The Narayani River in Chitwan National Park is at only 180m above sea level, but &nbsp;on a rare clear day last week visitors could see the summit of 7,893m-high Himalchuli right across Nepal, 150km away.&nbsp; Upstream, the Trisuli, Seti and Kali Gandaki &nbsp;join to form the Narayani in a catchment stretching 46,300 sq km from Dhaulagiri to Langtang — spanning one-third of Nepal’s area.&nbsp; Glaciers up in those mountains, and even a part of the Tibetan Plateau, feed the Narayani. To see the snows and river together underscores the need to regard the Himalaya not just as a mountain range, but as a composite watershed. This delicate balance between mountains and plains is now destabilised by climate breakdown. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251225111216_105ddc802eb5742227d62687c003bfdb1f3c55faba2c6352b29c2a83123247e7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251225111216_105ddc802eb5742227d62687c003bfdb1f3c55faba2c6352b29c2a83123247e7" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="People, naturally"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251224141228_b4c2c51021e6a21e6d87c748ba8eb6401827ad69d44953af842859c6839350c1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251224141228_b4c2c51021e6a21e6d87c748ba8eb6401827ad69d44953af842859c6839350c1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1778" loading="lazy" alt="Chitwan National Park NT"> </figure>  “The climate crisis is a water issue. It is not just about this river, but the mountains and the glaciers we can see from,” said Adil Najam, President of the World Wildlife Fund International during a visit to Chitwan last week. “Water is going to be a frontline climate issue not only for Nepal but for the world itself. This crisis is not long-term, it is immediate-term.” Water from the Narayani, Rapti and other rivers have been vital in shaping the conservation success story of Chitwan National Park. But Nepal’s oldest nature reserve now suffers from either too much water during monsoon floods, or too little in the dry season as a result of extreme weather caused by climate breakdown. Insufficient recharge of aquifers and over-extraction of groundwater have caused oxbow lakes and wildlife watering holes inside the Park to dry up, and solar-powered pumps have been installed to replenish some of them.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251224141228_97cb5c51d38d4cc038fbaa305eca8e7096d2a58e573ee016fa7e2b9972e67f62.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251224141228_97cb5c51d38d4cc038fbaa305eca8e7096d2a58e573ee016fa7e2b9972e67f62" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Chitwan National Park NT"> </figure>  Nepal tripled its tiger population to nearly 400 in the past 14 years, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/close-encounter-of-the-wild-kind-in-nepal?fbclid=IwY2xjawFomglleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHd0IT1aTm1ugPsScRVjFSOQKx4trJC1QolMquJH-VcPA3Dsuc7J8twvEtg_aem_oRrHg17T6T0bQzRqU0AvgA" target="_blank">rhino numbers have rebounded to 752</a> with near-zero poaching for the past decade, and vulture species have been rescued from the brink of extinction — all this largely due to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/on-the-tri-junction-of-wildlife-conservation-conflict-and-co-existence" target="_blank">efforts of local communities in the buffer zones</a> of parks like Chitwan. “The biodiversity here was protected because conservation has been collaborative,” said <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-s-tharu-are-tiger-protectors" target="_blank">Birendra Mahato</a>, an elected member of the Ratnanagar ward adjacent to the Park. “This <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/parks-plus-people" target="_blank">involvement of people in the buffer zone</a>, including us from the indigenous communities, has <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-s-tharu-are-tiger-protectors" target="_blank">helped reduce poaching and human-wildlife conflict</a>.” The <a href="http://www.apple.com/" target="_blank">Tharu, Bote and Musahar</a> <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-s-tharu-are-tiger-protectors" target="_blank">indigenous groups that used to live inside what is now the national park</a> followed traditional practices that took into account the behaviour of tigers, rhinos and wild elephants. There were few fatal wildlife attacks.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251226141228_d7c2df18d98d99c32d63ccce53edbe48a36a6a65612e3042f7e93b646f9d86ee.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20251226141228_d7c2df18d98d99c32d63ccce53edbe48a36a6a65612e3042f7e93b646f9d86ee" data-rendition-name="original" width="828" height="693" loading="lazy" alt="CNP map"> </figure>  “We need to revive that traditional knowledge so there is human-wildlife coexistence, not conflict,” Mahato added.&nbsp; And communities living in the buffer zone will only protect wildlife if they see a benefit from saving them. The proven way to ensure that coexistence is through well-managed and sustainable tourism that lifts local living standards. The village of Amaltari along the Narayani river has several high-end resorts that employ local people as nature guides, hotel staff and cultural groups performing for tourists. Besides these, the village has 35 women-led homestays where visitors can experience indigenous culture, food and lifestyle.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251224141228_759ae97bf2c2f0365e1340cb8468cd9fc44ae735d50a1c76ce92d4651cb08da1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20251224141228_759ae97bf2c2f0365e1340cb8468cd9fc44ae735d50a1c76ce92d4651cb08da1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Chitwan National Park NT"> </figure>  “Lifting living standards is the most effective way to ensure nature conservation, and this means protecting authentic local heritage to generate income from tourism,” Adil Najam said (Interview, below). Tourists come to the buffer zone in the western edge of Chitwan National Park in Amaltari for safaris to see tigers, rhinos, the vulture conservation site, or to float down the river to watch the gharial, crocodiles and migratory birds. Chitwan National Park saw 300,000 visitors last year, with Nepalis now outnumbering foreign tourists. Gita Mahato runs one of the Amaltari homestays and admits that it was not easy in the beginning to ensure that the quality of service was up to mark, and business suffered during and after the pandemic. “But now we have more experience and confidence, our incomes have gone up, and it has restored pride in our culture and helped protect nature,” she added. “It is like a fairy tale.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251225111216_e136c9d7242193503080782d916209f8223d9c74079180b49c099083c27e4b09.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20251225111216_e136c9d7242193503080782d916209f8223d9c74079180b49c099083c27e4b09" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="People, naturally"> <figcaption>Vulture feeding at Jatayu which has rescued the raptors from the brink of extinction. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251224141228_58a4185f90c35a47806a077a19e7f24d8a9635ac45e8ce457f03a7604ba534b5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20251224141228_58a4185f90c35a47806a077a19e7f24d8a9635ac45e8ce457f03a7604ba534b5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Chitwan National Park NT"> </figure>  Improved living standards have impacted other social aspects: there are schools, children have better nutrition, child marriage has gone down, no one is stealing electricity with hooks anymore, and there are now three beauty parlours in Amaltari.&nbsp; WWF Nepal helped with seed money to set up the local Hamar Cooperative, which ploughs tourism income into a savings scheme that lends to members. There are no defaulters, and the indigenous <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/parks-by-the-people-and-for-the-people" target="_blank">Musahar, Bote and Tharu</a> households now have savings. The municipality has built electric fences to protect the rice and mustard fields from wildlife, and this has eliminated fatalities here from tiger attacks. The community’s Anti-poaching Youth Group and the Park’s military have increased vigilance after the jailbreak of notorious wildlife traffickers in September.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251224141228_3cff4bdf947bbcb070fe584ab628fb1b79cec047236e56a4486070f8f66ae42d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20251224141228_3cff4bdf947bbcb070fe584ab628fb1b79cec047236e56a4486070f8f66ae42d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Chitwan National Park NT"> </figure>  Chitwan and other <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/on-the-tri-junction-of-wildlife-conservation-conflict-and-co-existence" target="_blank">national parks and buffer zones</a> across Nepal are conducting a massive tiger census this week, installing 1,100 camera traps. The cameras also help to curb poaching, and the total tiger population is expected to exceed 400. Says Ghana Gurung from WWF Nepal: “This is the best example that protecting one charismatic species that is at the top of the food chain helps to protect biodiversity and the entire ecosystems.” <h2>“Water is the frontline climate issue”</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251225111216_8bf2b772f726c8f9eb11cc5b79f5c9c8afa115ee0eb170e69f52bf07a6a1e222.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20251225111216_8bf2b772f726c8f9eb11cc5b79f5c9c8afa115ee0eb170e69f52bf07a6a1e222" data-rendition-name="original" width="1619" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="People, naturally"> <figcaption>Adil Najam with young Buffer Zone forest guides.</figcaption> </figure>  World Wildlife Fund International President Adil Najam was in Chitwan last week, and spoke to Ghana Gurung of WWF Nepal. Ghana Gurung: What are your impressions after visiting Chitwan National Park? Adil Najam: I always knew Nepal was special, and the work of WWF Nepal was special, but I just didn’t realise how special. Seeing the work first hand in Chitwan with species protection, zero-poaching and, most importantly, how to work with communities, particularly with indigenous communities so that we turn this rhetoric of nature vs people into truly a bridge of nature and people. Meeting members of indigenous communities and conservation officials, seeing their sense of pride about what has been achieved was very motivating.&nbsp; So much of what you are doing here in Nepal is relevant to the UN’s SDG goals and WWF’s own 2030 roadmap — especially our core work on species. The challenges are great, but we do not take enough time to appreciate the achievements. We haven’t got to where we want to yet, but we are much further down the road. Tigers have almost tripled, rhinos more than tripled, zero poaching for many years, and all of this with a grassroots approach working with communities. It is not always easy, their concerns are real, but working with them as partners shows that conservation and people do not need to be contradictions.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251225111216_988386ce4e292ca298d9546035cb5e51f4b0c4bed3c6069b269360c2c1d3c98e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_18" data-image-id="20251225111216_988386ce4e292ca298d9546035cb5e51f4b0c4bed3c6069b269360c2c1d3c98e" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="People, naturally"> </figure>  You mention challenges. What are some of the difficulties ahead? When you are working at a high level, the first challenge is keeping it at that level. Unfortunately global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss are now so great that we have to multiply our efforts multiple times. Nepal also needs to share what you do here with the rest of the world. Unless we learn from each other, we are not going to solve the planetary crises. I was very happy to see how much the youth are involved in Nepal’s conservation effort, but the challenge will be how to get young people excited about conservation with an aspiration to do more.&nbsp; Yes, we try to work more with the youth. What were some of the other highlights of the trip? Clearly, one of the outstanding highlights was the visit to the homestay collective run by indigenous communities, particularly that they are women-led and they have become entrepreneurial, learning new ways to work with nature, designing new livelihoods, by having guests who enjoy nature. The homestay program in Nepal really has ownership and links nature and people.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251224141228_d8d27836a3d549713d2ff80687c32c2f7723a1c5bd778833852d0216a447b4f7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20251224141228_d8d27836a3d549713d2ff80687c32c2f7723a1c5bd778833852d0216a447b4f7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Chitwan National Park NT"> </figure>  Nepal is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. What were some of the impacts you noticed?&nbsp; I think every country now is climate vulnerable. For the developing world, it is a a compounded challenge not only because they were not responsible for the problem, but also because we now face its consequences. Because the world has not done very much on mitigation, the challenges have become more difficult. Besides carbon mitigation, we need to focus on adaptation and address the issue of water.&nbsp; Climate in the age of adaptation essentially becomes a water issue, and Chitwan has done well to protect its fresh water habitats. It is not just about these rivers, but the mountains and the glaciers we can see from here that feed them. We have compartmentalised problems: this is climate, this is biodiversity, that is plastic. That is not how nature works. There is no solution to the climate challenge without dealing with nature, and vice versa. So, water is going to be a frontline climate issue not only for Nepal but for the world itself. Leadership on climate will have to rest with countries like Nepal in demonstrating ways to build climate resilience. And resilience resides in people. Given this, what are the strategies we need going forward? We are seeing resource constraints, and that is not news. But beyond that many of the biggest challenges of our time are at threshold or beyond threshold level — whether they are climate related, loss of nature, or water stress, etc. We are at this pivotal point, and I hope we will invent better ways on how to deal with these crises. As you already do in Nepal, we have to look at ecosystems as integrated and connected, where doing good for one thing has a positive impact on another. We know that with species here in Chitwan — if one species does well, a whole bunch of others also benefit.&nbsp; &nbsp;And like you do here, we have to work in partnerships with communities, conservation people, other international organisations, the private sector. This is not the time for finding your corner and hiding in it. This is a planetary problem, and we need a 8 billion people solution.&nbsp; And the writing on the wall in Nepal and elsewhere is that young people are the key to the present and the future. It is really their world. We have to create an environment in which they can thrive to reach their own potential. And we have to give them the sense that although things are difficult, if we do the right things there are solutions. This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251224141220_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20251224141220_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG"> </figure>

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People, naturally

Dimar Chaudhary was born and raised in Old Padampur, the village inside what is now Chitwan National Park before it was dsignated a protected area. His Tharu community, as well as other indigenous groups, traditionally relied on Chitwan’s jungles and rivers for generations. Chaudhary himself had grown up collecting medicinal plants and wild vegetables, gathering wood, and grazing cattle in the forest. Chitwan, along with much of Nepal’s Tarai, was plagued by malaria until a US-supported DDT spraying campaign to wipe out the disease in the district in the 1950s. This opened the valley up to trans-migration of farmers from the hills. Before that, Chitwan was inhabited entirely by indigenous people: 90% of the district’s population was Tharu, and the rest were Bote, Mushar, Darai and Majhi communities. In 1973 Chitwan National Park became Nepal's first protected area and in 1996, the Nepal government introduced the Buffer Zone Management Rule under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act to manage forests surrounding protected areas, and ensure local participation in parks management. Old Padampur was subsequently relocated outside the park. Ntional parks formed buffer zone user committees (BZUCs) to manage and oversee community forests. Hundreds of thousands of local people were directly involved in managing buffer zone community forests across the country. Over three decades, these forests have not only made conservation collaborative, but also helped to mitigate wildlife-related crimes and human wildlife conflict. In 2014, 2015 and 2016, Nepal achieved zero poaching for its three flagship species: rhinos, tigers and elephants. But while these user communities have made wildlife conservation participatory, the process hasn’t been inclusive of Nepal’s indigenous and underserved communities. In 2022, WWF supported Community Conservation Nepal to collect data on natural resources used by Tharu indigenous people before the establishment of Chitwan National Park. The project also looked into the inclusion of indigenous, women, Dalit and disabled communities in the Baghauda, Paachpandav, Meghauli, Mrigakunja, and Amaltari Buffer Zone User Committees (BZUC) as well as the Someshwor, Gardi Chure, Radha Krishna, and Baghmara Buffer Zone Community Forests (BZCF).  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251210141228_83a5b021c62b6c4a67888e5eee85d3fdcba3fd34d00e581996213d1ae10d6977.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251210141228_83a5b021c62b6c4a67888e5eee85d3fdcba3fd34d00e581996213d1ae10d6977" data-rendition-name="original" width="1342" height="941" loading="lazy" alt="BZUC map"></figure>  BARRIERS TO INCLUSION The survey found that women are underrepresented in all the BZUCs despite women user groups being larger. Nepal’s Buffer Zone laws dictate that each BZUC has 13 members. Each BZUC is made up of nine units, and as many representatives are elected from those units. The elected members have the authority to choose the remaining four members. This meant that indigenous peoples, marginalised groups, and women have a far lower chance of being elected. Indeed, out of the total members, Paachpandav and Mrigakunja BCUZs had four women, Meghauli had three women, and Baghauda had only one woman, whereas Amaltari user committee had no woman member. In contrast, the BZCF are relatively more inclusive of women, with two out of four surveyed BZCF comprising half women members. Additionally, some grassroots user committees are made up entirely of women. Most women members of the user committees are not appointed through elections, but chosen by elected male members, and are not given positions of leadership. “Women have been the ones protecting the forests ever since the concept of forest conservation initially emerged,” one female participant told us during a focus group discussion. People would get angry when the women stopped them from cutting down trees and grass, and grazing cattle in the jungles, she recalled, adding, “We were dedicated to the user committees. However, we are no longer involved in the committees, nor are we invited to meetings.” When asked about the absence of women in the user committees, one BZUC chairperson responded, “There are only men here because they won the election. Women are unwilling to run for the election. How will they fit into the committee if no woman has ever run for election?” However, not only are women deprived of the chance to contest elections, the chances of them winning polls are also very low because a majority of the positions in the committee will already have been allocated by political parties to their male cadres. Women from marginalised communities face further hurdles.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251210141228_7ee7dc43b925b4d6e97bfdc5a02df85d4d828e8a82eb00d3086217baf2438b43.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251210141228_7ee7dc43b925b4d6e97bfdc5a02df85d4d828e8a82eb00d3086217baf2438b43" data-rendition-name="original" width="959" height="508" loading="lazy" alt="BZUC "></figure>  “No male member from the Musahar community has been elected in the user community, if they had, they could have suggested that women from our community be included in the committee as well,” said a female participant from the Musahar community. While the native Musahar and Bote people lack representation in the BZUC, indigenous people did make up the majority of the members in the committees, while Dalit members were included in some collectives. However, only one committee is led by an indigenous person. The others are chaired by upper-caste hill migrants. In addition, no committee had any representative with disabilities. One of the key reasons for the under-representation of marginalised communities in Nepal’s BZUC is its non-inclusive policy. When Nepal’s Constitution was promulgated in 2015, residents living in proximity to protected areas across Nepal had hoped that policies relating to buffer zones and their governance would be reformed to reflect Nepal’s new socio-political reality. But this has not been the case. However, this has not discouraged indigenous Nepalis, who have continued to demand buffer zone policy reforms that ensure the inclusion of women, indigenous and marginalised communities. In addition to policy revision, it is necessary to reform the buffer zone election so that it is more participatory for underserved communities. Reforms should also regulate the number of members in a user group. Similarly, the budget allocated for buffer zones must be used on activities that benefit conservation instead of local infrastructure development. Women, people with disabilities, indigenous and marginalised communities should be the primary beneficiaries of budget dispensation. Crop damage compensation, which currently is Rs10,000, can be increased by five times to Rs50,000. Policy revisions should ultimately guarantee the rights of indigenous communities like the Sonaha, Bote and Musahar to practice their culture and traditional livelihoods and receive a formal education. Buffer Zone User Committees must apply indigenous conservation practices for park management. Birendra Mahato is an elected member of the Ratnanagar Municipality Ward 6 and Founder Chair of the Tharu Culture Museum Research Centre in Sauraha.

Parks by the people and for the people

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721d4a9c7e80680e0bd4dejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="931"/><figcaption>Nepal has successfully doubled the number of its tiger population. Photo: WWF</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s success in protecting endangered wildlife and their habitats is unquestionably impressive. It leads the world in innovative policies that promote community participation in conservation, such as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">community forestry</a>, conservation areas like Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), and national park buffer zones.Nepal’s forest cover has nearly doubled from 26% in 1992 to 45% in 2016. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-many-rhinos-is-enough-rhinos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">population of rhinos</a> have increased from 100 in the 1960s to 752 in 2021, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-jungle-out-there/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tigers</a> from 121 in 2010 to about 240 last year. These successes have happened despite high human population density, which makes them even more astounding.We can attribute much of Nepal’s success to a ‘sandwich’ of innovative policies from above and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/villagers-step-up-to-protect-nepals-tigers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">community action</a> from below, which have made the country a role model for biodiversity conservation around the world.Protected area buffer zone policies enacted in the mid-1990s incorporated communities in globally unprecedented ways. They set aside 30-50% of park income to locals for conservation and livelihood activities and made provisions for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-can-up-forest-cover-to-45-by-2030/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">community forestry</a> in the buffer zone.But these policies would not have been effective without people’s support for protected areas and environmental conservation. Even before buffer zone policies took effect, people appreciated benefits from protected areas.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721d4d9c7e80680e0bd4dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="701"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721d509c7e80680e0bd4e0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3506" height="2481"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In the mid-1990s, I surveyed communities in the buffer zone of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-animal-interface-in-nepal-wildlife-corridor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bardia National Park</a> about their perceptions. More than half of the people said the park benefited them in a multitude of ways. People described the area as beautiful, green, and good to see.They thought it was useful to conserve the forest and wildlife, that the protected area improved the climate and increased water for crops. They appreciated resources they could extract from the park, such as thatch, fuelwood, fruits, and vegetables.Today, people there are even more likely to perceive benefits. In a 2015 study, more than 90% of people felt the Park was important for a healthy environment and for future generations. Two-thirds said it was essential for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conservation of wildlife</a>.But the buffer zone policies are not perfect.In the 1990s, when park-people programs first began in Nepal, the primary goal was to reduce locals’ dependency on parks by improving their livelihoods. To achieve this goal, buffer zone policies set aside half of the community funds for development and income generation activities. Development funds went to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-needs-wildlife-friendly-highways/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">physical infrastructure</a>, such as roads and buildings, and income generation funds went to trainings like vegetable farming and motorcycle repair.But these types of activities are not directly related to conservation. During my research in the 1990s, when buffer zone projects were first piloted, local residents around Bardia National Park questioned how sewing training for women and health posts were connected to conservation of the park.The project-sponsored health post was even perceived as detrimental because it competed with the local government health post. Thirty years later, while visiting <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chitwan-can-accommodate-more-tigers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chitwan National Park</a>’s buffer zone in January this year, I heard the same sentiments.People questioned why buffer zone money was going to development projects with no direct link to conservation instead of community forests and community-based anti-poaching units.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721d539c7e80680e0bd4e1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1441" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Around the world, alternative livelihoods are the go-to activity for communities when it comes to biodiversity conservation projects. However, the main benefit of livelihood activities is often improved community relations. There is little evidence that they are successful in terms of increasing people’s income or in decreasing pressure on protected areas. They can even cause more <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/hiding-their-head-in-the-sand/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">natural resource extraction</a>.And, unfortunately, the focus on increasing income has limited our appreciation of the ways that protected areas help communities. Increasingly, studies are showing that, contrary to the common belief that protected areas cause or exacerbate poverty, the benefits from protected areas actually translate into less poverty in Nepal and other places like Bolivia, Costa Rica and Thailand.The underlying problem for communities in protected areas is not poverty, but that they do not have sufficient opportunities to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nature-without-borders/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">participate in conservation and management</a>. Focusing on providing ways for people to participate will improve livelihoods that complement conservation.Now, as Nepal modifies its buffer zone regulations, it has an opportunity to prioritise activities that strengthen the links between communities and conservation. This will create sustainable livelihoods in the broader sense of improved health, water, climate, and nature resources. Following are some recommendations that will strengthen the park-people relationship:<ol><li>Buffer zone funds should not be used for regular government activities but rather support conservation activities that directly help communities protect habitat and wildlife.</li></ol>This means prioritising <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">community forests</a>, community-based anti-poaching units, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, and support for forest and natural resource- dependent communities, who are often the poorest of the poor and the most marginalised. This may also help depoliticise buffer zone management committees, a common criticism of the current system.<ol start="2"><li>Support for forest and natural resource-dependent communities should prioritise the sustainability of traditional livelihood activities, especially for the most marginalised communities. Policies should support and enable the conditions to incorporate people’s traditional activities into the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/naturally-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conservation of natural resources</a> and serve as a bridge for these communities to alternative livelihoods.</li></ol>For example, buffer zone funds could be used to create and support river stretch conservation user groups, just as they support community forest groups.<ol start="3"><li>Buffer zone policies should have mechanisms to incorporate local and traditional ecological knowledge into habitat and wildlife management. For example, water and grassland management are two increasingly critical issues in protected areas of Nepal, about which people with traditional and ecological knowledge, such as Tharu, Sonoha, Maje, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chitwans-bote-people-in-a-changing-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bote</a>, and Musahar know a great deal. They can provide invaluable insights and perspectives into pressing conservation needs.</li> <li>Buffer zone policies should be consistent with national policy guidelines and community forestry guidelines regarding inclusion and pro-poor activities. For example, community forestry policies require registration of both male and female head of households, 50% women participation on committees, and require that 35% of Community Forest User Group (CFUG) funds be allocated to pro-poor activities.</li></ol>Buffer zone policies should also have similar provisions. In addition, there should be equal representation of households in buffer zone management groups. For example, one household in each user group should have the same voting power as any other household in any other user group.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721d569c7e80680e0bd4e2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This means user groups should represent the same number of people across the buffer zone. Currently, while a user group must have at least 15 households, some have up to 100, but each user group, regardless of size, has two delegates who choose user committees members.Our survival as a species depends on policies and communities everywhere in the world <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/between-existence-and-extinction-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">preserving our environment and its biological diversity</a>. Nepal leads the world in bringing communities and conservation together. It will be interesting to see where Nepal will lead the world next with its revised buffer zone policies.Teri D Allendorf, PhD, is the executive director of Community Conservation Inc. and an Honorary Fellow in Dept of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.

Protecting Nepal’s parks by saving buffer zones

Kathmandu Valley alone now has over 700 cafes serving mugs made from freshly ground beans. ‘Americano double shot’, ‘Cappuccino’ and ‘Mocha’ have entered the Nepali language. It has also become a cash crop for thousands of farmers with near-perfect growing conditions along the Himalayan foothills.&nbsp; Yet, annual coffee production has declined by 15% to only 550 tons in the past years, and this meets only a fraction of the domestic demand of 6,000 tons.&nbsp; Nepali coffee fetches $22 per kg in the international market, but Nepal only exports 3% of its crop. If cleverly promoted, the international demand for Nepali coffee can be 8,000 tons. “Coffee is all about story-telling,” explains <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/Gagan-Pradhan-and-Himalayan-Java,1076">Gagan Pradhan, founder of Himalayan Java Coffee</a>. “Nepali coffee has brand value because it is grown in the highest elevations on earth and is a cash crop for cooperatives and small farmers. There is tremendous potential for growth.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_1f366d8a85cc133fedee0ee72d7768d3a23bf51f8d43edbdadf98443bc0c01ba.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260205100216_1f366d8a85cc133fedee0ee72d7768d3a23bf51f8d43edbdadf98443bc0c01ba" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1518" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  The reason for the decline in coffee production lately is attributed to erratic weather caused by climate change, but mostly it is because it is manual-intensive, needing initial capital and patience for a return on investment. The strategy that makes most sense for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/make-way-for-makalu-coffee">Nepal’s coffee industry</a> is to sell it as a rare, specialty product.&nbsp; Says Raj Kumar Banjara, master trainer at Nepal Coffee Academy and originator of the Himalayan Arabica brand: “There is no better crop for Nepal because we have the ideal soil and weather to grow specialty coffee, which can be exported to third countries directly instead of sending it through India like with ginger, cardamom, or tea.” These favorable conditions are at altitudes between 800m to 1,600m along the mid-mountains and temperature not exceeding 22°C, which allows cherries to &nbsp;develop slower, giving it a denser taste with complex flavours of fruits and nuts.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_35e470381d258d9598d30165d0dbb6b4294c389c61695bf8c47d72d2273b4629.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260205100216_35e470381d258d9598d30165d0dbb6b4294c389c61695bf8c47d72d2273b4629" data-rendition-name="original" width="3872" height="2592" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_f7ccb42d7a7fb656dadc7ba5132a6243b8f99a28f7877875172411b7a4c96bc0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260205100216_f7ccb42d7a7fb656dadc7ba5132a6243b8f99a28f7877875172411b7a4c96bc0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="768" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  This is ‘Arabica’ coffee, and it is also considered ‘organic by default’ because farmers have limited access to chemical pesticides and fertilisers, adding to its premium. All of Nepal’s coffee is grown in only 4,300 hectares total, and this is just 0.36% of the area suitable for coffee farming. Still 31,000 households across 44 districts depend on this cash crop.&nbsp; Challenges include out-migration, limits on land ownership, and climate breakdown leading to colder, drier winters, droughts and heat stress. Shreeyanch Shrestha is the founder of Samparka Cloud Loyalty, a startup that helps businesses retain customers by giving them insights about customer behaviour. Among the services offered is a digital loyalty card for coffee shops, one of his biggest clientele.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_c80e17ac78016ae5a90f4b27105e16af6c39d1422665f9f9c9b1d8404e5e7d54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260205100216_c80e17ac78016ae5a90f4b27105e16af6c39d1422665f9f9c9b1d8404e5e7d54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100212_968c5b264ec2fb65014dc3ebc2777f0bf19f596a4152c59f9cad9d99dee79df7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260205100212_968c5b264ec2fb65014dc3ebc2777f0bf19f596a4152c59f9cad9d99dee79df7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="900" loading="lazy" alt="coffee beans"> </figure>  Shrestha is also a coffee enthusiast, and recently collaborated with Baato Maps on the playfully designed ‘Kathmandu Coffee Map’.&nbsp; “This was a marketing campaign but also a way to pay tribute to cafe owners we worked with,” he says. “A new generation of coffee farmers, processors, roasters and consumers seem to want to invest in upgrading their coffee experience.” COFFEE CULTURE Operators such as Raj Kumar Banjara have been in that game for over 30 years, even earning a PhD in Coffee Agriculture, running farms and teaching roasting and barista courses. Now, he makes short how-to videos on social media. Banjara’s Academy is run by Specialty Coffee Association certified Q Graders and Authorised Trainers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_22433d3a8b71224cd8cb38105b9eb5502a104e03ccec2e3864c8b23efc9f3fc6.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260205100216_22433d3a8b71224cd8cb38105b9eb5502a104e03ccec2e3864c8b23efc9f3fc6" data-rendition-name="original" width="3612" height="2028" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  Also promoting a coffee culture through social media is Santosh Shah of Bariko Coffee. He documents his process on Instagram, from hand picking and processing coffee cherries to brewing.&nbsp; Nepal appears to be riding the Third Wave of Coffee (see box) as the beverage moves away from the café chain culture to one that values knowledge of the cherries, beans, the roasting process and brewing -- right from the plant to the cup.&nbsp; Along the way, there are tales to be told about where the coffee is grown, who grows it, and how farmers get a fair price for the product. Coffee then becomes a shared social experience that directly connects the consumer to the producer. Nima Tenzing Sherpa returned to Nepal from the United States to start Lekali Coffee Estate in 2018, and produces fine single origin coffee beans so that the quality of the product improves the quality of life of the growers.&nbsp; He told Nepali Times: “Specialty-grade beans are the only future for Nepal’s coffee industry. I am continuously hunting for the best coffee origins in Nepal.” &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100212_e08ba44d6396eb75da868404dd8cf2a26b71cd6d90ab3afaf7175790c111d21e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20260205100212_e08ba44d6396eb75da868404dd8cf2a26b71cd6d90ab3afaf7175790c111d21e" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="coffee beans"> <figcaption>Photo: LEKALI COFFEE ESTATE </figcaption> </figure>  HISTORY OF COFFEE Human consumption of coffee began in Ethiopia when herders found their goats became perky after eating beans from a wild Arabica bush. The first commercial cultivation of the brew began in Yemen 600 years ago. &nbsp;&nbsp; Nepal’s coffee history is much younger. A holy man is said to have brought coffee seeds from Burma in 1938, and planted them in Gulmi, the district in the mid-mountains where the first coffee nursery was set up in 1981. The Nepal Coffee Company was founded in 1983 by Krishna Ghimire in Manigram near Butwal which educated farmers about the crop and recruited them to cultivate it. He then roasted the beans, and convinced the BhatBhateni stores, which had just opened, to sell it. The company still supplies coffee to cafes and has its own brands and farm. It supplies green beans to those who want to self-roast, or build a brand. In the 1990s, the National Tea and Coffee Development Board was established, and Himalayan Java Coffee (Nepal Made, right) opened its first shop in Kamaladi before moving to Thamel. Itr now has nearly 100 franchises across Nepal and overseas.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260207030236_1908f4a4246d373f51affa8ac48be90129e888f1222b8f10e5cd25421e931dd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260207030236_1908f4a4246d373f51affa8ac48be90129e888f1222b8f10e5cd25421e931dd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="2052" height="1455" loading="lazy" alt="coffee map"> </figure>  What is the Third Wave? First Wave: Profit-driven, mass marketing, air tight containers and instant coffee. Consumption of coffee worldwide starts growing.&nbsp; Second Wave: Artisan-driven, origin and roasting style become important, epitomised by Starbucks and espresso. &nbsp; <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Nepali-specialty-coffee,4106">Third Wave</a>: Characteristics of the beverage take centre stage: origin of the beans, consistent processing techniques, and roasting style. Independent coffee shops demonstrate craftsmanship and knowledge of coffee beans from plant to the cup, promoting ethics and transparency.&nbsp; Coffee Districts Coffee is grown in over 44 districts of Nepal (see map, above). In the last fiscal year, Nepal produced 550 tonnes of Bourbon, Typica and Yellow Caturra varieties of Arabica coffee. The total plantation area in Nepal is 4,300 hectares, a fraction of the total suitable land. &nbsp;

Caffeine buzz

When I landed in Kathmandu last November, I arrived with a Diwali hangover. Not the festive kind, but the coughing, dust-coated, throat-scratching kind gifted by North India’s winter air. After a decade of breathing in Delhi’s seasonal gas chamber, my lungs were in an open revolt. But within days of landing in Kathmandu, my cough vanished. It felt almost miraculous. The air was crisper. The Air Quality Index was kinder, and the Himalayan peaks rose on the horizon.&nbsp;
But by the third week, the familiar grey veil returned. First as a faint blur, then peak by peak the Himalaya began to disappear. Locals said it had been getting worse every year.&nbsp;
Much of this haze is not Kathmandu’s doing. What drifts into Nepal each winter is a toxic spillover from the plains of North India and Pakistan: black carbon, brown clouds, and fine particulate matter carried across borders by seasonal winds. Kathmandu’s bowl-shaped valley simply traps what the region exhales.
Abid Omar, founder of the <a href="https://pakairquality.com/" target="_blank">Pakistan Air Quality Initiative</a>, put it bluntly: “We often view air pollution and climate change as separate silos, but in the Himalaya, they are one and the same.”
Black carbon is essentially soot from diesel emissions, brick kilns, and crop burning. It may be short-lived in the atmosphere, but when ash settles on snow and ice, it reduces reflectivity and accelerates melting.&nbsp;
Omar adds, “Black carbon is a threat to the water security of the entire Indus and Ganges basins.”
What burns on both sides of Punjab do not stay in Punjab. It ends up on glaciers that feed rivers, sustaining hundreds of millions of people downstream.
In November 2024, AQI levels in New Delhi hovered near 500 and about the same time Lahore briefly became the world’s most polluted city, with the AQI count crossing 1,100. These numbers are not abstract.
According to the <a href="https://www.stateofglobalair.org/resources/archived/state-global-air-report-2024" target="_blank">State of Global Air 2024 report</a>, India recorded more than 2 million deaths attributable to air pollution in 2023. Bangladesh and Pakistan each saw over 200,000 deaths. Air pollution is now one of the leading causes of premature death across South Asia.
Nepal, often imagined as cleaner by default, tells a sobering story of its own. Air pollution in Nepal led to an estimated <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/06/17/air-pollution-is-the-number-one-health-risk-factor-in-nepal#:~:text=Vehicle%20Emissions:%20Continuing%20to%20electrify,airflows%20carry%20pollutants%20across%20borders." target="_blank">48,500 premature deaths</a>, with the loss of more than 1.4 million disability-adjusted life years. The University of Chicago’s <a href="https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/post/nepal-capital-chokes-as-wildfires-rage-en" target="_blank">Air Quality Life Index</a> estimates that particulate pollution cuts 3.4 years off the life of the average Nepali. In the Tarai region, life expectancy drops by nearly five years. In Kathmandu, residents lose 2.6 years.
Says infectious disease specialist Anup Subedee: “Air pollution is killing at a far higher rate than Covid-19 did during its worst years in Nepal. People are dying in their twenties of cancer, or having heart attacks and strokes in their thirties and forties.”
Nearly <a href="https://www.icimod.org/press-release/kathmandu-choked-on-polluted-air-for-75-of-the-last-90-days/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank">40 per cent of winter particulate pollution in the Kathmandu</a> valley originates outside Nepal. Black carbon carried from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in India, besides parts of Pakistan, rides the winds north, settles on Himalayan snow, and accelerates glacier melt by absorbing heat.
“The pollutants travel across borders within shared airsheds, creating one gigantic plume of polluted air over India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan several times a year,” says Subedee.
In some Himalayan regions, <a href="https://www.icimod.org/success-stories/chapter-2/black-carbon-and-glacier-melt/" target="_blank">scientists estimate</a> that black carbon can increase localised melt rates by up to 30%. Yet global climate negotiations continue to treat glacial loss primarily as a carbon dioxide problem.&nbsp;
CHINA’S APPROACH
The South Asian story is transboundary, and more immediate as well as more preventable. This is not only about emissions. It is about coordination, and China offers an instructive contrast.
Since 2013, China has dramatically improved its air quality by declaring a '<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/12/12/what-new-delhi-can-learn-from-chinas-war-on-air-pollution#:~:text=In%20the%20following%20years%2C%20Beijing,29.3%CE%BCg%2Fm%C2%B3%20in%202024." target="_blank">war on pollution</a>'. A major air pollutant, suspended PM2.5 levels fell sharply through strict controls on coal, vehicles, and industry, massive investment in renewables, and legally binding national action plans.
Crucially, China shifted from city-by-city firefighting to a regional airshed approach. Provinces shared data, coordinated emergency responses, enforced unified standards, and tied environmental performance to political accountability. South Asian countries have done none of this.
Isolated national actions are insufficient when pollution itself ignores borders. India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan share the same airshed. Without cooperation, each country keeps breathing its neighbour’s mistakes.
“As the government representing the largest population affected by air pollution, India should lead this effort. Instead, the region has drifted away from cooperation, and the cost is becoming catastrophic,” Subedee says.
The haze over Kathmandu is not only Nepal’s burden. It is a <a href="https://sapannews.com/2024/12/27/could-climate-diplomacy-be-the-googly-a-gamechanger-for-regional-cooperation/" target="_blank">regional failure</a>. The melting of South Asia’s glaciers is not just a global warming story. It is also a local one, written in the smoke rising from our own fields, factories, and highways.
If we keep ignoring black carbon, the Himalayas will keep losing time, snow, and stability. The disappearing peaks of Kathmandu are not a metaphor. They are a warning.
And like the air itself, that warning is already crossing borders. ©Sapan News
Pragyan Srivastava is an Indian journalist and associate editor at <a href="http://www.sapannews.com/" target="_blank">Sapan News</a>. <a href="mailto:pragyan@sapannews.com" target="_blank">pragyan@sapannews.com</a>

Cleaning up the Himalayan airshed

This is the 82nd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. In September, under pressure from GenZ activists, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal pledged to ensure that overseas Nepalis would be able to vote in the March election. The analysis from experts, election officials, and much of the public was that the Election Commission was not prepared to ensure out-of-country voting in such a short time.&nbsp; But just because the diaspora cannot exercise its franchise does not mean Nepalis abroad cannot influence the election outcome. The 2021 census said 2.1 million Nepalis lived abroad, but realistically three times more live, work and study overseas.&nbsp; Being breadwinners also makes them decision makers for families back home. Most have left because they could not get meaningful jobs and sought opportunities abroad, which means they are not happy with the way Nepal has been governed by the established parties and leaders.&nbsp; The diaspora is therefore mostly an anti-incumbent vote bank, which was one reason the political leadership blocked out-of-country voting for so long – despite a Supreme Court ruling that all citizens had a constitutional right to vote, wherever they lived. &nbsp; In the 2022 polls, overseas Nepalis had already shown considerable influence by backing newer and alternative candidates like Balendra Shah for Kathmandu mayor, and parties like the RSP. In the four years since, and especially since the GenZ movement, support for a political shakeup has grown even stronger. So has technological reach that enables the diaspora to politically organise from overseas. &nbsp;‘Technology has reduced the distance in communication, but has also lowered the barrier in a way that allows overseas Nepalis to pressure family members,’ author Narayan Wagle wrote in an op-ed on Setopati this week. Indeed, all it takes for family members to be convinced whom to vote for is an ultimatum that relatives will stop sending money. With less than a month to go for the 5 March election, many Nepalis overseas are campaigning remotely for preferred candidates, even if they cannot themselves cast ballots.&nbsp; The overwhelming feeling seems to be that younger candidates should be given a chance. &nbsp;&nbsp; Read what some Nepalis abroad have to say. NEPAL'S NON-VOTING MIGRANTS <h2>My Respected Parents</h2> Anil Gole, Romania [This letter is a letter to my parents ahead of the election. They are UML supporters, my uncle is for the Nepali Congress (NC), and my grandfather supports the Nepali Communist Party (NCP).] My Respected Parents, I hear that election fever has picked up in the village. New faces with new ways of thinking have emerged this time. I don’t really understand politics, so what I say may feel bitter. But Father, when I see the flag with the sun in your hands, I remember the heat of Qatar from 12 years ago, your sunburnt skin and mother’s cheeks wrinkled with worry. Perhaps Uncle, too, found the Saudi heat so intolerable that he returned home. That may be why while seeking shade, he found the NC tree symbol endearing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Great uncle spent his whole life back home in the village, which is perhaps why he identifies with symbols like the plough, the sickle, and the hoe.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040236_669402ff85bdbd58360c12e10d23900ad99596b7a8dc196b8db1bcfe7e81e80e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260206040236_669402ff85bdbd58360c12e10d23900ad99596b7a8dc196b8db1bcfe7e81e80e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Anil Gole</figcaption> </figure>  Even then, at any cost, vote for the same politicians. Vote for the same politicians who have not developed the country, who have not fed the poor, whose sons have not been shot.&nbsp; What if the country does not change? I have changed my country. When homesick, I have learnt what it feels like to suffocate in tears under a blanket. Now my younger brother is old enough. Send him here as well. We brothers will earn together. We will marry off our sister in a grand way. So what if the country does not develop? We will build a small, cute house with a big yard. You can play with the grandchildren there. And when they grow up, they too can migrate. But if you vote for the right people and the country gets good leaders, future generations will not have to sweat in foreign lands. They will not have to leave the comfort of a mother’s lap to spend nights abroad in unknown cities. No matter how hard things get, they will not have to lie in letters to their mothers,saying, “I’m doing fine, Mother.” I have not lost courage because of your blessings. My body is here, but my mind is always back home in Nepal. Your children are here, but my children’s future is in your hands. That is why vote for the same politicians whose hearts did not bleed even when the young were killed, the same politicians whose children have not come home in a box. Mother and Father, please take care of each other. Yours truly, Your fortunate migrant son <h2>Algorithm versus vision</h2> Ambika Paudel, Qatar I have been in Qatar for 18 years, and work in the facilities management, engineering, shipping and logistics &nbsp;industry. I get to interact with people from across the world, and they are closely connected with their embassies through online systems and communities. I lead the Nepal Expatriate Community that has multidisciplinary professionals and have observed the need to revise the narrative around migrants. We are here for our families. The sacrifices we make are for them. We are working for our own career growth and families because there were no opportunities back home. Many of us have achieved a good standard of living through our hard work and merit. When I send money to Nepal, it is for my family and the benefit to the government is a byproduct. It would have been good if we got to vote, too. That possibility and promise got lost somewhere in the policy confusion and lack of technical capacity. Overseas Nepalis are also deeply invested in the election, but it is largely algorithm based. We are not questioning the vision of the candidates.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040236_dc05b31d3abcf126360d923615a785a36de5b62a8695af9cbff000b586d0336d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260206040236_dc05b31d3abcf126360d923615a785a36de5b62a8695af9cbff000b586d0336d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Ambika Paudel</figcaption> </figure>  Our parents back home are the actual voters, and those overseas &nbsp;are talking to them. I don’t think they will be swayed just based on calls, and they shouldn’t be either. We are prioritising algorithms and words and social media boosts over vision, experience, and concrete plans. I am for the NC but I am not a blind supporter. Despite being at the forefront of every significant democratic change in Nepal’s history, the party has had lapses but it is currently on a new trajectory. Not all candidates of all parties are good so we have to elect competent leaders and question them. Whatever promises they make need to be examined for delivery and vision.&nbsp; There are also Congress loyalists who are swayed and influenced by the new, but I let it be — it is their right, their choice. Change requires vision and experience, it should not be based on hype, I remind them. Over online conversations, I tell them to vote wisely so they don’t regret it later. I returned from my break just recently so I cannot come home to vote as it will be too expensive. There are good human resources back in Nepal and in the diaspora which can be used. There are people in decision-making positions in their companies who are very capable and intelligent who could contribute to Nepal. These are missed opportunities in our policymaking and governance: Nepal needs to create opportunities for capable Nepalis.&nbsp; The new government can make the investment climate better through a one-door system so that services are accessible, quick and there is no need to go to multiple offices to start a company or pay taxes. This would also stop unnecessary bribes and other hassles. I don’t have plans to return in the near future. I have a good job and am earning well. I came to Nepal between 2016 and 2019 and remigrated again after things did not work out. <h2>The young need convincing</h2> Jeevan Kumar Dewan, Malaysia I have been living in Malaysia since 2001, and am an active member of the UML wing here. There is excitement about the upcoming election, but we are bound by contracts so cannot go home to vote.&nbsp; There was hope that we would be able to vote from overseas, but there were questions of security. Even though we won’t be able to vote, people are actively participating online and using social media to show their support to their candidates and parties of choice.&nbsp; Political parties prioritise organisational expansion overseas but there is no direct campaigning during elections. It is through conversations and social media engagement that people are participating, debating and expressing their support and loyalty.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_2ed54377199b995f0a19b7be98fff79004c13787c7a07185a47427467237277a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260206040240_2ed54377199b995f0a19b7be98fff79004c13787c7a07185a47427467237277a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Jeevan Kumar Dewan</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;As a UML supporter, it is my duty to remind people to cut through the noise and to separate facts and truth. While elderly voters don’t need much convincing as they are loyal to the party, I do engage a fair amount with the young voters. I have to remind them not to get distracted by the videos shared in social media platforms. All new is not good just because it is new if there is no real political agenda. There is no doubt that we need change but being new is not enough nor can we overlook the contributions and experience of the old parties. All we can do is talk to the voters and try to get our message across. It is important to prioritise better managed migration and also to ensure migrants have proper guidance on how to invest their hard-earned money in productive sectors, even when it is not much, so they have something to fall back on after returning. I don’t have plans to return immediately, I go back and forth quite frequently. I have a stable job and I have seen how my friends who left secure jobs to return home ended up remigrating after their investment failed. I will stay here and continue with my job which I am happy with. <h2>The old need convincing</h2> Prajwal Poudel, Saudi Arabia I work as a data entry analyst in Saudi Arabia. People overseas have seen development, but have also experienced challenges of being away from home. Politicians are aware of this and didn’t want us to vote.&nbsp; When I was in Nepal, I did not care much about politics. It was not for me. But overseas we care about Nepal even more. Perhaps you don’t know the value of something unless you lose it. Perhaps distance makes hearts grow fonder. I am definitely more invested in Nepali politics after leaving.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_43ea30dfb58b873760e40177d84dca4bb34f1c9cdffdbc9a7c5a0c26b15e78b9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260206040240_43ea30dfb58b873760e40177d84dca4bb34f1c9cdffdbc9a7c5a0c26b15e78b9" data-rendition-name="original" width="738" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_dfbc2302411e1ae32a4ab048fa34d940147942c00845d82d9cf59574f5c2e0fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260206040240_dfbc2302411e1ae32a4ab048fa34d940147942c00845d82d9cf59574f5c2e0fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas Nepali vote bank NT"> </figure>  So I have to make sure that family members back home make the right decision this election. My cousin is also with me in Saudi Arabia and I was talking to his parents and telling them to vote correctly. They have voted for the same faces for two decades. I said that if there had been changes we would not have had to migrate. That this time they should accept the masu-bhat and alcohol, say UML-Congress jindaawaad, take the money offered but finally stamp on Ghanti.&nbsp; My cousin posted a recording of that call spontaneously on Tiktok. It went viral perhaps because it resonated with the youth. We cannot vote but we have to make sure at least our close family members vote correctly. My mother also seems ready for a change despite her loyalty to the UML, but I tell her she does not need to change her party just change her vote this year.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_0234dfec6f97a726f67120124833bb3fdc84cbf794eee910736649c5624e7576.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260206040240_0234dfec6f97a726f67120124833bb3fdc84cbf794eee910736649c5624e7576" data-rendition-name="original" width="1168" height="1556" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Prajwal Poudel</figcaption> </figure>  We need to give the new ones a chance. But it’s also true that the new will not bring dramatic changes overnight. Conversations here are all about the election back home. We talk about who is getting elected from their areas. Who they think will win. But the hottest topic of conversation is of course Jhapa. For those of us abroad, the government should make our embassies stronger. Back home, I hope corruption will be curbed and that good roads will reach all corners of the country. This will allow people to develop the country themselves.&nbsp; I am the son of a Malaysia returnee. I even worked as a teacher in Nepal. I could not even afford decent clothes so I left everything and came here. I don’t know when I will return.

Overseas Nepali vote bank

The series <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/looking-good-by-doing-good">Nepal Made</a> profiles world-class Nepali products and the people behind them. The Dutch colonised Indonesian island of Java in 1596, and found that the coffee plant thrived in its fertile volcanic soil. Java had become the primary source of coffee for the world by 1720, and the place name became synonymous with the beverage.&nbsp; Four hundred years later, in Kathmandu an entrepreneur named Gagan Pradhan founded Himalayan Java Coffee. After returning from Australia in 1990, he found that opening a café was the most affordable investment. Now, 27 years later, there are 100 Java franchises in the Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara, Kurintar, Itahari and even Toronto and Lhasa.&nbsp; The story of Himalayan Java is pioneering, yet simple, combining consistent delivery in tastefully designed cafes at strategic locations to create a juggernaut of a brand. New Javas seem to pop up exactly where you would expect them to. “It all started as a passion, a hobby, and I never expected this venture to spread so widely so rapidly,” founder Pradhan told us at the Thamel outlet, where Himalayan Java moved in 2000 after opening the first small café in Kamaladi. Located on the first floor of a North Face showroom opposite Fire &amp; Ice Pizzeria in Thamel, the cafe has seating overlooking the street, and a spacious, bright indoors that is packed with locals, tourists, furniture, staff, baked goods on display, Himalayan Java merch, and coffee paraphernalia.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260208020256_12442271634ac9d5c2fa0ff723e42acb521a4b5d6f02b2c8ddb43664acf3f4b9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260208020256_12442271634ac9d5c2fa0ff723e42acb521a4b5d6f02b2c8ddb43664acf3f4b9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1416" height="943" loading="lazy" alt="Himalayan Java"> </figure>  On a recent Friday afternoon, there were Nepalis, tourists from India and China in groups and solo, and monks in maroon. Westerners lounged on sofas, focused intensely on their laptops with headphones on. On an isolated balcony corner, two UML cadre could be overheard planning a campaign rally for the March election.&nbsp; CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Nearby in Darbar Marg is another Himalayan Java on the top floor of a building overlooking Narayanhiti Palace. On Mandala Street up a flight of stairs and in JP Marg is another Java outlet. That makes four outlets within a 400m circle in Kathmandu. Over in Patan, the density of locations is even higher: within 1sq km in the Sanepa-Jhamsikhel- Pulchok area are eight Himalayan Java outlets.&nbsp; Himalayan Java’s franchise business model is unique for Nepal: there is no other food or beverage business that has pulled it off on this scale.&nbsp; “We want Java to become a part of the customers’ life, as a casual place to meet or rest,” says General Manager Diwakar Ojha, explaining that an interested party applies, is vetted and can buy a franchise for a certain location. The criteria is whether the franchise has the resources and capacity to handle running the outlet long-term.&nbsp; The investor must follow rules and regulations to ensure quality of the product, standard of service and interior décor. But the management, marketing, staffing and supply chain are all handled by Himalayan Java which charges a franchise fee and a percentage of sales.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100212_f1f71a5f440495f3a66c02ca81b12e0bd65f819b43b6b95bc7e6dd25692ad3e1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260205100212_f1f71a5f440495f3a66c02ca81b12e0bd65f819b43b6b95bc7e6dd25692ad3e1" data-rendition-name="original" width="641" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="Himalayan Java coffee"> </figure>  Some investors are prolific – there is one in Kathmandu who opened three franchises in two years. The outlets have a common ambience, but each location has its own unique vibe as well.&nbsp; “Same same, but different. We put a lot of thought into it,” Ojha says. “We are careful about location, and getting the design and feel of the cafe to gel with the surroundings. We integrate core things like furniture, bar counters, colours, but each one is unique.” A key value of the brand is consistency, and the main challenge is managing the supply chain. There are sister companies under the Himalayan Java brand: The Bakery, Bakery School, Roastery, Barista School, Import and Export, and Brewshala, where coffees and drinks are trialed and experimented. The hub of the operation is the Roastery and the Bakery in Bluebird Mall from where all beans and baked goods are sent to the outlets. Java now also has its own coffee farm in Ilam, and the rest of the beans are sourced from the Nepal Coffee Company, and it sells only Nepali coffee sourced from small farmers. Java has also evolved into co-working and lounge-type spaces where customers can meet, explore and follow social media trends like Matcha the green-tea based beverage that Java modified into the popular Blended Matcha, a Matcha Latte, and a Strawberry Matcha drink. Himalayan Java Coffee recently received a large investment from NIBL Equity Partners who acquired a 28.8% stake opening the way for more expansion (pictured). Plans are afoot to open more franchises across Nepal and in New Delhi. Despite its popularity, one criticism is the price point. An Americano can cost up to Rs355. Ojha justifies this saying the price reflects the high overheads.&nbsp; One solution is Himalayan Java Express, designed much more pragmatically, mainly for to-go orders where drink prices are slashed by half. &nbsp;&nbsp;