels, health posts, and vehicles also facilitate the areas to become tourist destinations.

In conclusion, it can be stated that a mere agriculture-dependent economy could not be a sustainable source of income and employment opportunity to the local community of this region. Considering the resource in the area, promotion of tourism, by mobilizing local authority and NTB could be an alternative means to overcome the issue of poverty and thereby ensure long-term conservation of biodiversity and cultural resources. It is high time to pilot rural tourism model in FWDR

Flood Impact on Livelihood of Local Community in Shankarpur VDC

2009-01-27T19:10:00.000-08:00

Flood Impact on Livelihood of Local Community in Shankarpur VDC
Ek Raj Sigdel
Western Terai Landscape Complex project

Referring to his body height, Mr. Kanja Rana said, when the slope of the rain was up-to three feet, it was usual to him. However, when the height increased gradually and reached up-to five feet, then they started to rescue children and old aged people. In no time, some household and livestock shed which were located near to the edge of river and fertile low lands were washed away. Then, turn of livestock came, the time has already late, they lost about 40 cattle, 50 pigs and 35 ducks to the flood, recalled Mr. Rana. Luckily, the flood was happened during the morning and hence no human casualties happened. This was a case of an unusual flood and its impact in Shankarpur VDC, Kanchanpur district, Nepal. Referring to the 36 hour continuous rains and 12 hour flood of September 30, 2008, this flood was the second of this type in my 80 years age, said Natthu Rana, a local inhabitant. According to him, similar kind of devastating rainfall was noticed 42 years back in the village.

Objective: To analyze the impact of the flood on livelihood of local communities a detailed study was carried out in ward number one, two and three of Shankarpur Village Development Committee, a smallest unit of local government. Specifically the objectives of the study were to analyze the type of people who got hardest hit from the flood and to make recommendations for adaptation measures.

Mthodology: Initially, the flood hazards scenario and vulnerability contexts of the Kanchanpur district were overlapped. It helped to identify Shankarpur VDC as one of the flood disastrous areas in the district. Based on the field observation and community consultation, three wards of the VDC were found badly affected from the flood. Focus group discussions were held separately with women group, men group and old aged people in the affected wards. According to the local people, land holding size was a prime indicator of the well being of the local people in Shankarpur VDC. Therefore, to understand the people who got badly affected, household survey was carried out in the entire household (91HH) of ward no 1. The data were analyzed by using Microsoft excel and a conclusion was drawn. The result was shared with district based stakeholders as well. Then recommendations for climate adaptation were elicited.

Livelihood context
Shankarpur is one of the 19 Village Development Committees of Kanchanpur District, which is located in the Far Western Development Region of Nepal. Out of the four categories, the VDC falls under third rank in human development index, and first in human poverty index (DDC Kanchanpur, 2005). Average rainfall and temperature per year in the district is 1575mm and 230 Celsius respectively.

The area is located towards east from Doda River that originates from Churia range, a fragile hill and traverse through the middle of Shankarpur VDC. There were a total of 288 household with 2,429 people of which, 48% women and 52 % man in the study area. Over 95% household were Tharu, local inhabitant of this area as against the only 23% Tharu in the district as a whole, and the rest of people were hill migrant. Rain fed agriculture is the main source of income to over 85% people of this area. In an average, a household owns 1.5 hectare agriculture land. Crops and livestock are two major source of income of the local community. Rice, wheat and maize are major staple foods and pulses, turmeric, ginger, sugarcane and off season vegetable are some other cash crops. The livestock includes cattle, pig, poultry and ducks. Annually, about 50% youth goes to India for seasonal work. Less than one percent people are service holder and 15-20 household make money from small business.

Fire wood is the main source of energy for over 90% people of this area. They collect firewood from proposed community forests, which are located at the fringe area of a big chunk of forest called Laljhadi Corridor. According to local women, the time for collecting a head load of firewood has increased significantly over the years. With the support of some local NGOs and other government projects, a few social groups like women groups, cooperatives, community forests coordination committee etc were formed and functional in the village.

Flood and impact
A heavy rainfall followed by an unprecedented amount of flood was appeared after 42 years period in Shankarpur VDC. The rain was continued until 36 hours and flood was started to appear after 12 hours rainfall. The flood was started from four o’clock in the morning of September 30, 2008. Pouring of heavy rain, strong wind, heavy flood, and cold wave combined together and made the life very jeopardous, said local. The impact was noticed mainly in natural, physical and social capitals.

Impact on natural capital
The questionnaire survey of the 91 household revealed that in an average a household own1.5 hectare agricultural land. Out of the total, 0.1 hectare was washed away and the remaining 0.5 hectare agriculture land was covered totally by sand and boulders. According to local inhabitants, one hectare land costs Rs. 20, 00,000 (1$ = Rs.68). According to this estimate, each household had to lose Rs. 120,000 in a year. The land holding size was ranged from 8 hectares to no land in the sampling households.

In another way, while calculating the loss in terms of rice grain, it comes around Rs. 7,500 per person. (1 Hectare produces 3000 Kg rice and 1 Kg costs Rs. 20 in local market, the average family size of the area is 8.4)). Per capita income of the local community in Kanchanpur District was Rs. 13695 (DDC Kanchanpur 2005). This estimate implies that significant proportion of per capita income has already been lost by the flood. The challenge now is how to sustain the local community at least in the flood impacted year.

The entire household, irrespective to the lands holding size lost land for the flood. Further, while analyzing the primary data it was revealed that the loss of land was directly proportional to the land holding size. It could be due to presence richer people’s land in fertile low land. About 50% of the total standing crops were lost by the flood. Also, significant amount of stored grains were washed out. Similarly, local people lost considerable number of goat, pig, cattle, and ducks to the flood.

To safeguard the life, almost all the households resettled in nearby Laljhadi Jungle, a prime habitat of wildlife species, including tiger and wild elephants. The area has been identified as one of the bottlenecks area of Terai Arc Landscape Complex that spread over the transborder areas of India and Nepal. With the aim of conserving globally significant biodiversity of the bottleneck area, WTLCP has implemented conservation and development programs for three years in and around Laljhadi Forest. The project is supporting the communities with bio-gas, plantation of timber and non timber species in degraded land, seed money for income generation activities, formation of forest user groups and committees, saving and credit groups, among others.

Impact on physical assets
The flood significantly affected the physical infrastructure of the village. Five wooden bridges were completely destroyed while one suspension bridge was dilapidated. Similarly, 198 drinking water pumps, and 5 Km graveled road was washed away. However, because of the presence of Saccharum munja, banana, bamboo and Bombax ceiba in some part of the river bank, some 15 households were saved.

Impact on social capital
People Moving Towards Safe Place (Photo by A. Gurung)The flood affected all sections of the society, irrespective to income group, aged group and gender. Men were involved more in rescuing children and old aged people, while women had to spend considerable time for safeguarding immediate need of food and clothes. According to Bhagawati Rana, a local woman, in the absence of swimming skills, the women were in more dangerous situation than men. As of the women, similar situation was applied in children and old aged people. Though a total of 14 human casualties were recorded in the entire district, luckily no human casualty was witnessed in the entire VDC. About 40-50 people saved their life by clinging on sparsely distributed trees in the study area. Similarly, due to the tradition of keeping hanging baskets, made up of by Saccharam munj, some households saved enough food for two-three days.

Recommendations
Livestock Casualties in Shankarpur (Photo by A.Gurung)To ensure the long term survival of this community in this locality and safeguarding biodiversity resources of the area for along run, immediate and long term measures should be explored. Similarly, scope of work should be extended from local level to regional level.

In a short run,
Rescue package, including construction of dilapidated household and basic infrastructure facilities, like huts, drinking water pump and livestock sheds needs to be maintained
Low cost bio-engineering with mass scale plantation of Saaccharam munja, bamboo and Bombax ceiba in river belt needs to be promoted
Human injuries, livestock, crops, and loss of households needs to be compensated
Awareness program on upstream downstream linkage should be implemented and they should realize the importance of conserving watershed area for safeguarding their life in a long run
Short term cash crops like cucumber, tomato and watermelon needs to be cultivated in the river bank during winter seasons

In a long run,
An embankment, that spreads almost 200 meter needs to be constructed
An integrated plan at regional level, addressing watershed and plain area needs to be prepared and implemented

Conclusion: In a nut shell, the flood was unusual in the study area. It impacted natural, physical and social life of local communities. All the communities, irrespective of income groups, gender and aged group people were badly affected by the flood. Considering the gravity of the problems, immediate as well as long term measures are proposed from local scale to regional level.

References
DDC Kanchanpur, 2005; Periodic District Development Plan, Kanchanpur.

Good governance: Best practice of WTLCP

2009-01-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

Introduction
Transparency, social inclusion, making implementing partners accountable to local communities, bottom up planning process, and maintaining close coordination amongst stakeholders are considered as major ingredients of good governance. The Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) which is in implementation in the Far Western Terai for about two years has integrated the aforementioned elements in project cycle. The project is the joint undertaking of the Government of Nepal, UNDP, GEF, SNV Nepal, WWF, Bioversity International, NARC and LIBIRD.

Transparency
WTLCP has given utmost importance for making each and every project activities a transparent to its wider stakeholders, ranging from field to policy level people. It implements its activities through three major windows such as the government line agencies, local authority and civil society. The role of the project has just been seen as a facilitator. To maintain transparency, before and immediately after implementation of each and every activity, implementing partners are encouraged to make the budget public. In addition, implementing partners have been advised to display the agreed activities and associated budgets in their office premises, so that every citizen can have access of information. Even, some of the implementing partners have initiated the practice of handing over of the pay cheque to the beneficiary communities by organizing mass meetings in the project sites.

Similarly, WTLCP updates regularly its objectives, implementation and progress status to its stakeholders including, District Forest Coordination Committee - a mini parliament - that includes some 30 members, representing political parties, line agencies, local authority, civil society and individuals. Interaction and open communication with implementing partners and other stakeholders have been maintained. As far as possible, each and every meeting / workshops related to the project have been used to disseminate WTLCP objectives and implementation approaches. It is believed that the project has been introduced to about 80% of the total of about 20,000 households in the project sites thus far.

Social inclusion
To ensure participation of women, dalit, indigenous communities and marginalized people, the project has adopted a positive discrimination approach. In this process, at the Village Development Committee (VDC) level, the local communities are ranked into four well-being groups. Based on the indicators developed by the participants themselves, local people are differentiated into rich, medium, poor and very poor categories. To ensure the access of project benefits to the poorest of the poor communities, the project supports them with nine day entrepreneurship development training. The training helps developing their confidence on micro enterprises development. Then, to attract the trainee in their desired business, the project supports them with some soft loan through forming cooperatives at VDC level. An arrangement has been made with the cooperative so that the poorest of the poor people can have access of the loan in lower interest rate compared to the other share holders.

Similarly, the project has conducted various training on good governance, leadership development and alternative livelihood opportunities for its implementing partners. Roster of the implementing partners, especially local NGO have been established and updated regularly. In this regard, WTLCP invites letter of interest including introduction and experiences of potential NGOs through local News Papers. Based on the financial and technical proposals, project identifies the implementing partners.

The management responsibilities of the project activities have been gradually handed over to the local community based organizations. To make them accountable in their activities, the local community representatives are encouraged participating in District Forest Coordination Committee (DFCC) meetings. And any query related to the performances of those activities; have to be answered by the community representatives themselves.

Participatory planning and implementation
The project has adopted participatory planning and implementation approaches from the very beginning of its implementation stages. It has been realized that the involvement of the local communities in the project planning process creates ownership of local people on the planned activities. It ultimately helps smooth implementation of the project. The exercises also make them accountable on the outcome of the project activities.

While preparing the participatory Annual Plan 2008, the project underwent a series of consultation processes with various tiers of stakeholders. Firstly, by organizing pre planning meetings in Kathmandu, following the project document, a participatory planning guideline - 2008 was prepared. After that, based on the guideline, in consultation with the WTLCP field staff members, site specific planning guidelines were designed. Then, a preplanning orientation workshop of VDC level stakeholders, including political party, line agencies, local authority, forest user groups, committees and coordination committees and civil society were held. Then, a two day planning workshops were conducted in each it's working VDCs. To aware the planning process and importance, the project mobilized some of the district political party leaders as Resource Person. In addition, to avoid duplication, the project utilized the expertise of District Development Committee Program Officer as Resource Person in some WTLCP working VDCs. After undergoing a thorough discussion on each and every proposed activity, the plans at VDC level were prepared. Finally, the plans were forwarded to the DFCC meetings for approval. During the DFCC meeting, the community representatives themselves were encouraged to present their plan to the DFCC members. As the DFCC meeting represents district based stakeholders, it creates an opportunity of making aware district based political party on the importance of conserving biodiversity resources and participatory planning.

To maintain consistency in the planning process, all the project staff members attended the first VDC level planning workshop. Then, the staff members were mobilized in group as well as individually in all the planning workshops. It has been realized that the participatory planning process undertaken at VDC level enhanced the capacity of staff members as well as local communities. It developed confidence of the staff members as well as local communities on the participatory planning process.

The project has adopted Appreciative Participatory Planning and Action (APPA) tool to prepare the settlement based plan. To ensure the effective implementation of the community based plan, the project has encouraged forming a monitoring committee at VDC and DDC level. In this regard, a project monitoring committee representing political party, community based organization, women and Dalit at Godawari VDC of Kailali District has already been proposed. Likewise, the initiation of forming monitoring committee at district level has been taken by forming a monitoring and evaluation committee in Kailali District. The 7 member committee represents political party, FECOFUN, and District Forest Office, Kailali.

Coordination
As the landscape approach to conservation demand establishing functional linkages in various land uses, it is equally important to establish a connection amongst the stakeholders at organizational level. In this regard, the project has given utmost importance for establishing and functionalizing District Forest Coordination Committees (DFCC) at district level. DFCC has already been established in Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur. The DFCC discusses on the various conservation and development issues regularly. The project updates the DFCC on plan and progress regularly. As the meeting demands presence of district line agencies, civil society and local authority representatives in a place, it creates an opportunity of discussing various issues and activities. It facilitates inter sectoral coordination in the district level. In order to establish strong coordination between fields based community organizations and district based government line agencies, the WTLCP has initiated the practice of preparing and presenting community and line agencies plan for WTLCP in the DFCC meetings. The practice creates an environment for government line agencies to understand community initiatives and giving feed back on the community plan.

Mobilizing district based political party leaders, District Development Committee Program Officer and line agencies representatives as resource persons for facilitating the village level planning helped a lot in avoiding any duplication on community activities. Also, most of the village level meetings were undertaken in the VDC offices premises so that the community had the opportunity of knowing VDC plan and exploring possibilities of establishing partnership with the VDC programs.

Moreover, to strengthen the coordination amongst the stakeholders, the project has carried out various interaction meetings and open communications. It has helped to establish a trust, which is considered a prerequisite for successful implementation of the project activities.

Challenges
There are many challenges to institutionalize the practice of good governance participatory planning, and coordination. Firstly, the expectations of local communities have been increased greatly, mainly after advent of the democratic republic regime in the country. People think that the project should have dealt with all the development issues instead of paying attention more on conservation related activities. Secondly, the policy makers and local communities, especially forest dependent marginalized people want to see immediate benefit of the project, which is not possible to show within one or two year's period. Likewise, absence of elected body in VDC and DDC level causes many obstacles to ensure smooth running of VDC and DDC based coordination meetings. Moreover, in the changing political context the existing DFCC guideline is not acceptable to the DFCC members. As the landscape approach to conservation is an evolving science, the project has to gain knowledge by experiencing itself.

Opportunity
Based on the experiences, to institutionalize participatory planning process, to strengthen the coordination, and to maintain transparency a platform of local stakeholders is also necessary at the VDC level, which is not provisioned in the project document. To attract politician and other stakeholders' involvement in the natural resource conservation, it is imperative to show them the higher value of the natural resources in monetary term. The DFCC guidelines should be reviewed timely, so that the project can attract suggestions from various quarters of society. In addition, a joint monitoring system should be institutionalized in the project implementation processes. Finally, if all the disintegrated activities are synchronized, then it would open an avenue for addressing need of many local people.

Conclusion
Within a short span of time, despite having many challenges, the project has been able to attract the attention of wider stakeholders in the front of good governance, participatory planning and coordination. As the landscape concept as such is new to the world, sharing of the learning gained within the short period with broader communities would save their time and resources. The project should focus its upcoming activities to institutionalize and disseminate the best practices, so that it contributes to the landscape level planning.

Veterinary Program in Chitwan: model for integrating livelihood in biodiversity conservation in Nepal.

2009-01-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

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.

Institutional linkage: An important approach to Tourism and Environment Management

2009-01-06T08:50:00.001-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
NTTR

It is widely believed that, one of the prime causes of deforestation in Nepal is low level of conservation awareness amongst local people, particularly politicians. As the Local government is the representation of the political parties, integration of tourism in the local development plan provides an opportunity of disseminating the higher value of environment conservation for socio-economic development and tourism promotion amongst wider communities. Moreover, it can be hoped that the conservation value of environment would be integrated in the political parties’ manifestos.

Local governments’ programmes and activities, so far, are guided by vote-bank approach. Most of the time, programmes are formulated to achieve short term benefits. They do not have adequate interest to understand the linkage of environment with local development, by promoting sustainable tourism in their respective areas.

In view of encouraging tourists in the rural areas, the Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) has been trying to adopt a participatory bottom up planning approach from the very beginning.
It is a joint undertaking of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, DFID, UNDP and SNV-Nepal. The programme aims at supporting government's policy of reducing poverty through promoting sustainable tourism at rural areas. In addition to lowering poverty, the programme supports the goal of environment conservation by raising awareness amongst wider stakeholders.

Most of the field programmes and activities are guided by local interest and demand. Wider stakeholders, ranging from local to policy levels are consulted while formulating and implementing its programmes and activities. The grass root programmes are designed based on the use of Appreciative Participatory Planning and Action (APPA), Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Development Wheel tools. In order to deliver the services very efficiently, community based institutions, like Community Organizations (CO), User Groups (UG), and Functional Groups (FG) are being formed and strengthened. During the last two and half years' period, the programme has been able to raise local awareness on how tourism can be promoted and sustained in rural areas. Now, people in the programme sites are eager to reap higher tourism benefits by developing and promoting diverse tourism products and packages. In this pursuant, tourism product development, packaging and marketing have been the priority programmes of TRPAP in the year 2004.

TRPAP activities are basically guided by four principles; Pro-poor, Pro-women, Pro – community and Pro – environment. The programme has been implemented in six districts and 48 VDCs of Nepal since about three years. It is hoped that the successful implementation of the TRPAP would be a prototype for sustainable tourism development in other parts of Nepal and abroad. In addition, it is believed that the existing pattern of confinement of relatively higher number of tourists in some of the protected areas, mainly Sagarmatha National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area and Langtang National Park could be dispersed in near by villages. The strategy ultimately contributes to achieving the goal of reducing rural poverty through distributing benefits in a justifiable manner in Nepal.

The programme has been implementing its activities through local governments like, District Development Committee (DDC) and Village Development Committee (VDC). In order to make the programme sustainable on institutional ground, it envisions establishing Sustainable Tourism Development Sections at DDC and VDC offices respectively. These offices shall be linked to Sustainable Tourism Development Unit of NTB, which has already been formed. In this way a linkage at micro, meso and macro level has been established. Similarly, in order to sustain the tourism activities on the financial ground, the Programme has a provision of establishing Sustainable Tourism Development Fund (STDF) and Sustainable Tourism Village Fund (STVF) at DDC and VDC levels. These funds shall be provided to locals for infrastructure support, undertaking micro enterprises and other capacity enhancement activities. Moreover, in order to strengthen rural tourism, the TRPAP has been supporting the government to prepare pro-poor tourism policy, and National Tourism Strategy.

In order to implement integrated sustainable tourism development programme at grass roots level, with the financial and technical support from TRPAP, Rasuwa, Dolpa and Taplejung have already prepared District Tourism Management Plans. Preparation of the District Tourism Plan for Chitwan and Rupandehi is underway. Having tourism plans at place, the local government would be able to create an amiable environment for raising local awareness towards higher value of sustainable tourism management in their areas.

Thus, TRPAP approach of implementing its activities through local government would create opportunity of integrating environment concern at district and village development plans. The strategy ultimately helps to raise the conservation awareness amongst grass root communities. Finally, this strategy would be one of the viable strategies towards achieving sustainable environment management in Nepal. Thus, the approach of TRPAP working through local government would bring a hope that people can begin environment friendly activities at local level on their own initiatives in the days ahead. The approach ultimately helps to disseminate the importance of environment conservation to wider communities.

Phortse Village - Community led Initiatives Brings Desired Results

2009-01-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

Published in NTTR

Phortse village has been considered as a relatively backward settlement in Khumbu region. It is situated about 4-hour walking distance towards north-east from the Park Head Quarter in Namche. The area is endowed with rich floral, faunal and cultural diversity. The settlement is encircled by birch; rhododendron and junipor forests. While walking around the settlement, one can see closely the globally endangered wildlife species, especially in dusk and dawn, like musk deer and pheasants. Local communities are of homogenous, enthusiastic and active. There are 80 households, with 370 populations.

Although, the Sagarmatha National Park, a world heritage site receives a considerable number of tourists every year, the settlement, situated relatively far from the main trekking trail is yet to realize tourism benefits. Therefore, with the aim of diverting some of the tourism benefits to this village, Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) / UNDP have supported the local communities with an integrated program since 2003. One of the objectives of the TRPAP / UNDP was to promote Phortse, as a model ecotourism village in Sagarmatha National Park.

A wide range of community development activities, including, infrastructure development, training, Tourism and Environment Awareness Programme (TEAPs), women development, and natural resources conservation has been implemented in this village. The infrastructure development activities, include recently completed 60 Kw micro-hydro project, drainage, drinking water, Chorten maintenance, and trail improvement. Similarly, in the capacity enhancement front, the local communities have got training on hotel and lodge management, front office management, ecotourism and biodiversity conservation, eco-tour guides and cookery and bakery. As part of the TEAPs, local communities have put rubbish bins and sign boards here and there at the village. Local communities were also taken to Royal Chitwan National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area and Lumbini as exposure visit.

Because of these activities, the local community has realized various positive changes in their socio-economic, cultural, and environmental settings. According to them, after having drinking water facility in their own village last year, their lifestyle has been changed greatly. For instance, prior to establishment of the drinking water scheme, local people, especially women had to spend about one hour for fetching a pot of water. However, after having the potable water in their own village, they can fetch the same amount of water within 10 minutes. As said by the local communities, the time saved from the drinking water has been utilized to agricultural development activities. Because of this, local communities were able to harvest increased quantity of potato this year, compared to the last year. Similarly, people are becoming more conscious towards health and sanitation these days.

Likewise, after having electricity at their settlement a few months back, the villagers have witnessed higher number of tourists in this season as against the same season last year. According to the local communities, it is estimated that the number of tourists increased by more than 30% this year compared to the last year. Numbers of wildlife based tourists have also increased more or less in the same proportion. In addition, because of having electricity, school children are encouraged to spare more time in studying at night. According to a teacher at Phortse School, these days they are checking more homework compared to the days before having electricity at Phortse Village.

In response to the impact of the various training programmes, local people said that the trainings, received by them over the years have contributed to empower them greatly. According to Mrs. Pashang Diki Sherpa, until two years ago they had a fear of talking with outsider (Rongba), however these days they do not hesitate to talk with Rongba. She further added, the women participation in various local development works has increased gradually. Now a day, women are also involved in a regular clean up campaign of the village. There are some cases where the direct impact of training could also be observed. For instance, two local youths, after receiving 8-week long basic and advanced electricity training in Kathmandu, have been engaged in managing electricity in their own village. Each of them is receiving Rs. 8,500 from the electricity work. According to locals, they have a confident that they have qualified local technicians in their own village and hence do not need to rely on outsider technicians.

One can notice some changes in local environment as well. These days, local youths at Phortse are organized in eco-clubs. Through eco-clubs, they have been initiating various environmental activities. They have placed sign boards at various places in their village, describing the higher conservation value of wildlife species, especially musk deer. In addition, with the initiation of local clubs, the villagers undertake a regular village cleans up campaign. They have placed rubbish bins here and there. It was reported that the dependency of locals on forests for firewood has decreased considerably, especially after having electricity at their village. Though the National Park opened its forests to locals for firewood for a period of 15 days, very few people have shown interest to gather firewood this year, said buffer zone user group chairperson, Mr. Ang Chhiring Sherpa. According to locals, the relation between national park and local communities has further improved, because of electricity and other development activities in their village.

While asking the underlying causes for getting success in implementing various activities and bringing a positive impact on the lifestyle of local people and their environment, the local community said: the main cause was increasing people participation towards development work in their village. As said by Mr. Chhring Sherpa, Buffer Zone User Group Chairperson, TRPAP’s strategy of releasing budget in a transparent manner has helped to establish a good rapport between local leader and local communities. Easy approachable and friendly project staff member was another reason for leading development work towards a success. Timely availability of overseer was another cause for timely completion of development work in their village. Moreover, creation of environment for involving local communities in project planning to implementation to monitoring cycle was another reason for extending community supports for the various development activities.

In conclusion, TRPAP has got a tremendous success in its stated objectives of increasing tourists' number at off the main trekking trail in Khumbu region within a short span. Because of this, the avenue for increasing local employment and income generation opportunities ha been increased. In can be learned from the Phortse that development programme in Nepal should be planned and implemented based on the locally available resources, including human and natural capital and supporting local initiatives.

Millennium Trek Awaiting Tourists

2009-01-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

The Rising Nepal
September 2, 2008

Introduction
On the first day of New Millennium 2000, the government of Nepal commissioned a team of expert to carry out a feasibility study of a trekking route extending from Dhorphirdi of Tanahun to Majkot of Syangja for tourism development. According to the study, the route was feasible for trekking tourism. Following the study recommendation, some ground works for tourism promotion and human resources development have already been initiated. However, as in the other parts of the country, the route also got into a trap of insurgency and shadowed from the mainstream tourism development activities in the ensuing years.

Trekking Trail Features
The 80 Km trek starts from Dulegaunda, which is located some 30 Km east of Pokhara and passes through a multitude of different environmental features, including boulder-stream, river gorges, dense vegetation, beautifully carved terraced fields, myriad of pinnacles and ancient temples. The five days and six nights long trekking Route starts from Bajasthala of Tanahun and ends at Majkot of Syangja. The route passes through nine village development committees, including a population of about 1, 00,000. The trekking route links Dhorphirdi, Firfire and Raipur in Tanahun and Kolma Barahchaur, Rangbhang, Pelkachaur, Banethok Deurali, Majhkot Shivalaya and Manakamana VDCs in Syangja. Every village in the route offers tourists with distinct cultural experiences, which attributes to the uniqueness of the trekking route.

Attraction
The trekking route is a superb combination of natural and cultural attraction. Visitors can have the opportunity of viewing Ganesh Himal towards the north and terai region towards the south. Budakot is the highest point on the route that is located at 7,000 feet from the sea level and locals say that Bhimsen tower of Kathmandu could be seen from the peak on a day with clear weather. Millennium cave, natural greenery, Bajasthala River, water falls are other natural attraction of the route. The trek gives an opportunity to become acquainted with the unique Nepalese tradition, culture and way of life. In addition, tourists can join traditional dances like Chutka, Koara, Soradhi, Krishan Charitra, Ghantu and Bhajans along the route. Dhorbahari temple, Tibetan refugee camp, ancient palaces like Majh Fort, Kolma Fort and Budha Fort are other major cultural and historical attraction of the route.

Culture Based Tourism
Tourists can have a chance of experiencing local culture and traditional way of life. They will have chance of enjoying local dishes, which are totally organic and locally produced. The cultural program, including traditional dance and songs can be organized in every stopover. According to the locals no tourist-standard restaurants or hotels would be allowed to operate along the route. The visitors can be accommodated in different households as home-stay tourists in a rotational basis. The lodging of tourists would be decided by a committee constituted in each of the villages on a rotation basis so that each household will have chance to receive tourism income. In this way, the route has a tremendous potential in contributing to rural income through tourism promotion, which is also the main objective of the 10th five year development plan of the government of Nepal. The present government has also emphasized on the pro-poor tourism to be promoted in rural areas of the country.

Promotional Activities
With the objective of promoting community based pro-poor tourism, a tourism management committee has already been formed called Dhorphirdi - Majhkot Rural Tourism Development Committee (DMRTDC). Some local youths from six VDCs of Syangja district have already got training on conversational English, sanitation, and cooking. A few years back, a three-day tourism festival was also organised near the Phewa Lake at Pokhara. Some houses along the trekking routes have already constructed bathrooms, toilets and additional kitchens for the tourists.

According to DMRTDC chairperson, “tourists shall be treated as family and shall be free to join any household activities like cooking, cow milking, weaving, farming, cattle herding etc”. He adds that the visitors shall be welcomed at a community hall with welcome drink, garland and local musical band. In addition, tourists can have chance to learn about the local schools, farming practices, and cuisine. For adventurous tourists there are very good sites for paragliding as well, which needs to be further explored. The Millennium cave and waterfall are other attraction of the route.

Issues
The route is in the need of promotional as well as infrastructure development support. The route could not be functional as par the expected level due to inadequate promotion and publicity. Similarly, implementation of tourism environment awareness program at local and national level is felt necessary. Likewise, it is important to produce promotional brochure, erecting hoarding board in strategic locations and carrying out workshops and seminars. The promotional activities are to be carried out in consultation with Pokhara based tourism entrepreneurs and Nepal Tourism Board. Moreover, it is wise to carry out again a small study focusing private sectors, community groups, Nepal Tourism Board on the feasibility of promoting tourism in the route in the changing political context.

The route still needs to construct basic infrastructure facilities, like suspension bridges, cultural buildings, sightseeing centres, cultural houses, improvement of trails, and conservation of cultural heritage, basic health services, and related trainings for the sustainable development of tourism along the route. Likewise, in partnership with local NGOs, VDC and DDC the basic infrastructure facilities should be developed.

Conclusion
A sound policy for promoting the area as rural tourism site is of paramount importance. With innovative management, promotion and marketing strategies, the Millennium Trek will offer not only income and employment to the villagers, but also gives a real image of Nepal to those tourists who are prepared visit Nepal for trekking. Mainstreaming of the Millennium Trekking development and promotional activities in the District Tourism Development Plan, which is under preparation could be a first step in this regard.

Promotion of Tourism in Millennium Trekking Route

2009-01-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

A Proposal Prepared
for
Promotion of Tourism in Millennium Trekking Route

Ek Raj Sigdel

Introduction
On the first day of New Millennium 2000, the government of Nepal commissioned a team of expert to carry out a feasibility study of a trekking route extending from Dhorphirdi of Tanahun to Majkot of Syangja for tourism development. According to the study, the route was feasible for trekking tourism. Following the study recommendation, some ground works for tourism promotion and human resources development have already been initiated. However, as in the other parts of the country, the route also got into a trap of insurgency and shadowed from the mainstream tourism development activities in the ensuing years.

Trekking Trail Features
The 80 Km trek starts from Dulegaunda, which is located some 30 Km east of Pokhara and passes through a multitude of different environmental features, including boulder-stream, river gorges, dense vegetation, beautifully carved terraced fields, myriad of pinnacles and ancient temples. The five days and six nights long trekking Route starts from Bajasthala of Tanahun and ends at Majkot of Syangja. The route passes through nine village development committees, including a population of about 1, 00,000. The trekking route links Dhorphirdi, Firfire and Raipur in Tanahun and Kolma Barahchaur, Rangbhang, Pelkachaur, Banethok Deurali, Majhkot Shivalaya and Manakamana VDCs in Syangja. Every village in the route offers tourists with distinct cultural experiences, which attributes to the uniqueness of the trekking route.

Attraction
The trekking route is a superb combination of natural and cultural attraction. Visitors can have the opportunity of viewing Ganesh Himal towards the north and terai region towards the south. Budakot is the highest point on the route that is located at 7,000 feet from the sea level and locals say that Bhimsen tower of Kathmandu could be seen from the peak on a day with clear weather. Millennium cave, natural greenery, Bajasthala River, water falls are other natural attraction of the route. The trek gives an opportunity to become acquainted with the unique Nepalese tradition, culture and way of life. In addition, tourists can join traditional dances like Chutka, Koara, Soradhi, Krishan Charitra, Ghantu and Bhajans along the route. Dhorbahari temple, Tibetan refugee camp, ancient palaces like Majh Fort, Kolma Fort and Budha Fort are other major cultural and historical attraction of the route.

Culture Based Tourism
Tourists can have a chance of experiencing local culture and traditional way of life. They will have chance of enjoying local dishes, which are totally organic and locally produced. The cultural program, including traditional dance and songs can be organized in every stopover. According to the locals no tourist-standard restaurants or hotels would be allowed to operate along the route. The visitors can be accommodated in different households as home-stay tourists in a rotational basis. The lodging of tourists would be decided by a committee constituted in each of the villages on a rotation basis so that each household will have chance to receive tourism income. In this way, the route has a tremendous potential in contributing to rural income through tourism promotion, which is also the main objective of the 10th five year development plan of the government of Nepal. The present government has also emphasized on the pro-poor tourism to be promoted in rural areas of the country.

Promotional Activities
With the objective of promoting community based pro-poor tourism, a tourism management committee has already been formed called Dhorphirdi - Majhkot Rural Tourism Development Committee (DMRTDC). Some local youths from six VDCs of Syangja district have already got training on conversational English, sanitation, and cooking. A few years back, a three-day tourism festival was also organised near the Phewa Lake at Pokhara. Some houses along the trekking routes have already constructed bathrooms, toilets and additional kitchens for the tourists.

According to DMRTDC chairperson, “tourists shall be treated as family and shall be free to join any household activities like cooking, cow milking, weaving, farming, cattle herding etc”. He adds that the visitors shall be welcomed at a community hall with welcome drink, garland and local musical band. In addition, tourists can have chance to learn about the local schools, farming practices, and cuisine. For adventurous tourists there are very good sites for paragliding as well, which needs to be further explored. The Millennium cave and waterfall are other attraction of the route.

Issues
The route is in the need of promotional as well as infrastructure development support. The route could not be functional as par the expected level due to inadequate promotion and publicity. Similarly, implementation of tourism environment awareness program at local and national level is felt necessary. Likewise, it is important to produce promotional brochure, erecting hoarding board in strategic locations and carrying out workshops and seminars. The promotional activities are to be carried out in consultation with Pokhara based tourism entrepreneurs and Nepal Tourism Board. Moreover, it is wise to carry out again a small study focusing private sectors, community groups, Nepal Tourism Board on the feasibility of promoting tourism in the route in the changing political context.

The route still needs to construct basic infrastructure facilities, like suspension bridges, cultural buildings, sightseeing centres, cultural houses, improvement of trails, and conservation of cultural heritage, basic health services, and related trainings for the sustainable development of tourism along the route. Likewise, in partnership with local NGOs, VDC and DDC the basic infrastructure facilities should be developed.

Objectives
To increase the income and employment opportunities of local communities and safeguard the rich biodiversity resources that falls under the Millennium Route

Strategies
Promotional activities at national and international level shall be undertaken. In this regard, as an entry point, some basic promotional activities like hoarding and arrow boards shall be erected in strategic places. Similarly, a promotional brochure shall be produced and shared with wider communities. The work will be carried out by Dhoreli Samaj, a NGO dedicated for the development of local communities in Millennium Trekking route. While implementing the activities, a working a strong working relationship shall be maintained with the concern VDCs and DDC and initiation will be taken for integrating the trek in Tourism Plan of Tanahun District, which is under preparation. The DMRTDC will also be informed and sensitised.

Expected Outcomes
The activities will be a milestone for sensitising local communities, local authority, civil society, private sectors and government line agencies on the need of promotion of Millennium Trekking route for the benefit of local communities and biodiversity and cultural resources conservation of the area.

Activities
A total of three activities are proposed. All the activities will be carried out by two months period effective from the agreement signed date. After completion of the work, financial and technical reports shall be submitted to the donors.

Erection of hoarding boards

Erection of Arrow boards
Production of brochure
Production of video documentary

Interaction with private sector about the tourism promotion strategy in the changing political scenario

Budgets: A total of Rs. 200000 is proposed to carry out the aforementioned activities.

Home stay tourism for poverty alleviation through cultural conservation

2009-01-06T08:40:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

Home stay tourism is becoming very famous all around the world. Some people believe that the home stay scheme can address the issues of poverty. However, other, especially who pay more attention towards the income poverty argue that the home stay tourism can not help lowering poverty. I believe that, the home stay tourism can support empowering local communities through preserving their majestic culture, which is considered as one of the major components of the economy. In addition, the positive impact – indirect and induced – of home stay tourism can be seen in the income of rural poor.

The home stay program educates visitors to the local culture, wisdom and traditional way of life. The culture includes religion, vibrant customs, weaving, games, musical instruments, dress, architecture, picking fruits in the orchard and involving in farming etc. Similarly, the wisdom includes the local history, fables and knowledge on traditional herbal medicines and other indigenous resource management system. Home stay program is for those who wish to gain a greater understanding of each others customs, culture and way of thinking through involving and experiencing the daily lives of local people. It creates an opportunity to aware tourists on socio-economic and cultural issues of the destination sites. Thus, the strategy ultimately supports for conservation of the destination culture, which has been considered as one of the major components of the local economy (HMG, 2004) .

The home stay tourism does not seek to address the question; "how can communities benefit more from tourism, it seeks instead how tourism can contribute to the process of cultural conservation?" (Suansri 2003). Promoting community pride and preserving the unique character and culture of the local area should be the prime objective of home stay programme. Home stay is a special package, where one can have the opportunity to stay with farmers and gain the experience pertaining to farmers' and villagers' unique daily activities such as exploring village, participating in different farm activities, witnessing farming practice etc. In addition, tourists have an opportunity of enjoying the warm hospitality of the host family and be a part of the household members by joining them in their daily activities. It allows tourists to discover the origins of village and rich history it holds.

Home stay may not impact directly to the poor but indirect and induced impact can be expected. Home stay features, generally require a home with, at least one extra room, bedding, pillow, mosquito net, laundry service, a desk for study, desk lamp, safe heater in their room, etc. Proper sanitation, hospitality and hygiene are important components of home stay tourism, which we can not hope from the poor family, at least for a short run in Khumbu region. It is widely reported that the higher benefit of home stay tourism in Sirubari Village has been reaped by the well-to-do families. The programme has been initiated by British Gurkha Families, having unusual level of prosperity, education and English language (Choegyal 2002).

In addition, home stay programme should be considered as an incremental income and livelihood opportunity from the incremental activity to the local community. Pro Poor Tourism strategies often involve the development of new products, particularly based on local culture, but these should be integrated with the mainstream products if they are to find markets (ODI 2001). Trekking could be the mainstream product in the case of Sagarmatha National Park. Transforming home stay households towards lodges and hotels could not serve the purpose of conserving local culture. Home stay gives consumers more choice and authentic cultural experience, than lodge and hotels. We should think over the fact that the Pro Poor Tourism is a long term investment (ODI 2001). Therefore expectation of locals should not be raised considerably.

Home stay is a delicate social and cultural issue for the community. It requires a change of perspective from generously offering accommodation to unexpected guests or relatives to suddenly requesting a fee for service. Social and cultural relationships, cultures of hospitality, can become degraded and economically oriented. For this reason it is necessary to weigh the pros and cons before developing a home stay as an accommodation option (Suansri 2003).

Income poverty, which we are paying more emphasize has been considered as the only one component of poverty issues in Nepal (NPC 2004). According to the 10th Five Year Plan, poverty is a complex and multi – dimensional phenomenon; and income poverty is only one aspect of it. Human poverty is one of the important dimensions of poverty issue. It is therefore essential that efforts contributing to human poverty reduction be geared concomitantly with reducing income poverty. The Economic Survey 2004, identifies empowerment as one of the four pillars of human development. Thus, poverty alleviation can be possible by duly addressing the empowerment issue. Similarly, developing cultural capability is prerequisite for empowering the local communities (HMG, 2004). Thus, it can be inferred that addressing cultural aspect could directly address the poverty agenda in Nepal.

A home stay should not focus merely on providing accommodation for profit while ignoring cultural exchange and respect for the hosts culture. Generosity and hospitality should be emphasized above providing 5 stars service. To do otherwise would devalue the host at the expense of the guest (Suansri 2003. Often only wealthier households have a chance to provide accommodation and will collect benefits for themselves, except in the case that there are rules ensuring part of the profits contributed to community projects.

In order to promote the home stay tourism, it is important to educate the local communities that the scheme is not equivalent to the other lodges and hotels. They should be educated about the higher value of their way of life, dress and architecture, tradition knowledge and wisdom. Poor people can be mainstreamed in the home stay tourism activities by being tourists guide, community guide, community resource person and supporting accommodation and food etc.

In conclusion home stay tourism could be developed as an instrument to preserve the local culture in a long run in the Khumbu Region. Conservation of local culture, one of the essential components of local economy, supports for lowering the poverty issues in Nepal. However, caution should be taken towards not raising the expectation of local communities. Communities should be informed that the home stay programme, in addition to contributing local income, supports for conserving their magnificent culture. Community should understand that the home stay tourism is not the hotel or lodge type of accommodation but flourish on the traditional way of life.

References
Choegyal L 2002: Ecotour Products, Their Distribution and Sales Promotion, Paper presented at International Ecotourism Conference, Okinawa
HMG, 2004: Economic Survey Fiscal Year 2003 / 2004.
NPC, 2004: Poverty Monitoring and Analysis System, Framework Document
ODI, 2001: Pro – Poor Tourism Strategies: Expanding Opportunities for the Poor; Pro-poor tourism briefing No 1. April 2001
Suansri P. 2003: Community Based Tourism Handbook, Responsible Ecological Social Tours Project

Electric fencing: new hope for minimizing park people conflict in Bardia National Park

2009-01-06T08:37:00.001-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

With the objectives of protecting representative ecosystems and conserving tiger and its prey base, the government of Nepal established the Bardia National Park in 1984. The park harbors a herd of 50-60 wild elephants regularly. However, during the winter season it refuges over 100 wild elephants. The increased number could be due to seasonal migration of Wild Elephants from Corbett, Rajaji and adjoining Dudhuwa National Park of India.

With the increasing number of wild elephants, people abut to the national park are facing a problem of crop damage and even human casualties. According to the National Park record, over the last one year a total of 7 people were killed by the wild elephants around the Bardia National Park. In the absence of wild life compensation mechanism and lack of effective devices for chasing away of the problem animals, people in the buffer zone have been suffered a most. Various indigenous technologies like watch tower, ditches, walls, and solar fencing have been tested. But, no devices were found effective to get rid of the problem of the seasonal migrants.
Because of the escalating problems of wild elephants, people in the buffer zone have ventilated their dissatisfaction over the national park by organizing rally, and making delegation to the national park authority and at the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation. They have a demand of policy that mandates at least one million rupees as compensation for a bereaved family. Likewise, they had a demand of free treatment for the wildlife victims and income and employment opportunities for the survival. In addition, they demanded electric fencing on the border between the national park and its buffer zone.

In response, as an immediate measure, the National Park, with the financial support of Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) has recently erected a two lined electric fence in some parts of the border area between the national park and buffer zone that extends about 10 km. It is estimated that the electric fence will benefits to a total of 1730 households, including 11081 people of Ward No 5 of Thakurdwara and Ward No 2 of Shivapur VDC.

Electric fencing could be one way of managing problem animals in order to reduce conflict between people and animals. Other ways may be just as effective, for example, physical barriers which were in practice such as ditches and walls, and solar fencing which have had limited success but they were not easy to construct and were costly too. Compensation payments could be made but were difficult to assess and tend to be unfair and sometimes abused. Electric fencing as a practical solution is working well in the private sector in African Countries. However, its use under public land has yet to be fully demonstrated. Therefore if it works well in the Bardia National Park, then it would be a model for the entire wild elephant conflict prone protected areas.

The fence has been constructed following a very simple technology and hence any one having interest in the electricity can manage the machine very properly. Being established close to the park head quarter and adjacent to the buffer zone settlements; regular monitoring can be ensured by the Park Officials as well as buffer zone communities. As the construction involved clearing of bushes, it has worked as a fire line between jungle and the settlements. Further, as it was to respond the community need, it is likely that the parogramme would get a continuous support and cooperation from the buffer zone communities and hence it leads towards a success. According to the local people, they will not face the problem of wild elephants in the future as in the previous days.

While observing the fencing and interacting with local communities, it was realized that to some people the fences has represented a physical and psychological barrier to their use of resources behind the fence. To others they represent a solution to the conflict between people and wild elephants. In fact, the fencing projects must have reconciled these differing views if they were to be successful.

Maintenance is the number one problem with any type of wildlife fencing. A fence is only as good as its maintenance, which has to be continual. Vigorous growth of vegetation underneath of the fence line in the growing season could be a perennial problem. Vegetation contact causes power leakages and overgrowth conceals the fence from being an obvious barrier to elephants.

To ensure a long term management of the electric fencing, local communities need to be well aware on its objectives. Also, school children who play around the fences should be informed on the importance of the fencing timely. In this regard, the park authority in partnership with the buffer zone community should conduct awareness raising campaign on the importance of managing the electric fencing. Moreover, in consultation with the park impacted communities, the buffer zone management committee should be mobilized to prepare a fencing maintenance plan. The plan should include details about daily maintenance, tools and components required, clearing of underneath vegetations, role and responsibilities of stakeholders, and sustainable financing mechanism. It can be hoped that, if the project get success, then the new hope can be expected for resolving ongoing park and people conflicts in the near future in the Bardia National Park.

In conclusion, the electric fencing is a milestone activity of the Bardia National Park to respond the buffer zone communities' demand. If the strength and opportunities of the fencing are up scaled and weaknesses are minimized timely, then the project, no doubt will be one of the successful programs in protected landscape that help minimizing park people conflicts. Ultimately, it provides an opportunity for replicating similar kind of project in other parts of the wild elephant people conflict prone areas.

Sustainable Tourism development: Opportunity for conserving mountain environment and contributing to poverty alleviation in Nepal

2009-01-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
Programme Officer, TRPAP

Having immense natural and cultural value, Nepal’s Mountain can be termed as the ‘Land of Paradise’ for tourists, trekkers and expeditionary. Fragile mountain environment and subsistence agriculture are causing to the degradation of the mountain ecosystem. The consequences are aggrandizing the poverty situation in the mountain regions. In order to address these diverse issues, development of sustainable tourism base would be the only viable option for the long term conservation of environment and thereby contributing to betterment of the mountain communities.

The mountain environment of Nepal, by virtue of their inaccessible nature, has narrow scope for modern development in a cost effective way. Subsistence agriculture and livestock are the main economic source of mountain people. Migratory works elsewhere in Nepal and India is the complementary source of income to these people. The economic condition of the majorities of people in mountain is marginal. Likewise, the agriculture land is limited by the steep topography.

Including the Mt. Everest, Nepal houses eight of the world’s fourteen highest mountains. The country has 79% of its area under mountainous topography. Similarly, out of 118 Nepal’s ecosystems, 38 are in Mountain region. The mountain region is the meeting point of the major geographical realms of the world – the palaearctic and Indo-Malayan.

The series of the mighty Himalayan ranges separated by some of the deepest gorges are the striking attractions for tourists. While trekking in Nepal, one can see the fantastic snow capped peaks along with the beautiful lakes and smiled faced people. Unique flora and fauna are other potential tourist attractions in the mountain environment. Moreover, traditional village, historical sites, culture and architecture of local people deserve special attractions for tourists.

Realizing the higher tourism value, the government of Nepal opened its border for foreigners in 1950s. Since then, the flow of tourists has been in an increasing trend. No doubt, the growing tourist number has contributed a lot to local and national economy of Nepal. For instance, the people in Khumbu, Annapurna Conservation Area and Langtang National Park and adjoining areas has been enjoying significant tourism benefits for many years. It has been reported that, because of well-managed tourism, once declined cultural value of Sagarmatha region has been revived through local initiatives. Monasteries Management Committees, Youth Group, and Youth Club are actively engaged in conserving cultural and natural heritage in this region. Because of the concerted efforts, the environment of Sagarmatha National Park seems to be improving for the last few years.

Yet against this backdrop, concentration of tourism pressure in limited mountain areas has been posing various challenges. Every year hundreds of tons of firewood are used for cooking and camp-fire. Signs of massive deforestation in some of the trekking sites of Nepal are evident. The destruction of scant vegetation in the alpine regions of Nepal also leads to frequent mudslides, landslides, creep and rock falls as well as silting of the river. The country is experiencing severe inequalities of wealth, low living standards, high unemployment, uneven economic dev elopement, as well as heavy dependence on foreign investment and foreign aid. Some high altitude plant species, such as Abies spectabillis, Tsuga dumosa and Rhododendron nivala, are under intense economic pressure aggravated by the tourist pressure. If the present trend continuous, the degradation of the mountain environment may cause irreversible damage to the mountain fragile ecosystem and lifestyle of the people.

Recognizing the higher conservation value of mountain ecosystems, His Majesty's Government of Nepal has established 7 Protected Areas (PAs) all along the border of the China, covering 78.54% of total PAs in Nepal. These PAs represent 30 of the 38 ecosystems of the highland. Though, it is relatively less diverse in flora and fauna, they possess a significant number of endemic species. Mountain, endowed with the rich biodiversity, provides an excellent source of revenue for His Majesty’s Government of Nepal through eco-tourism management. The most important regions for mountain tourism in Nepal are Annapurna, Khumbu, Sagrmatha and Langtang-Helambu. The three regions, namely Sagarmatha, Langtang and Annapurna Conservation Area combined accounts around 95% of all mountain trekking permits issues and the remaining 5% of trekkers visit Rara National Park, Dolpo, Humla, Makalu and Kanchanjunga. Similarly, about 43% of all international leisure arrivals in Nepal go for trekking.

The relationship between tourism and environment is one of a delicate balance between sustainable community development and safeguarding the environment. Tourism where it has been allowed to run free, has really caused more disaster to the natural beauty of the surroundings, destroyed traditional value system, greatly helped accelerating the deforestation and has not really helped population in true, rather it has exploited unmercifully.

To maximize the tourism benefit to the Mountain people and environment, the government should undertake various activities in a planned way. Firstly, locals should be trained on lodge management, tour guide and interpretation skills. Secondly, in order to develop appropriate tourism facilities and services, a credit facility for local entrepreneurs should be in place. Most importantly, locals should be aware on the importance of maintaining the village architecture, traditions, and wildlife management. Finally, trans-boundary tourism across the trans-border areas, such as Nagpa-la, and Chhentang - Kimathanka should be promoted.

The efforts of HMG of Nepal in establishing the National Parks and Wildlife Reserves in the country are the very appropriate strategy towards developing sustainable tourism in Nepal. Integrated mountain environment conservation, community development and tourism promotion is the only option for the betterment of people. It warrants the immediate need of formulating Integrated National Tourism Master Plan and a separate Mountain Development Policy.

Cooperative: emerging tool for linking conservation and livelihood

2009-01-06T08:34:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) has been in implementation in the Far and Mid Western Terai of Nepal since January 2006. It aims at conservation and sustainable use of globally significant biodiversity of these regions. The project was a joint undertaking of the government of Nepal, UNDP, GEF, SNV, Bioversity International, NARC and LIBIRD. To achieve the goal, the project has adopted two pronged strategies, I) increase productivity of the natural resources base, including maintenance of biodiversity resources and ii) ward off the pressure of local communities on the nearby forest resources for their subsistence need.

Pressure of the locals could be diverted only when they were provided with a viable source of alternative income and employment generation opportunities. Realizing the fact, WTLCP has been supporting the forest dependent community with the scheme of soft loan as seed money to undertake various income and employment generation activities through local forest user group and committees. As these community forests based organizations had experiences mainly in conserving forest resources, their engagement in alternative income generation activities was not found satisfactory at par the expected level. Therefore, a separate community based institutions that facilitate distributing and recycling of the soft loan on the one hand and on the other help to garner community support in conservation through raising their income was felt necessary. With this, WTLCP has initiated establishing and strengthening at least one cooperative in its each working Village Development Committee (VDC).

So far, a total of two cooperative have been established in the WTLCP productive landscape. Initiation of establishing cooperative was taken from Baisebichuwa VDC of Kanchanpur district. In this regard, at the outset, a gathering of villagers was organized and sensitized them on the objectives of a cooperative. Then, after a long deliberation, all the people were reached in a consensus of establishing a cooperative in their VDC. Also, they were agreed upon encompassing the representatives of local forest user groups and committees in the cooperative. Moreover, they were convinced on distributing WTLCP supported money solely to the poorest of the poor community as soft loan. With this objective, a cooperative was established at ward number 8 of Baisebichuwa, Kanchanpur and registered in the Kanchanpur District Cooperative Office in April 2007.

Within a span of six months, the number of shareholders reached over 700 households. The women lead cooperative executive committee members comprises of 11 people, representing 5 women and 6 men. It also includes 6 indigenous communities and 1 dalit in the executive committee. Before and immediately after formation of the cooperative, the executive committee members underwent training on cooperative management. A study tour was also organized for them to Dodhara and Chadani VDCs of Kanchanpur where a successfully managed cooperative was in operation. In addition, a micro fund mobilization guideline was prepared and handed over them for facilitating their daily saving and credit work.

To ensure the access of WTLCP benefits to the poorest of the poor communities, WTLCP has been adopting a positive discrimination approach from the very beginning of its implementation stage. In this front, poorest of the poor communities were identified by adopting a participatory well being ranking exercise. After identification of the target groups, 9-day training on entrepreneurship development was conducted for the poorest of the poor communities. Then as per the requirement, the trainees were provided with seed money to carry out various incomes generation activities through the cooperative.

To ensure access of the loan for the WTLCP's target communities, the cooperative has made a provision of 8% interest rate for WTLCP trained communities as against the others who receive the loan on 12% interest rate. In addition, those who are entitled to receive seed money from WTLCP can pay back the loan within 24 months while others had to pay the loan within a six months period. So far, 65 households have received the loan from WTLCP through the cooperative in Baisebichuwa. The loan has been utilized in various income generation activities, including goat farming, buffalo farming, pig farming, poultry farming, vegetable farming, establishing retail shops, purchasing sewing machines, investing in lather shoe making, running vegetable and hair cutting business, among others.

According to Ms. Prem Lata Gautam, chairperson of the Cooperative, the community based organization is running very successfully thus far. It has a very good linkage with district cooperative office and receiving technical support from all the quarters. She added that the organization has been evolved as a mile stone institution for reducing poverty as well as contributing to biodiversity conservation in Baisebichuwa VDC. She informed that large pie of money which was floated in different local organizations is also gradually streamlined in the cooperative. It has evolved as a platform where people gather regularly and discuss on the wide range of issues, including conservation and development work in the village, she added.

Mr. Chnadra Bahadur Bhandari, a local man, recently received a loan of Rs. 2500 to upscale his mobile pushcart shop. He has successfully run the business in Baisebichuwa and has been able to reap a net benefit of Rs. 7000 - 8000 per month and has been able to continue schooling for his three daughters. He is confident with his business and says, "I don’t need to go to the jungle for firewood now". But, except a few, other trainees were not confident to run their business citing to the problem of lacking adequate skills and money to become a shareholder of the cooperative.

In conclusion, the cooperative has been emerged as an effective tool for linking biodiversity conservation criteria with livelihood opportunities in WTLCP intervention areas. As it warrants frequent meetings of its shareholders, institutionalization of saving and credit mechanisms, it could be a strong social mobilization tool, which is necessary for integrated conservation and development work in the WTLCP working areas. As a follow up, to ensure the participation of the poorest of the poor communities in conservation work, the interested trainee should undergo a follow up skill enhancement training and find out the mechanism to ensure their participation in the cooperative as a shareholder.

Beyond boundaries:The landscape approach to biodiversity conservation

2009-01-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
NTTR, April, 2007

Nepal has experienced various biodiversity conservation models over the last 30 years. Since the 2000s, the country has been testing a landscape level approach to biodiversity conservation. Some people argue that the landscape approach requires the establishment of more protected areas, while others believe that the approach neither demands additional protected areas nor excludes people from being mainstreamed in conservation. In fact, Nepal is adopting a participatory integrated ecosystem management approach, which espouses peoples' participation in conservation and sustainable use of biological resources.

Nepal has put a lot of effort to conserve its rich biological resources after the promulgation of the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973. As per national and international commitments, Nepal has designated over 19% of its relatively small land mass as protected areas. Initially the management emphasis was given exclusively to conserving biodiversity resources in which local people were not included. There is no doubt that within a short span of time, the country succeeded in witnessing a growing number of the, once declining, wildlife, like the rhinoceros and the tiger in the Terai protected areas.

However, given the human and financial resource needs, the remarkable success resulting from a strict conservation policy could not sustain in the long run. Realizing the need of involving local communities in protected area management, the government introduced the concepts of conservation areas and buffer zones. In addition, provision for sharing protected area revenue with local communities was also made. As a result, the number of wildlife species in protected areas has been on the raise.

Based on the studies carried out by various researchers, particularly in the lowland Terai; it has been found that none of the protected area, is capable of sustaining a viable population of mega fauna, such as the tiger, rhino and elephant, on their own. Additionally, not all the ecosystems, flora and fauna of Nepal are represented in the existing protected area system. Because of the ever increasing population, poverty and local communities' dependency on forest resources for subsistence, the forests outside the protected areas are degraded and fragmented. Because of this rampant deforestation outside protected areas and the prevailing uncontrolled poaching activities, the survival of many migratory animals has emerged as a big question mark.

Given this backdrop, a new conservation modality, which can address the basic needs of local people and restore and maintain biodiversity in protected as well as productive lands is the need of the hour. Accordingly, policies and programme are being formulated and implemented in this direction. Nepal's Tenth Five Year development plan recognizes the landscape approach to conservation, as a practical tool for addressing the issues of conservation and sustainable use of biological resources as well as poverty reduction. The Nepal Biodiversity Strategy, Terai Arc Landscape Strategy and Implementation Plan have been formulated and gradually being implemented to support this broader landscape level conservation approach in Nepal.

As guided by these policy documents, various institutions are implementing conservation and development activities simultaneously. The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation has implemented the Rhino Tiger Project in Chitwan, while the World Wildlife Fund Nepal Program has implemented the Terai Arc Landscape Programme across the Indian and Nepali borders. The programme aims to restore and maintain critical corridors and bottlenecks between protected areas so as to facilitate free movement of wildlife species from protected areas to productive land and vice versa. To support this concept UNDP, with the support of various partners, has been implementing the Western Terai Landscape Project in three districts of the Western Terai - Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur.

It has been noted that resulting from the concerted efforts, within a short span of time, some of biodiversity outside of the protected area boundaries are being maintained and restored and have become a safe haven for wildlife species. Barandabhar in Chitwan and Basanta forest in Kailali has become home for rhinoceros and wild elephants respectively. Similarly, implementation of income generating activities, like Non Timber Forest Product management, ecotourism, vegetable farming program etc. local communities’ support for biodiversity conservation has been on raise. In fact, based on a few years' experiences, the landscape approach to conservation does not necessitate the establishment of additional protected areas. Instead, the concept takes people as an integral part of the ecosystem and, therefore, advocates community based management of biodiversity.

However, there are some challenges still to be overcome for the effective implementation of this novel concept in Nepal. The existing intervention has given more emphasis on species conservation, instead of giving due attention to the overall management of biodiversity resources, including ecosystem services, and floral and faunal assemblages in the landscape complexIn case if some umbrella species like the elephant and rhinoceros are declined by some unknown reasons, then the overall value of the landscape could be diminished.

Therefore, if the management interventions are not modified in a timely manner, then this new initiative could result in failure. Hence, it is recommended that local people be made aware of the overall value of biodiversity resources, instead of merely highlighting on the conservation of the rhino, tiger and elephant. If this were to be so, then all the efforts put in and the achievements made so far would have been in vain and the government’s conservation agenda likely to come back to square one!

Landscape Approach to Biodiversity Conservation in Nepal

2009-01-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel
February, 2007

Abstract
Nepal has put utmost efforts to conserve her rich biodiversity resources. The conservation history begins formally after promulgation of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act in 1973. National Parks and Wildlife Reserves were established across the country during the 70s. By realizing the need of people participation in the conservation initiatives, the country has tested the concept of different types of protected areas such as conservation areas, buffer zone and landscape approach to conservation over the years. Landscape approach to biodiversity conservation has been adopted since 2000s. In this front, among others, Western Terai Landscape Complex Project has been implemented in the Far Western Development Region of the country since August 2005. Within a short span of time the project with an integrated conservation and development activities, has been able to change people's attitude towards biodiversity conservation and simultaneously the conservation value of biodiversity resources has been enhanced. In addition some lesson has been learned, which could be useful for national and international stakeholders.

Biodiversity value of the country
Because of altitudinal and climatic variances in short geographic distance, Nepal is endowed with rich biodiversity resources. The country comprises only 0.1% of the worlds land masses, but it harbors high share of biodiversity. A total of 118 ecosystems have been identified in Nepal, with 75 vegetation types and 35 forest types (HMGN/MFSC, 2002). Species richness among floral diversity comprises lichens 465 species (2.3 % of the global diversity), bryophytes 853 species (5.1%), and angiosperms 5,856 species (2.7%). Likewise, faunal diversity includes butterflies 640 species and moths 2,253 species (together 2.6%), birds 852 species (9.3%) and mammals 181 species (4.5%) (GoN/MFSC, 2006). The country has established an impressive network of protected areas (national parks, wildlife reserve, hunting reserve, conservation area, and buffer zone) to safeguard her rich biodiversity resources. Over 19% of the land masses of the country are occupied by the protected area network, including 3.45% buffer zone.

Conservation initiatives
Nepal's conservation history can be tracked back from 1950. Conservation initiatives have been taken through establishing a Rhino Sanctuary in Chitwan in 1956. The main objective of the Sanctuary was to protect the one horned rhinoceros. The conservation efforts took momentum when the country established extensive protected area system during 1970s. National Parks and Wildlife Reserves were established during this decade. The objective of the protected areas was to protect wildlife species, including endangered rhinoceros, tigers, and wild elephants.

During 80s, people-centered approach in protected area management was evolved. Himalayan National Park Regulation promulgated in 1979 has made the provision of incorporating local peoples' needs into national park's management goals. The regulation allows access to fuel-wood, fodder and litter of protected areas to local communities. Similarly, annual thatch grass harvesting provisions in all lowland National Park and Wildlife Reserves was introduced to response traditional resource use right of local people. During this period, the government also added conservation areas in protected area network, which seeks higher people participation in conservation. The Annapurna Conservation Area emphasizes people's participation in resource management and utilization, and provides high priority to development, was initiated in this period (Sharma 1995).

During 90s, the government introduced the policy of sharing part of the protected areas revenue with adjoining communities by establishing buffer zones. With this, the traditional species conservation approach has shifted towards ecosystem based approach of biodiversity conservation. The concept of buffer zone in and around protected areas was introduced in 1993 following the realization that sustainable wildlife conservation is possible only by active participation of local people (Maskey 2001). Fourth amendment was made on National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 and introduced the regulation of sharing up to 50% annual income of protected areas with buffer zone communities. The government envisioned conservation areas and buffer zone management regime aims at achieving effective management of National Parks and reserves, while at the same time giving due regard to the local communities (Sharma 2001).

Nepal has been embarking towards landscape approach to conservation in the new millennium. The landscape approach to conservation includes the integration of conservation and sustainable use concept in various interwoven land use systems across human and biodiversity landscape. It advocates for conservation of biodiversity resources beyond protected areas and people are considered as an integral component of an ecosystem.

In summary, the conservation paradigm has shifted from top down approach to bottom up planning. Initial management approach of command and control through mobilizing armed force has been replaced gradually by community based anti poaching operations. Similarly, the early emphasize was placed on species conservation followed by ecosystem and landscape approach to biodiversity conservation. Moreover, the role of government has been shifted from implementer to facilitator, monitor and regulator.

Conservation commitments
Nepal's commitment towards biodiversity conservation can be exemplified by being signatory of various international conventions, establishment of well functional institutional framework at national level, promulgation of innovative legal and policy agenda and implementation of different types of programs in and around protected area system.

At the international arena, Nepal affirmed its commitment to conserve biodiversity resources by ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1994. It is also a signatory of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). As per the commitment, with the support of UNDP-GEF, the country has prepared Nepal Biodiversity Strategy and Nepal Biodiversity Strategy Implementation Plan. Likewise, four wetlands are enlisted in Ramsar Sites. Similarly, a CITES unit has been established in the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973, Buffer Zone Regulation 1993, Himalayan Park Regulation 1979, Annapurna Conservation Regulation 1993 are the major legal framework for conserving biodiversity resources of the country. Similarly, Self Governance Act 1995 empowers local authority to manage natural resources at local level. Likewise, Forest Act 1993 encourages development of various types of forest management models, including community forest, collaborative forest, religious forest, private forest and national forest.

Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation discharges the conservation activities through Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation office. Department of Forest under the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation also involves conserving biodiversity resources mainly outside of the protected area network. Ministry of Agricultural Development has also stake in biodiversity conservation.

Landscape approach conservation initiatives
Nepal has to adopt landscape approach to biodiversity conservation for various reasons (Bennett, 2001). Firstly, Nepal has a number of protected areas of outstanding value for the protection of biodiversity at a global scale. Like, many other countries, however, these areas are likely to be inadequate on their own to ensure the long-term conservation of the flora and fauna that occurs within the country. The protected areas system does not fully represent all components of biodiversity, and many known areas of importance for the flora and fauna lie outside the reserve system. Secondly, individual protected areas are often inadequate to meet the ecological requirements of a number of species, particularly large sized animal species.

Thirdly, substantial areas of forest are still present outside the protected areas. Thus there is an existing basis (in terms of natural resources) for landscape level approach that seeks to maintain biodiversity within the productive landscape. Finally, most communities of people in Nepal have a close dependence on the land and its natural resources for their survival. Consequently, an approach that seeks to extend conservation beyond the reserve system must recognize the place of human communities, and their aspirations and impacts on the land. Landscape ecology is a discipline that explicitly recognizes the place of people in the environment (Bennett, 2001. It seeks to develop solutions for land use that take into account human impacts.

Policy framework for landscape level conservation
National Biodiversity Strategy 2002 and Nepal Biodiversity Implementation Plan 2006 reflect a shift in Nepal's biodiversity conservation management paradigm towards a more holistic, ecosystem – oriented approach to conservation and sustainable use. The Tenth Five Year Plan (2003 – 2008) incorporates landscape approach to conservation and sustainable use as a new strategic and operational direction. Similarly, the government if Nepal, with the support of WWF Nepal has prepared Terai Arc Landscape Strategy (2004 – 2014) and Terai Arc Landscape Implementation Plan in 2006.

Programs
In line with conserving biodiversity resources at Landscape level, the government with the support of various donor communities, including UNDP, GEF, WWF, and SNV has implemented various programs across the country.

With the objective of promoting conservation and sustainable use of natural resources outside of the protected areas and getting support from UNDP, the government of Nepal successfully implemented buffer zone programme in seven protected areas of the country between 1995 and 2006. Community participation, gender integration, poverty reduction, benefits to disadvantaged groups was all important component of this conservation package. The buffer zone management initiatives have enhanced the capacity of both the Department of National parks and Wildlife Conservation and the local people to manage the protected area system and improve socio-economic conditions of the people living in adjoining areas.

The notable impacts following the declaration of buffer zones and implementation of conservation and development are the improvement in park-people relationships with growing participation of local people in buffer zone development programmes and the institutionalization of community based organizations such as buffer zone management committees, user committees, user groups and buffer zone forest user groups. Community mobilization adopted by the programme has proven to be the best means to conserve natural resources and biodiversity in the long-run. Based on the experience of this project, conservation succeeds only when people are brought to the forefront of natural resource management and empowered adequately. Mainstreaming women, special target groups and the poor in conservation and development is must for successful implementation of buffer zone programs (DNPWC 2006).

To facilitate the migration of globally endangered wildlife species, like rhinoceros and tiger beyond buffer zone of Chitwan National Park, a world heritage site in Nepal, National Conservation Trust, a national NGO successfully implemented landscape-scale conservation of endangered tiger and rhinoceros populations in and around Chitwan National Park. Similarly, to facilitate movement of the umbrella species, including tiger, rhinoceros and wild elephants, WWF Nepal has implemented Terai Arc Landscape project in 14 districts of Nepal. Likewise, to safeguard the globally endangered wildlife species of Western Terai, the government of Nepal in partnership with UNDP, GEF, SNV, WWF, Bioversity International, Nepal Agriculture Research Council and LIBIRD has implemented WTLCP in Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Nepal.

Western Terai Landscape Complex Project
The Western Terai Landscape Complex (WTLC) focuses on conserving the rich biological diversity of the western region of Nepal. This area has been included in the list of WWF's Global 200 Ecoregion. WTLCP occupies a land area of approximately 7,200 sq km and stretches from Brdia National Park (BNP) in the east to Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (SWR) in the western edge of Nepal. BNP and SWR lie within 100km distance from each other. Due to the large-scale clearance of forests for agricultural development in the last three decades, SWR and BNP are no longer connected through a contiguous tract of lowland forests.

The WTLC is globally significant with regard to both its faunal and floral diversity. It is home to threatened wildlife species, including tigers (Panthera tigris), rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), wild elephants (Elephas maximus), swamp deer (Cervus Duvauceli), black buck (Antilope cervicarpa). The tigers and elephants are categorized as flagship species for this landscape.

Despite the outstanding value of BNP and SWR for the protection of globally significant biodiversity, they are likely to be inadequate on their own to ensure the long term conservation of flora and fauna that occurs in this region. The main reasons are: 1) these protected areas do not fully represent all component of biodiversity in the area and many known areas of importance for flora and fauna lie outside the protected area system; 2)These individual protected areas are inadequate in meeting the ecological requirements of a number of species, in particular the large mammals,, such as tigers, rhinoceros, and elephants which have large area requirements; 3) based on scientific evidence, isolation of these protected areas from other habitats is likely to lead to progressive loss of species over the long run. To address the above mentioned issues, landscape approach to biodiversity conservation was felt necessary in the western region. The region is characterized high human and income poverty, low human and income poverty, low human development, deep gender disparity, and low gender empowerment.

Conservation challenges
The biodiversity rich forests in this landscape have become increasingly degraded and fragmented as a result of ever increasing population and their growing dependency on forest resources. The immediate cause of deforestation and degradation is dependency of local communities on forest resources for timber, firewood, non timber forest products and agricultural land. Forest degradation and fragmentation in turn have contributed to the loss of habitat connectivity for the flagship species. Habitat fragmentation has the effect of reducing previously extensive mammal populations into genetically isolated sub-populations, many of which now risk falling below the threshold of population viability.

WTLCP Objective
The project is designed to conserve and ensure the sustainable use of globally significant biodiversity in the Western Terai Landscape Complex. The immediate objective is to conserve and ensure sustainable use of biodiversity resources across multiple land uses in WTLC through a landscape approach linked with community based management. The project emphasizes with multisectoral and multi stakeholder partnership to conservation. It advocates for strengthening community based biodiversity conservation by integrating biodiversity criteria with management plan of productive landscape. Similarly, with this programmes the protected area personnel will learn more participatory conservation.

Implementation approaches
Local communities are considered as the principle actor of the landscape level conservation. Hence their participation in project planning, monitoring, evaluation and benefit sharing process has been solicited from the very beginning of the project implementation process. To safeguard community inspiration and fulfill their demand, fullest attempt has been made to coordinate stakeholders ranging from civil society to government line agencies to local authority.

Management strategy
To address the wide ranges of issues, the Government of Nepal through WTLCP has implemented integrated conservation and development activities in the Western Region of Nepal. The conservation programs includes community based forest management, wildlife species and their habitat conservation, maintenance of habitat connectivity through promoting community forestry, private forestry, collaborative forestry, home garden, road side plantation, forests regeneration, and river side plantation. Likewise community based development activities includes micro-infrastructure development, alternative livelihoods, formation and strengthening of community based organizations and establishment of its linkage with government line agencies and other key stakeholders; promotion of alternative energy resources, institutionalization of participatory planning and monitoring system and implementation of various environment awareness activities.

Achievements
It has been observed that with the concerted efforts, within a short span of time, some of biodiversity resources outside of the protected area are being maintained and have become a safe haven for wildlife species. Barandabhar in Chitwan and Basanta and Laljhadi forests in western terai has become new home for rhinoceros, tigers and wild elephants respectively. Similarly, implementation of income generating activities, like Non Timber Forest Product management, ecotourism, off season vegetable farming program etc. local communities’ support for biodiversity conservation has been on raise.

Due to community based income generation activities, the attitude of local communities towards landscape approach to conservation ahs been changed gradually over the years. As project is working in multiple land use system, the coordination amongst the wider stakeholders is necessary. In this connection district forest coordination committee, which represents local authority, civil society, local non government organizations, and political parties has been formed and strengthened. The project has implemented its activities through government line agencies, local authority, community based organizations and non government organizations, which has helped to capacitate stakeholders towards landscape approach to biodiversity conservation.

Lesson learned / best practices
Project has given high priority to those activities which supports conservation and development work simultaneously. In this regard, micro infrastructure like irrigation pump, drinkable water, road gravelling etc are being supported to local communities. These activities are found very effective for raising local income through farming cash crops in the agricultural lands and making easy access to market. In the mean time through irrigation, local communities are establishing various nurseries, which help to maintain greenery in community and private land.

To sustain the project on financial, institutional, social and physical grounds, the project has undertaken various activities. For instance, project has supported local communities, mainly poor, women and disadvantageous group with seed money for income generation through cooperative scheme. A revolving fund mechanism has been envisioned. The mechanism has been considered as an important strategy to sustain the project activities in a long run.

To sustain the project activities on social ground, attempt has been made to include all the sectors of society, including local communities, poor, and women on project planning and implementation stages. In addition, they are organized into various user groups, user committees and coordination committees. The project has ventilated its objectives and implementation strategies to wider stakeholders through organizing various formal and informal meetings. Within a short span of time, the project has been able to attract heart and mind of local communities. The basic physical facilities supported by project to local communities and government line agencies include, community buildings, maintenance of guard posts, communication and transportation facilities, among others.

In order to bring the benefit down to the poorest of the poor community, the project has adopted positive discrimination approach. Local communities are categorized into various income groups, like rich, middle, poor and very poor through well being ranking exercises. Then, the very poor communities are provided with entrepreneurship development training. Based on their interest to undertake micro enterprises development activities, the project provides seed money to these trainees through cooperatives scheme. The approach has been performing well and stakeholders are appreciating the strategy wholeheartedly.

Local communities, especially outsiders of the protected areas are being convinced on the higher biodiversity value of community forest. The traditional approach of managing forest for timber and firewood has been changed gradually towards managing forest for biodiversity resources. In this regard, local communities are being interacted about the biodiversity consideration criteria in community forests. Some of the criteria have already been worked out. It is hoped that the community forest user groups as well as district forest office will gradually integrate biodiversity criteria in their management and operational plan in the days to come.

Maintenance of transparency on project objective and allocated budget for various activities is most important. In this regards, service providers are encouraged to institutionalize public auditing system. The strategy is working well.

While consulting local communities and other stakeholders, they always put conservation awareness activities in their priority list for making conservation work more effective and efficient. To make conservation work more effective, the project has been mobilizing school teacher and students by forming eco-club and eco-network. Interaction amongst eco-club members and eco-network has been continued. In addition, these organizations are provided with the opportunity of exposure tour, clean up campaign, quiz contest among others.

The project has implemented various trainings to capacitate local communities to undertake various income generation and conservation activities on their own. To make the training more productive, the project has adopted a practice of follow up and review, where service providers, project staff members, trainee and resource person sit together and review the effectiveness of training. Based on the feed back of the follow up meetings, the project revises its training programs accordingly.

Conclusion
To safeguard the country's rich biodiversity resources, Nepal has taken various measures. The protected area management policy and practice has been heading towards more of progressive and participatory management system. Local people are placed in the center of the protected area management system. In this front, various programs, like conservation area, buffer zone and landscape level conservation have been implemented. With the support of various national and international partner organizations, the government of Nepal has implemented WTLCP for two years in the western region of the country, which includes a package of integrated conservation and development activities. Within a short span of time the project has been able to change people's attitude towards biodiversity conservation, even outside of the protected area system. The quality of wildlife habitat at landscape level is getting improved on the one hand and on the other the livelihood options for local communities are diversified.

References
Bennett, A. F. (2001) Nepal Biodiversity Landscape Project. A report to UNDP Nepal and HMG Nepal.

DNPWC / Government of Nepal, (2006) Forging Partnership in Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods. Reflections on Achievements in Participatory Conservation (1995 – 2006)

GoN/MFSC, (2006) Nepal Biodiversity Strategy Implementation Plan. Government of Nepal, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Singhdurbar, Kathmandu.

HMGN/MFSC, (2002) National Biodiversity Strategy. His Majesty's Government of Nepal, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation.

Maskey, T.M. (2001) Biodiversity Conservation in Nepal with reference to protected areas. Protected Area Management in South Asia. Proceedings of WCPA South Asia Regional Workshop on Protected Area Management, Kathmandu, Nepal, pp. 114 – 127.

Sharma, U.R. (1995) Wildlife Conservation Policies and Strategies in protected areas of Nepal. Highlight of the Inaugural Ceremony and the Proceeding of the International Workshop on Sustainable Development and Conservation: The Role of Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation, KMTNC, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Sharma, U.R. (2001) Conservation and development should go hand in hand. Park People Bulletin Vol 5, 1-5.

Landscape level conservation could promote a special category of protected areas.

2009-01-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

Personal Authors: Khatri, T. B., Sigdel, E. R.Author Affiliation: Editors: No editorsDocument

Title: Banko JanakariAbstract:

Nepal's commitment to biodiversity is clearly reflected with the creation of an impressive network of protected area system. However, the protected areas are now turning out to be an island in the midst of human dominated landscapes. Therefore, an approach that seeks to reconcile the needs and aspirations of people without jeopardizing the conservation ethics turns out to be the most pragmatic approach to conservation. Biologists, economists, sociologists and conservationists have now realized that conservation cannot happen in isolation and a growing number of conservationists have chosen this moderate path that benefits both communities and supports development. This convergence approach of viewing conservation in unison among different stakeholders shows a significant departure from the conventional way of insular approach.

Landscape level conservation is not new to Nepal, as many successful lessons have been learnt through our experience in community forestry, conservation areas and buffer zone programme. Development of biodiversity landscape through a holistic and integrated approach by incorporating all the ingredients of a landscape namely; national parks, reserves, conservation areas, buffer zones, national forests, community forests, farmlands, wetlands with supportive policy regimes and plans would pave the way towards achieving the landscape level conservation.Publisher: Department of Forest Research and Survey (DFRS)

Towards community based landscape level. biodiversity conservation:

2009-01-04T18:06:00.001-08:00

Kanel, K.R. and Sigdel, E.R. 2001. Towards community based landscape level. biodiversity conservation: Lessons learned from Nepal. In: Ecoprint. 8(1): ECOS, ...

Landscape Approach to Biodiversity Conservation in Nepal

2008-12-31T09:18:00.001-08:00

Poaching, How to fight it

2008-12-31T08:22:00.000-08:00

The Kathmandu Post
Kathmandu, Thursday March 06, 2003 Falgun 22, 2059.

Wildlife poaching has appeared as a serious problem in biodiversity conservation, next to the habitat destruction, in Nepal. Despite putting various efforts in place, the wildlife poaching has increased in frequency over recent years. Exploring the mechanism for indigenous community and backward society based biodiversity conservation followed by effective law enforcement would be the next viable option for downsizing the frequencies of poaching in Nepal.

Various efforts from the government have been made to address the issues of biodiversity conservation, particularly to address the ever escalating incidence of wildlife poaching in Nepal. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) has been established with the primary objective of protecting valuable and endangered wildlife species in Nepal. One of the major activities of the DNPWC is to conserve endangered wildlife species through establishing protected area network. Nepal has expressed its firm commitment for limiting trade of endangered and rare wildlife species and their products by being signatories to the various conventions including Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species on wild flora and fauna (CITES), Convention on Biodiversity Conservation and Ramsar Convention.

As per the international commitment, a CITES unit has been established in the DNPWC to discourage poaching of endangered wildlife species and illegal trade of wildlife species. Similarly Nepal Biodiversity Strategy and Wetland Policy has been formulated as per the commitment of Biodiversity and Ramsar Conventions. Besides this, Nepal has promulgated National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act (NPWCA) for the effective conservation of biodiversity, including endangered wildlife species. According to the Act, offender dealing in poaching and illegal trade of endangered wild animals and their body parts can get a firm penalty of 5-15 years imprisonment and Rs 50, 000 to 100,000 in fine or both.

Royal Nepalese Army has been deployed in some protected areas with the responsibility of protecting wildlife species and forest products. In addition, Anti Poaching Operation has been implemented to combat poaching in some Terai Parks and Reserves for few years.

In order to solicit people’s participation to address the problem of wildlife poaching, among others the government has made some policy reforms. By making fourth amendment to the NPWCA, 1973, the government introduced the idea of buffer zone establishment around the protected areas. The policy reform was mainly to address the issues of traditional user right and up-lifting socioeconomic condition of protected area impacted community. The government has made the provision of sharing of up-to 50 per cent of the total protected area revenue with the park buffer zone communities. According to this provision, annually a huge amount of money has been ploughed back for community development activities in the buffer zone. In order to mobilise community effectively and generate guardianship of local communities over biodiversity resources, various NGOs and INGOs are being activated. Over 80 per cent people in the buffer zone are being organised into UGs, UCs, and Buffer Zone Development Council.

Despite adopting a two pronged strategy, the wildlife poaching has not yielded encouraging results. According to the DNPWC annual report, 2002, a total of 6 rhinos were poached in the RCNP in 1998. After that year, the frequency of poaching increased significantly in the RCNP. According to the government officials 31 rhinos have died in less than a year in 2002. The figure indicates the higher gravity of the poaching incidence in Nepal. The higher frequency of rhino poaching attributes to the astonishingly high price of rhino horns and body parts in the international market.

According to the same report, over 80 per cent poachers arrested in the RCNP in 2002, were residents of the buffer zone. Similarly, of the 80 per cent poachers in the buffer zone, over 50 per cent were from indigenous and backward ethnic communities like Tharu, Kumal, Darai and Lama. The main reason for such a discouraging scenario would be the inadequate representation of indigenous and backward communities in the decision-making process and weakness in the law enforcement.

In order to reduce the frequency of the poaching incidence, it is imperative to empower local communities, particularly indigenous and backward society. The scheme would be materialised only when the basic needs of these indigenous and backward communities are met. The basic needs include food, education, health and sanitation. Once these basic needs are met, these people might be responsive to biodiversity conservation. Thus, it is recommended to empower these communities through implementing indigenous and backward focused programs in the buffer zones so that the poaching incidence could be reduced. A provision of their representation in the buffer zone user committee and buffer zone management committee would be more fruitful.

Similarly, in order to make law enforcement effective, as the country is already heading towards the peace process, it is suggested to redeploy the Army in all the previously designated posts in the protected areas. It is to be remembered here that, government was forced to cut down the number of security posts by several folds to tackle the problem of insurgency in Nepal. Similarly, a sustainable financing mechanism has to be established to run Anti-poaching Operational Programme smoothly in various protected areas.

The sustainable funding mechanism can be possible by establishing a biodiversity trust fund at local and central levels. One of the sources of the funding would be a voluntary support from the private sector. The other sources include taxing additional levy to the tourism entrepreneurs, seeking support from voluntarily established private sector fund, like International Trust for Nature Conservation, industries and a part of the protected area revenue allocated for the buffer zone development. In addition, the Global Environment Fund (GEF) fund can be approached for the Trust Fund.

Despite mobilising various stakeholders and resources, the efforts to control wildlife species poaching has not been encouraging. Thus, strengthening the law enforcement mechanism, and empowering local communities, particularly indigenous and backward society would bring a positive result in decreasing the poaching of wildlife species in the days to come.

Conserving Mountain Environment

2008-12-31T08:17:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Nepalnews.com

By Ek Raj Sigdel, Nepal
Having immense natural and cultural value, Nepal's Mountain can be termed as the `Epitome of Paradise' for tourists, trekkers and expeditionary. Fragile mountain environment and subsistence agriculture are contributing to the degradation of the mountain ecosystem. The consequences are aggrandizing the poverty situation in the mountain regions. In order to address these diverse issues, development of sustainable tourism base would be the only viable option for the long-term conservation of environment and thereby contributing to betterment of the mountain communities.

To maximize the tourism benefit to the Mountain people and environment, the government should undertake various activities in a planned way. Firstly, locals should be trained on lodge management, tour guide and interpretation skills. Secondly, in order to develop appropriate tourism facilities and services, a credit facility for local entrepreneurs should be in place. Most importantly, locals should be aware on the importance of maintaining the village architecture, traditions, and wildlife management. Finally, trans-boundary tourism across the trans-border areas, such as Nagpala, and Chhentang - Kimathanka should be promoted.

Text courtesy: NTTR July 04 - 10, 2005. The Telegraph thanks the publisher of the NTTR.and the author of the article.

Lost in the woods

2008-12-31T08:13:00.000-08:00

KTM Post, November 29, 008

EK RAJ SIGDEL
The government's conservation programme lacks direction and purpose

Kailali and Kanchanpur Districts, located in the far western development region, are endowed with rich biodiversity resources. However, the resources, especially globally significant wild animal species like the tiger, wild elephant and rhinoceros are facing greater than ever threats due to increasing pressure on their habitat from human activities. Deforestation, degradation and fragmentation due to encroachment for settlement and farming in the name of the landless, persons displaced by the Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (SWR), flood victims and freed bonded labourers are the major causes for the destruction of the wildlife habitat. This has posed a threat to the existence of these prime biodiversity resources.

Basanta in Kailali, Laljhadi in Kanchanpur and the SWR are three major forest lands that connect the Dudhuwa National Park and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary in India towards the south and the Chure range towards the north. These jungles support many wildlife species including the swamp deer and blue bull. In principle, the larger the forest, the greater the diversity of animals it can support. Besides, forests act as a dispersal corridor for wide-ranged mega fauna like the tiger and rhinoceros.

Considering the higher conservation value of these forests, the government has formulated the Terai Arc Landscape Strategy and Implementation Plan for 11 protected areas stretching across the trans-border area of Nepal and India. Within the framework of the Nepal Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Implementation Plan, the government has been implementing conservation and development programmes in the Western Terai for a number of years with the support of various donor agencies.

However, the tendency of capturing forest land for settlement has increased rapidly especially along the East-West Highway and on the edge of forests. Recently, 2,000 huts have been erected in the Basanta Corridor, 400 in Laljhadi South and 3,000 in the SWR. If the current pattern of occupying forests for settlement and farming continues, these vital forest lands will vanish for ever from these districts within the coming eight to 10 years. This also means the end of globally significant biodiversity resources.

There are various reasons why things are deteriorating. The government is dealing with conservation on an ad hoc basis. There is no consistency in the Forestry Sector Master Plan, Forest Regulations and ministry-level directives for managing the forests in the Tarai. The government is still discharging its programmes through an ineffective and inefficient bureaucratic system. It assumes that problem solving means transferring government officials from one district to another.

In addition, livelihoods that depend on exploiting forest resources, employment opportunities presented by forests and ineffective law enforcement have heightened the threat to biodiversity resources. Moreover, an unclear reward and punishment system and inadequate knowledge about participatory forest management that supports conservation and improves the livelihood of the local people have made effective management difficult. Lastly, district-level units of political parties talk much about discouraging encroachment, but do not do so in practice.

Therefore, in order to deal successfully with conservation issues in the Tarai, the government should immediately review its forest and wildlife conservation related acts, regulations and policies. A policy dedicated to biodiversity conservation has been brought into effect, but in the absence of relevant acts and regulations, conservation initiatives have not been as effective as expected.

In addition, the government's inefficient and ineffective institutional structure needs to be reformed and energized. Forest management strategies should consider local people who depend on forest resources as an integral part of the ecosystem. While handing over forests to the community, attention should be paid to whether the rights of the local inhabitants have been addressed or not. The new regulations should also give emphasis to maintaining corridors and connectivity to facilitate dispersal of wildlife species from one habitat to another.

As wildlife habitats are spread across a range of land-use systems, setting up an agency to coordinate the various interwoven land-use systems should be envisioned at the central and district levels. As part of the reform programme, the government should give priority to enhancing the management capacity of the staff. Adequate human resources, equipment and budget allocations should be provided on time.

In addition, the government should pay special attention to effective law enforcement. It should also identify competent, committed and well disciplined personnel and conduct special programmes to raise their motivation. A scientific forest management system should be started as a pilot project in a large forest that is preferably located outside a protected area. The project should lay emphasis on social inclusion, distance users, customary rights, access to resources and biodiversity criteria.

In a nutshell, the government should review its policies, institutions and programmes right away in order to ensure long-term conservation and sustainable utilization of the Tarai's globally significant biodiversity resources. Over and above, the government should immediately formulate a Biodiversity Conservation Act and Regulations that captures the spirit of the existing biodiversity conservation policies by focusing on the corridors and connectivity of the Western Tarai.

Waiting For Management

2008-12-31T08:10:00.001-08:00

Ek Raj Sigdel

Ghodaghodi Lake is situated in Kailali of Far Western Nepal and listed in Ramsar Site in 2003. The wetland provides refuge to globally significant biodiversity resources including tiger, wild elephants and red-crowned roofed turtle. Adjoining forests and the wetland jointly act as a wildlife corridor between the low land Terai and the Churia. The lake has also great religious and legendary values. There is a shrine to the Ghodaghodi deity where indigenous Tharu celebrate a traditional festival (Agan Panchami) by worshiping and offering animals during the month of December. Likewise, there are several legends related to the origin of the Ghodaghodi Lake. Some 1500 households around the lake depend on the wetland ecosystem for supporting their subsistence needs. As the Lake provides benefits to the various stakeholders that ranges from national to international level, early intervention for conserving the wetland is necessary.

If the Lake is managed scientifically, it helps in conserving the globally significant biodiversity resources on the one hand and on the other contributes to diversifying livelihood opportunities of wetland dependent local communities, ultimately supporting regional and national economy of the country. As the Lake has superlative natural, historical, and cultural values, it creates an opportunity for promoting eco-tourism. Ecotourism development leads to address the issues of sustainable biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvement of local communities. Similarly, there are various ethno-medicinal plants, which also contribute to local income and employment opportunities.

Various local community based organizations have already been formed and functionalized to work for the betterment of the Lake and the adjoining communities. As the Lake has been managed by local communities and their organizations, there is a possibility of speedy handing over of the management responsibilities to them.

The area can be developed as a demonstration research centre for limnological studies. In addition, wetland policy has already been formulated, which emphasizes on the wise use of wetland resources with active participation of local communities in its conservation endeavors.
The globally significant biodiversity resources of the wetland have been facing tremendous anthropogenic pressure for few years. The number of golden monitor lizard, giant hornbill, otter and flying perch are gradually diminishing from the Lake. The survival of these animals were threatened mainly by loss of their habitats and poaching. The quality of the lake is gradually degrading due to eutrophication, siltation and invasive plant species. The size of the Lake has gradually shrunk. The main source of water is being diverted towards agricultural land for irrigation purpose.

Uncontrolled fire, deforestation in catchments areas, illegal logging, over grazing and flow of chemicals fertilizers through agricultural run off have posed threats to the wetland biodiversity resources. Unmanaged fishing and agricultural encroachment around the lake are other anthropogenic factors for threatening the very existence of biodiversity resources. Likewise, unplanned settlement and ever increasing number of temples around the lake resulted in the loss of aesthetic beauty of the Lake.

While looking into the root cause of the anthropogenic factors, it was found that most of the poor, women, Dalit and indigenous communities have to rely on the Lake to fulfill their subsistence need like firewood, timber, fish, and medicinal plants. Similarly, the loss of biodiversity was the result of inadequate management capacity of the exiting local community based organizations. Over and above, there is no single authorized government institution to impose effective law enforcement. The ownership of the land has yet to be defined explicitly. Likewise, there is a weak coordination amongst stakeholders.

To address the issue of livelihood and scientific management of the wetland resources, two pronged strategies, i.e. increasing productivity of the existing wetland resources and sidetracking pressure of the local communities towards other alternative income and employment generation activities have to be adopted. The productivity can be enhanced by integrating scientific and indigenous knowledge where as the pressure of the local communities can be diverted by offering them with diverse livelihood opportunities. In this regard, the past efforts made by various organizations including WWF, UNDP, IUCN and Ghodaghodi Conservation Forum towards managing the wetland should be reviewed critically and based on the lessons learned, a participatory integrated wetland management plan following a zoning approach should be prepared. The plan should include watershed management scheme, water quality monitoring plan, forest and non timber forest product management plan among others.
Likewise, to minimize anthropogenic pressure, it is essential to diversify natural recourse based livelihood opportunities focusing pro-poor, pro-women, pro-dalit, and pro-indigenous communities. Involvement of local people in Eco-tourism and non timber forest product management could be a viable strategy to address the issues of biodiversity and livelihood of local communities.

The management capacities of the local stakeholders also need to be strengthened. The local communities should be mobilized in such a way that they would always be in a fore front for minimizing fire, controlling illegal logging, discouraging haphazard temple construction and minimizing agricultural encroachment, among others. As per the demand, a policy should be formulated so that the potential community forests around the Lake could be gradually handed over to the respective forest user groups. The demand of all the sections of the society including poor, women, dalit, and indigenous people should be integrated in the entire project management cycle by involving them from planning to benefit sharing stages.

With this backdrop, recently, the government of Nepal in partnership with GEF, IUCN, and UNDP has launched a five-year wetland conservation project in Ghodaghodi Lake for biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvement. To attract heart and mind of the local communities, the project should follow a participatory approach while planning, monitoring and implementation of field activities. Utmost efforts should be put in mobilizing local resources - human, natural, financial, and social - and promotion of indigenous knowledge base management. To maintain a close coordination amongst the wider stakeholders District Forest Coordination Committee, which is already functional in Kailali could be an important forum to share the learning. In addition, transparency through access to and sharing of information is the key ingredient of good governance, which needs to be adopted.

In a nutshell, to upkeep the higher conservation value of the Ghodaghodi Lake, an early intervention was felt necessary. In this regard, a new project has been launched. To achieve the desired goal of the project, it is necessary to solicit community participation in entire project cycle and handover the management responsibilities to the local communities from the very beginning of the project implementation stages.

Conservation In Crisis

2008-12-31T08:05:00.000-08:00

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.