poaching in nepalese parks

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*Conflict's conservation toll

**Cover Story

*

 

 

BY KIRAN CHAPAGAIN

 

KATHMANDU, Aug 2 - Fanindra Kharel has not visited the Makalu Barun

National Park even once after he was appointed as warden of the park on

April 22 this year.

 

Kharel is currently staying in Khandabari, the headquarters of

Sankhuwasava district, about a three-day walk from the park, along with

his staff, with no work to do.

 

The park has been under Maoist control for the last three years.

 

The park is home to a variety of aromatic plants, rhododendron, oak,

primrose; over 400 species of birds; as well as red panda, musk deer,

Himalayan black bear and clouded leopard.

 

The situation in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve in western Nepal is worse.

Nobody knows the actual status of the highly-coveted blue sheep and

other game animals such as the leopard, ghoral, serow, Himalayan thar,

Himalayan black bear, barking deer, wild boar and so on in the 1325 sq

kilometer protected area.

 

According to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation

(DNPWC), rebels have converted the reserve into their " training ground " .

The hunting reserve has been completely abandoned now.

 

This is, however, just the tip of the iceberg when we talk about the

toll of conflict on our conservation areas with their rich bio-diversity.

 

The other conservation areas such as Annapurna Conservation Area,

Kanchanjunga Conservation Area and Manasalu Conservation Area have also

been impacted by the conflict. No longer in operational in the field,

conservation offices have now been

 

shifted to safer places far away from the areas where they are expected

to work.

 

As a result, rich mix of flora and fauna have been left at the mercy of

poachers and insurgents.

 

DNPWC officials, seeking anonymity, said that the armed conflict has

infected all the protected areas, which cover 18.2 percent of the total

landmass of the country, endangering Nepal's once famed bio-diversity.

 

According to Surya Bahadur Pandey, assistant management officer at

DNPWC, who visited ACAP recently, the Maoists have paralyzed 70 percent

of the conservation works.

 

" Forty percent of the country's protected area is without staff in the

field, " Dr Pralhad Yonjon, conservationist at Resources Himalaya said.

 

Poaching and smuggling reaching alarming heights

 

Since 2001, security has been reduced in and around protected areas in

view of possible attacks from rebels. Before 2001, November, there were

32 Royal Nepalese Army posts at the Royal Chitwan National Park alone.

But these posts have been merged to seven after 2001. Consequently,

poaching has reached an all time high in the park.

 

According to official reports, out of 112 guard posts in protected

areas, only 34 remain. Nobody knows what is happening inside other parks

due to reduced security.

 

The result has been devastating: 94 one-horned rhinos have been killed

in Royal Chitwan National Park alone over the last five years.

 

Curtailed movement

 

in protected areas

 

Reduction in security has directly affected patrolling in protected

areas. Movement of park officials has almost come to a halt following

the killing of two rangers, two game scouts and a driver of Parsa

Wildlife Reserve in central Nepal in a landmine ambush, set off by

Maoist insurgents on November 22, 2004.

 

According to officials at DNPWC, the killing has affected its field

level officials psychologically. According to officials, they are afraid

to patrol the Babai Valley of Royal Bardiya National Park where 87

rhinos were translocated from the Royal Chitwan National Park.

 

" The Maoists have established their camps in the valley and we are

concerned about the rhinos there. We have no idea how many rhinos there

are at present " , said another official at DNPWC. Out of the 87 rhinos

that were translocated to the park, 39 have already been killed.

 

Besides, Maoists have been allegedly smuggling medicinal plants.

" Bio-diversity conservation has not featured in the agenda of Maoists.

Instead, it has been used by the Maoists to generate revenue, " says Dr

Yonjon, citing cases of Maoist involvement in the smuggling of

bio-diversity.

 

Logging

 

The conflict, at best, has had a mixed impact on forest conservation. On

the one hand, all field level forest offices, like area forest offices

and range posts have either been destroyed by Maoists or have been

shifted to district headquarters. The rebels have destroyed altogether

138 out of 698 range posts and 41 of the 92 area forest offices across

the country. The offices were responsible for checking illegal logging.

Officials at the Department of Forests (DoF), say that loggers are

taking advantage of the absence of field level offices.

 

" We have received information that illegal logging is rampant in some

places, " said Indra Singh Karki, chairman of Nepal Foresters' Association.

 

DoF officials claimed they have received information that illegal

logging is on the rise in places where contractors have established

links with Maoists.

 

But officials concede that the conflict has checked logging in some

places due to fear of being caught in the crossfire between security

forces and rebels.

 

Community forestry

 

Recently, two major donors withdrew support to community forestry,

citing lack of " field level " monitoring. The consequences are

far-reaching. This has affected the democratic and administrative

process of user groups. The donors' money was used to empower these user

groups.

 

Though community-based forest conservation efforts, which is a model in

South Asia, is running smoothly as compared to other conservation

programs, the conflict has impacted it in many ways.

 

According to Bhim Prasad Shrestha, chairman of the Federation of

Community Forestry Users' Group (FECOFUN), nearly half of the total

community forest users' groups have not been able to renew their forest

operational plans.

 

" Consequently, user groups have not been able to use forest products for

their day-to-day activities and carry out forest-based commercial

activities, " Shrestha said.

 

According to Shrestha, security forces have prohibited people from

entering particular jungles, and even prevented members of user groups

to enter their own forest. In many remote places, people of working age

have fled due to the Maoist problem, causing shortage of human resources

to manage forests. Similarly, many community forest user groups have

abandoned their forests due to the Maoists problem.

 

As people have been deprived of use of forest products they care less

for the forests. " For instance, fire this year destroyed many community

forests but user groups showed little concern about controlling the

fire. In previous years, user groups used to show promptness in

controlling such fires. "

 

Conflict affects conservation projects

 

The conflict has affected implementation of many environment-related

projects. According to Vijaya Prasad Singh, biodiversity advisor at

UNDP, the conflict has affected smooth implementation of many

environment-related projects.

 

UNDP's environment related programs like Tiger Rhino Conservation

Program in Chitwan, and Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Program

have been badly affected.

 

Interestingly, however, those environment projects like rural-based

energy projects are less affected, according to Singh. " Not a single

obstruction has been faced in implementing our energy projects due to

community ownership in them, " says Singh.