Shifting paradigms for Nepal’s protected areas: history, challenges and relationships

Bhattarai, Babu Ram; Wright, Wendy; Poudel, Buddi Sagar; Aryal, Achyut; Yadav, Bhupendra Prasad; Wagle, Radha

doi:10.1007/s11629-016-3980-9

Cited by 56 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The protected areas of Nepal are largely successful in conserving and increasing populations of threatened wildlife such as greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis Linnaeus, 1758) and royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris Linnaeus, 1758) (MFSC 2014, DNPWC & DFSC 2018. However, these PAs also face a number of management challenges, and one of these is an increasing number and abundance of IAPS (MFSC 2014, Bhattarai et al 2017. The problem of plant invasions is particularly serious in the PAs located in the southern lowland of the country.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and impact of invasive alien plant species in Bardia National Park, western Nepal

2020

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Summary Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) are spreading into protected areas worldwide; however, knowledge of these invasions and their impacts in Nepal’s protected areas is poor. Here, the spatial distribution pattern of IAPS in Bardia National Park (BNP), Nepal, was analysed using roadside surveys and grid sampling. The impacts of the most abundant IAPS, Lantana camara, on plant communities were analysed by comparing 60 pairs of non-invaded and invaded quadrats. Twelve IAPS, including two of the most prolific species globally, L. camara and Chromolaena odorata, were recorded from BNP. The Karnali floodplain in the south-western region of the park, a prime habitat of one-horned rhinoceros, was highly invaded by the IAPS. Tree canopy and distance to road, river and settlement were the major factors affecting IAPS occurrence. Lantana camara modified plant community structure and significantly reduced plant species richness and diversity; species richness of native plants was reduced to less than half in invaded plots. Plant invasions and impacts on native plant diversity have been increasing in BNP. We recommend management interventions involving immediate eradication of C. odorata and other species with single satellite populations and control measures for other widespread species such as L. camara and Ageratum houstonianum.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and impact of invasive alien plant species in Bardia National Park, western Nepal

2020

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“…Nepal has protected a large percentage of its land (>23 per cent), putting it in the top-20 countries globally and second in Asia for the percentage of its surface area that is protected (Chaudhary et al, 2009). It also has one of the more progressive systems of protected areas and community forestry in the world (Allendorf & Gurung, 2016;Bhattarai et al, 2017;Bhusal, 2014;Heinen & Shrestha, 2006;Ryan, 2015). While Myanmar has maintained large tracts of its natural habitats (Bhagwat et al, 2017), only 6 per cent is within protected areas (Aung, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

People’s perceptions of protected areas across spatial scales

Allendorf¹,

Radel²,

Keuler³

2019

PARKS

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The relationships that local communities have with protected areas are important for the success of these areas. However, it is difficult to capture park-people relationships at spatial scales that make them useful for conservation management and planning. To explore the role of scale in people's perceptions of protected areas, we examined the relative contribution of factors at different levels (i.e. village, protected area, country) to people's attitudes and perceptions of protected areas. Based on 3,573 individual surveys from 140 villages around three protected areas in Nepal and four in Myanmar, we found patterns indicating that people's negative perceptions were influenced by factors at the village and protected area levels. In contrast, positive perceptions, such as an appreciation of conservation and ecosystem service benefits and recreational benefits were influenced by factors at the national level. Our results suggest that a multilevel approach can improve the understanding of park-people relationships and contribute to better planning and management, thereby improving park-people relationships. For example, positive perceptions may be fostered with interventions at the national level, such as national media campaigns or national educational curricula, while negative perceptions may be most effectively mitigated through interventions targeted at specific villages and conflicts.

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“…Beside this, buff er zones of thirteen protected areas, ten Ramsar sites (Wetlands of International Importance) and protection forests, some of which overlap with the protected areas, all are considered as the protected sites which off er potentiality for ecotourism development. As Nepal in the frontline in community-based conservation strategies, conservation area and buff er zone programme of National parks and wildlife reserves are of great signifi cance (Bhattarai et al, 2017). A country where nearly a quarter of total area is allocated for conservation and with some potential negative impact of those protected areas in livelihood involvement of local people in several tourism activities which could be the potential way-out for the conservation of the natural areas, increasing revenue through people's participation in tourism and sustainable management of resources (Bajracharya & Lama, 2008).…”

Section: Protected Area Based Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tourism in Protected Areas and Appraisal of Ecotourism in Nepalese Policies

Aryal

Ghimire

Niraula³

2019

J. Tourism & Hospitality Educ.

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Ecotourism is a form of nature-based tourism. It is recognized as the sustainable alternative to the mass tourism and is executed to contribute to the protection and enhancement of various component of the environment. As environmental and cultural diversity are considered as the greatest assets to ecotourism, Nepal with high cultural and environmental diversity is prime destinations for ecotourism and other forms of nature-based tourism. Ecotourism contributes to the conservation of biodiversity as a primary source of internal funding in the protected areas. Researches on the aspects of ecotourism in Nepal were focused towards potentiality evaluation, impact assessment and the impact of climate change including others. Despite the significance of ecotourism in the Nepalese economy, research on governance aspects of ecotourism is limited. This article aims to analyze the role of government in ecotourism development in Nepal through policy-based approach. Beside this, data of visitation in the protected areas was evaluated. Tourist number in the protected area was observed to increase in a gradual fashion in response to the growing number of tourists visiting Nepal. Tourism policies of government primarily focus to increase the number of tourists in the country and fail to recognize tourism carrying capacity and environmental implication. Different tourism and other sectoral policies attempt to cover the issues of ecotourism, but, ecotourism specific policy is yet to be drafted. In addition to this, the tourism aspect is addressed by the species conservation action plan for species-level conservation within the country. In all, nine action plans reviewed, the provisions relating to tourism were found to be too general, most of them acknowledging ecotourism as a source of conservation funding but failed to define species-specific policy. A similar trend can be observed in the protected area management plan excluding the Chitwan and Banke National Park. Further study on the implementation status and formulation of new policy to address the holistic issues of ecotourism is an urgent requirement.

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Shifting paradigms for Nepal’s protected areas: history, challenges and relationships

Cited by 56 publications

References 45 publications

Distribution and impact of invasive alien plant species in Bardia National Park, western Nepal

Distribution and impact of invasive alien plant species in Bardia National Park, western Nepal

People’s perceptions of protected areas across spatial scales

Tourism in Protected Areas and Appraisal of Ecotourism in Nepalese Policies

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