 |
| Nepal Achieves Huge Milestone |
NEPAL TRAVEL BOOK, KATHMANDU:
Poachers have not claimed even one elephant, rhinoceros or tiger in Nepal for a solid year. That’s mightily impressive, considering the rampant and constant poaching in that area of the world.Thirteen Asian countries gathered in Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu for a first-of-its-kind anti-poaching symposium during the week of February 2-6, 2015. Among their goals: learn how Nepal is getting it right in the battle against illegal animal poaching.
Toward Zero Poaching in Asia hosted discussions by wildlife experts, government officials, police advisors and other anti-poaching stakeholders. Participant nations included Russia, Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Vietnam. The Government of Nepal co-sponsored the event with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Global Tiger Forum, South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network and National Trust for Nature Conservation.
Success breeds enthusiasm. Symposium attendees left Nepal armed with a plan to coordinate anti-poaching efforts throughout Asia.
\What is Nepal Doing That’s Working So Well?
Tigers best demonstrate the success achieved in recent years by Nepal. The tiger population rose by nearly two thirds between 2009 and 2013. India is doing almost as well, with a 30 percent increase since 2010.
“Almost 23 percent land in Nepal has been protected as conservation area to sustain endangered flora and fauna in their natural habitat,” said Nepal’s Minster of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC), Mahesh Acharya, at the symposium. Indeed, Nepal is taking good care of its biodiversity and its threatened species.
The country boasts 10 national parks, six conservation areas and three wildlife reserves, encompassing 13,000 square miles. It embraces technology, using unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol protected areas. Well aware that it serves as a hub for transnational wildlife trafficking, Nepal works cooperatively with China and India to curb illegal trade.
“Nepal has achieved outstanding results in setting a role model for zero poaching for Asia as well as other parts of the world for four years,” said Sharad Chandra Paudel, MoFSC Secretary.
Stopping Poachers Takes a Village… and Then Some
How is Nepal doing it? National leadership works hand in hand with citizens to get the job done. One of Nepal’s biggest victories has been convincing local villagers to turn in poachers, in part by agreeing to give them 50 percent of tourism profits if they do.
Incredibly, there are now more than 400 community-based anti-poaching units throughout Nepal. They keep a close eye on wildlife trafficking, patrol wildlife corridors, remove snares and much more.
“Earlier, some villagers even protected poachers because they didn’t want tigers attacking them. We heard them out, built electric fences, focused on increasing tourism and gave them a big cut of the revenues,” Tikaram Adhikari, director general of Nepal’s department of national parks and wildlife told AFP.
“Now they know the benefits of protecting tigers and they want to help. The survival of the animal is a matter of prestige for them,” he added.
The 50 percent cut of tourism dollars from Nepal’s national parks goes toward community development efforts. That money builds farm roads, local schools and much-needed irrigation facilities. It’s wasy to understand why villagers have been won over to this cooperative conservation effort.
The WWF Nepal’s Diwakar Chapagain agrees that it will take more than wildlife experts to stop the insidious devastation that poaching causes in Asia.
“We have to involve people on the ground — volunteers and local law enforcement must have a stake in the process,” Chapagain told AFP. “Otherwise conservation is not sustainable. Spending money and running awareness campaigns is not enough. You need boots on the ground and that’s where local communities and law enforcement play an important role in cracking down on poachers.”
Nepal figured that out and has done something amazing. It’s now a role model for the rest of Asia.
“Nepal proved to the world that zero poaching can be achieved,” said the WWF’s Dr. Barney Long. “This took incredible commitment from the highest levels in the government right through to frontline conservation heroes like rangers and community anti-poaching patrols.”
Now that word is spreading, will more nations be as proactive and effective as Nepal? Time will tell. There’s no arguing with success.
