Chandra Prasad Gurung grew up in the village of Sikles below the Annapurnas where he was steeped at a young age in the rhythms of the seasons that determined planting, harvesting, herding livestock to high pasture, and sustainable natural resource management. These were indigenous practices of the Gurung community passed down through generations: collective decision-making to take just enough from nature to allow it to recover. That was how the seed of a new conservation ethos was planted in Chandra Gurung’s mind, later to flower when he went on to complete two masters degrees and a PhD in geography from the University of Hawaii. On return to Nepal, the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation included him in a task force to design a national park for the Annapurnas with Mingma Sherpa and Broughton Coburn. The team crisscrossed the entire region in 1985 for two months on foot from Sikles to Ghorepani, from Manang to Lo Manthang just as trekker numbers on the circuit were increasing.&nbsp; What the team heard from people in tea shops and verandahs was almost unanimous: we do not want a national park here. Locals had heard about Chitwan, Sagarmatha and Rara where residents were either evicted or restricted from taking part in traditional activities by national park authorities.&nbsp; So, the team methodically planned interventions to allow a balance between lifting living standards with environmental protection. What if conservation itself paid for development and improved the lives of residents?&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Conserving-conservation,151">Conserving conservation</a>, Sara Parker Their findings were presented to the government, and approved. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/municipalities-want-to-manage-annapurna">The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) </a>was a departure from the western-inspired model of complete wilderness protection by resettling people out of their ancestral lands. The Conservation Area concept was later replicated in Manaslu, Rolwaling, Kangchenjunga and Api Saipal. Chandra was working on a book documenting details of the step-by-step approach to establishing ACAP and other protected areas. At age 56, Gurung and Mingma Sherpa along with Nepal’s top conservationists were among the 24 people killed in a helicopter crash in 2006 after a handover ceremony of the 2,000 sq km Kangchenjunga Conservation Area to local communities in Ghunsa.&nbsp; Chandra’s manuscript had been lost, but was fortuitously located at the Blue Mountains National Park in the garage of an Australian academic by Hum Gurung, a student of Chandra. Hum then worked with the Chandra Gurung Conservation Foundation to posthumously publish the book, Caring for the Annapurna, which was launched last week in Kathmandu. “It was Chandra Gurung’s dream to document the history and evolution of ACAP, which was the first program that integrated conservation and human development,” says Hum Gurung, who is now with BirdLife International. “It was a paradigm shift in how to protect nature while ensuring community development.” Indeed, the belief in the conservation academia at the time was that Nepal’s poorest were responsible for deforestation and people had to be evicted from national parks which needed to be guarded by the army. This meant indigenous communities were resettled outside nature reserves, and their traditional conservation practices were gradually lost. Chandra Gurung was the Nepal representative of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/world-lost-2-3-of-its-animals-in-50-years-wwf-report">World Wildlife Fund (WWF) </a>when he died, and this book has to be read in conjunction with A Boy from Sikles: The Life and Times of Chandra Gurung by Manjushree Thapa that reveals more of Chandra’s personal life, his efforts to appease Nepal’s royalty, and the struggles he waged as an outsider against the Kathmandu bureaucracy.&nbsp; The book Caring for the Annapurna encapsulates Chandra Gurung’s ethos that biodiversity is threatened because responsibility for its protection has been taken away from local communities who know best how to live in harmony with nature, and national parks were fenced off to be managed by civil servants in Kathmandu.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/protecting-nepal-s-parks-by-saving-buffer-zones">Protecting Nepal’s parks by saving buffer zones</a>, Teri D Allendorf ‘It became obvious to us that unless the local people’s basic needs are addressed, the conservation program, no matter how carefully designed, would not succeed,’ Chandra writes. Such thinking may sound like development cliché today, but was a revolutionary new way to look at conservation in the 1980s. Forty years later, Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) and other reserves are being threatened by a recentralised structure despite Nepal’s 2015 Constitution having theoretically devolved decision-making to local governments. The Ministry of Forests seems to think trees are a resource to be monetised rather than protected. One of Chandra Gurung’s close conservation comrade was Hemanta Mishra, a tiger conservationist who was instrumental in getting Chitwan declared a national park in 1973. Mishra writes in the Foreword to the book, ‘Chandra was a key member of the band of brothers in our battle to save the natural and cultural heritage of our motherland. His mantra was: hard-working, networking and team working … and that was the secret of his successful model of balancing human needs with nature conservation.’ &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241222081256_699c373772ad66faaa68ecd0b98cefedadbd3417ba5d430a1955470c34cc7fd9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241222081256_699c373772ad66faaa68ecd0b98cefedadbd3417ba5d430a1955470c34cc7fd9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Caring for the Annapurna book details NT"> </figure>

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Chandra’s Annapurna

One of the better known names in the Nepali music scene today, as the founder of Project Sarangi and part of Kutumba, is Kiran Nepali. He breathes new life into the traditional string instrument, inspiring younger Nepalis to find a sense of pride in their roots, inviting listeners not just to the sound but also to think about persistent caste discrimination.&nbsp; Nepali is steeped in the cultural heritage of the Gandharva community, who were traditionally minstrels travelling from village to village, singing the news of the land through their lyrics.&nbsp; Modern media replaced this communication system in Nepali society, and the cultural value of Gandharva storytelling disappeared. People stopped associating themselves with the music. Gandharvas experienced caste discrimination, and the sarangi itself became untouchable. Growing up in Kathmandu to a lineage of sarangi players, Nepali’s parents discouraged him from learning the instrument. So he learned the guitar. Later, he went back to the sarangi, and that changed everything.&nbsp; “Don’t chase what you don’t have. Take what you do have and make it great,” says Nepali, reflecting on discarded tradition.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240926110940_618e8218d6892a1343a2a7d9e9a7d1a33e7ad587cb7e4aef9ed8d23b5ef84c80.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240926110940_618e8218d6892a1343a2a7d9e9a7d1a33e7ad587cb7e4aef9ed8d23b5ef84c80" data-rendition-name="original" width="990" height="1314" loading="lazy" alt="Kiran playing the Tungna"> <figcaption>Kiran playing the Tungna, a traditional instrument from the mountains.</figcaption> </figure>  Since 2012, the Project has &nbsp;offered educational opportunities to those who want to play the sarangi. They also developed a locally-made redesign of the instrument so it can be incorporated with technology like loop pedals and amps.&nbsp; Nepali’s love for the sarangi is palpable, as he blends the new amplified sound with the traditional melodies he has perfected, with the instrument serving as a musical bridge between the past and present. As a result of the instrument’s newly acquired modern appeal, he has witnessed a dramatic increase in people wanting to learn sarangi, notably those outside the Gandharva community. Many Nepalis are attracted to learning it as a way of connecting to their roots.&nbsp; But is something lost in modernising the playing? Nepali thinks not, having the opinion that traditional instruments must evolve with the times to stay relevant. “Do we want to see this instrument being played or in a museum?” he asks. “Music must go on, because it has a life, it has a soul, and to preserve it means that it’s already dead." <h2>Sarangi for conservation</h2> Gandharva music is also being used by Greenhood Nepal for its anti-poaching anthem. Greenhood's Kumar Paudel interviewed over 100 people arrested for illegal wildlife trade. Faced with fines and prison sentences of up to 15 years, the interviewees expressed regret, many stating that they had not realised the scale of the penalty, and the toll it would take on their families. Paudel then wrote the lyrics for a collection of songs drawn from the interviews. Collaborating with singer and sarangi player Prakash Gandharva, the songs communicate the impact of illegal wildlife trade on ecosystems and communities, and were performed across Nepal in the traditional Gandharva storytelling style. “In communities with high rates of illiteracy and limited access to the internet, music is the most effective way of communicating these messages,” says Paudel.&nbsp; Amrit Gandhari is a music therapist and owner of Abira Music Shop in Thamel, which he opened after the pandemic. While modern technology may threaten Gandharva music, through social media it also provides a large platform to share the music, broadly.&nbsp; Most sarangi sales from Gandhari's shop are to tourists, who can learn how to play from his YouTube tutorials. He even wrote a song during lockdown to spread awareness about Covid in the traditional Gandharva style. Sarangi has traditionally been a male-dominated instrument but more women are now learning it too. Gandhari is especially proud that his college-age daughter, Anu, has learnt to play.&nbsp; Now, the father-daughter duo perform every evening at 6PM in the Kathmandu Guest House courtyard. Says Anu Gandhari: “I want to be the best sarangi player in the world.” &nbsp; Emma Kieran Schaefer is a Thomas J Watson fellow who was in Nepal for a month to research about Gandharva music. &nbsp;

The musical bridge between past and present

Nepal’s Supreme Court has summoned the President Chure Terai Madhesh Conservation Development Board and the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) in a public interest litigation case against the amendment of the <a href="https://www.forestaction.org/app/webroot/js/tinymce/editor/plugins/filemanager/files/National_Park_Act_1973_Nepal%20(1).pdf">1973 National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act</a>.
The Constitutional Bench comprising Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, as Justices Prakash Man Singh Raut, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/the-goal-is-empowerment-and-independence-of-women">Sapana Pradhan Malla</a>, Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Kumar Regmi ordered representatives of the two institutions to appear in court for a hearing on the writ petition.
In July, President Ramchandra Paudel authenticated a Bill passed hurriedly and secretively by the new NC-UML coalition in both Houses to amend provisions in the 1973 Act to allow investment in infrastructure and projects inside protected areas.
Read more: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-protected-areas-from-infrastructure">Protecting protected areas from infrastructure</a>, Sonia Awale
Senior advocates Prakash Mani Sharma, Dilraj Khanal and Padam Bahadur Shrestha filed a writ in the Supreme Court demanding that the amendments be declared null and void because the amendments added in Section 5A of the Act were against Nepal’s own conservation commitments, and obligations under international biodiversity pacts of which Nepal is a signatory.
The petitioners argue that the amendments were introduced through an investment bill by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies instead of the Ministry of Forests and Environment, and would throw off the careful balance between environmental protection and development in Nepal.
There is a danger Nepal’s internationally-recognised successes in doubling forest cover in 25 years to 46% of area mainly because of community forestry,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-tigers-trees-and-rivers"> tripling the tiger population</a>, and biodiversity protection will be rolled back, they say. The amendment is reportedly being pushed by politicians and their powerful business cronies with support from some international consultants.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/protecting-nepal-s-parks-by-saving-buffer-zones">Protecting Nepal’s parks by saving buffer zones</a>, Teri D Allendorf
The writ petition also argues that the fragmentation of the authority and integrity of protected areas will directly contribute to irreversible ecological damage, harming local livelihoods and heighten inequity.&nbsp;
The petitioners claim that the amendment poses not only an unfair restriction on the right of Nepali citizens to live in a clean and healthy environment, but directly interferes with human-nature coexistence.
As it is, forest protection is the only climate target pledged by Nepal’s leaders at international conferences that the country has actually met. Another investigation shows that illegal logging and timber smuggling is rampant mainly in three Tarai districts bordering India where forest cover is said to have declined by half in past decades.&nbsp;
In particular, section 5A of the Act, which has provisions related to prohibited activities within national parks and reserves, now includes an added clause which will essentially allow the government to designate 'non-sensitive' areas within these protected zones, enabling private sector investment in resorts, cable cars, railways and other infrastructure.&nbsp;
Some international credit agencies and investors argue that Nepal’s economy and local communities must benefit from the country’s conservation successes, and the best way is to allow carefully calibrated investment in national parks, conservation areas, and community forests.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/conservation-vs-conservatives">Conservation vs Conservatives</a>, Maheshwor Acharya
That may work in countries where politicians are accountable and the rule of law prevails, but with Nepal’s current level of corruption and governance failure, handing over nature to big business is a recipe for disaster.
Examples abound of recent cut-and-paste environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports presented by the government for the proposed <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/15-points-for-and-against-nijgad-airport">international airport in Nijgad </a>and hydropower projects in ecologically and culturally fragile Himalayan valleys.&nbsp;
Nepal was relatively successful in addressing the humans vs nature challenge by balancing the needs of local people with national parks.&nbsp;
Now we have entered a new era of state vs nature. &nbsp;&nbsp;

State vs Nature

Ghana S Gurung had to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/11-day-trek-is-now-a-day-s-drive-in-nepal">walk 11 days</a> from the tiny village of Dhee in Mustang to Pokhara to give his high school exam in 1983. He wanted fervently to be a medical doctor, and took biology in college in the hope of selection for a medical seat under the Mustang king’s quota. While in Amrit Science College in Kathmandu, he was offered a scholarship to study Parks, Recreation and Tourism in New Zealand. He did not even know the meaning of the English word ‘recreation’, and failed a mandatory English test.&nbsp; Ever resourceful, Gurung convinced Edmund Hillary, New Zealand’s ambassador to Nepal at the time, that he would take English lessons when he got to Victoria University Wellington. He graduated from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/remembering-pat-guru">Lincoln University</a> in Christchurch, and went on to do his PhD in natural science from University of Zürich, Switzerland.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240721050716_955ba8ed7169900be32bd9996d58f245b38fdc8f142c91571604fbc0d1db3636.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240721050716_955ba8ed7169900be32bd9996d58f245b38fdc8f142c91571604fbc0d1db3636" data-rendition-name="original" width="3498" height="2360" loading="lazy" alt="Ghana Gurung"> <figcaption>Young Ghana Gurung with Sir Edmund Hillary before he left for college in New Zealand.</figcaption> </figure>  “I was born for conservation,” says Gurung, who is now WWF Nepal Country Director and was recently honoured with the <a href="https://www.lincoln.ac.nz/">Lincoln University</a> Alumni International Medal by his New Zealand alma mater. He adds, “As a child I studied Buddhism which is all about doing good for people and nature. It taught me about sentient brings, about interconnectedness, interdependence between all living and non-living things.” As a boy in Dhee, Gurung herded sheep and yaks and recalls that snow leopards were the main threat to the family livestock. “Snow leopards were then my biggest enemy,” he says, “<a href="https://medium.com/wwftogetherpossible/fighting-for-the-survival-of-an-old-foe-b517c4f04034">now they are my best friends</a>.” Gurung has been hailed as a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-leads-in-snow-leopard-study">pioneer of snow leopard conservation</a> in Nepal and globally. In 2022, he was named one of <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/meet-12-incredible-conservation-heroes-saving-our-wildlife-from-extinction.html">12 most incredible conservation heroes</a> in the world by World Atlas for his work.&nbsp; Today, snow leopard numbers are on the rise across the Nepal Himalaya, although the elusive endangered cats are threatened by the impact of climate breakdown. In fact, Gurung’s home village of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/world/asia/nepal-himalayas-glacier-climate.html">Dhee has been nearly abandoned</a> because springs in the area have gone dry due to chronic winter drought. Growing up in Dhee, Gurung says he had a strong urge to excel in studies to dispel the entrenched notion that people from the mountains were not very smart. One of his biggest inspirations was his school teacher Man Bahadur Biswokarma of Marpha, who urged him to aim high and get a PhD someday.&nbsp; “I think I have made Man Bahadur Sir proud,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240721050716_e578bfa9bbdf3d6bad3e383971adffa46e099c26f024b1fb1eb1b4e6209fdafc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240721050716_e578bfa9bbdf3d6bad3e383971adffa46e099c26f024b1fb1eb1b4e6209fdafc" data-rendition-name="original" width="405" height="405" loading="lazy" alt="Ghana Gurung"> <figcaption>Gurung at age 16 in Mustang before going off to college.</figcaption> </figure>  At WWF, Gurung was closely involved in the creation and handover of the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, a 2,030 sq km zone in eastern Nepal patterned after similar nature reserves in Annapurna and Manaslu.&nbsp; The Maoist conflict was at its peak, yet Gurung managed to do the groundwork with local officials and mother’s groups for the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/participating-to-save-kangchenjunga">Kangchenjunga Conservation Area</a> under the ladership of the government. Many of Nepal’s top conservationists arrived in Ghunsa for the official handover in September 2006, including his mentors <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18587">Harka Gurung, Chandra Gurung, Mingma Norbu Sherpa and Tirtha Man Maskey</a>. After the ceremony, Ghana was supposed to join them for the helicopter ride back to Kathmandu but had to stay behind in Taplejung to prepare a press statement. Soon after takeoff in pouring rain, the Mi17 helicopter hit a mountain at 4,000m, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12536">killing all 24 people on board</a>.&nbsp; Ghana Gurung was involved in the search and rescue, and was determined with others to turn the tragedy into a long term effort to nurture a new generation of conservation leaders. Since then, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-nepal-s-conservation-heroes">Mingma Norbu Sherpa Memorial Scholarships</a> has been sending <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17700">two Nepalis to Lincoln University</a> in New Zealand every year , and WWF Nepal provides five memorial scholarships every year. &nbsp; At <a href="https://www.wwfnepal.org/">WWF Nepal</a>, Gurung is a proponent of an integrated approach to development that involves local communities in conservation, not the fortress model of fencing off wilderness areas championed in the West.&nbsp; He says: “In Nepal, unless you protect people, they will not protect wildlife. All these years I thought we were working for nature. Now I realise we were working for people. Human beings are a part of the living world, and it has to be a symbiotic relationship.”&nbsp; Indeed, indigenous communities living near the conservation areas and in buffer zones have been crucial to Nepal’s successes in conservation including tripling the tiger population in 12 years, doubling forest cover in 30 years, recording 752 days of zero poaching of rhinos putting Nepal in the global conservation map.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240721050716_b912a449e02f873bf636aaf699c9c09b35838d027813fc6aa4f8cec5e1d418f8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20240721050716_b912a449e02f873bf636aaf699c9c09b35838d027813fc6aa4f8cec5e1d418f8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1667" height="2500" loading="lazy" alt="Ghana Gurung"> <figcaption>Photo: LINCOLN UNIVERSITY</figcaption> </figure>  However, more tigers mean prey density is declining and the animals are entering human settlements in search of food and water, leading to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/human-animal-interface-in-nepal-wildlife-corridor">increased human-wildlife contact</a>. “We are trying to convince people in the buffer zone about precautions they have to take near the park,” says Gurung, who has got WWF to help local people manage homestays for ecotourism benefits. While <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkSpWxxNX10&amp;t=2s">Nepal’s success in tripling its tiger population</a> has increased attacks on people, the media magnifies tiger attacks even though many more people in Nepal are killed every year by snake bites. Gurung says, “Animal will not change their behaviour as they are wild, whereas we humans need to change our behaviour to live and thrive with wildlife which is one of biggest tourism assets and economic pillars of Nepal”. The increase in forest cover coupled with outmigration of local people has also meant that the undergrowth in buffer zones is now loaded with deadwood that is fuel for forest fires. Climate change-induced droughts have also meant that grasslands are tinder dry. Ghana Gurung says the answer to Nepal’s new conservation challenges lies in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-breakdown-magnifies-western-nepal-s-woes">protecting water sources</a> in the catchment area, watersheds, wetlands, groundwater and controlling the river pollution. “Being climate-smart automatically means water resilience,” says Gurung, noting how natural springs across Nepal are going dry while in the Tarai, over-extraction of groundwater has led to ponds inside national parks drying up. Prolonged heat waves are making the water crisis worse. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet">Unplanned infrastructure</a> is also adding to the challenge, Gurung says, and one of WWF’s focus areas is in ensuring that protected areas are not disturbed by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-protected-areas-from-infrastructure">highways, transmission lines and irrigation canals</a> bifurcating them. Climate smart and wildlife friendly infrastructure development is the way forward. The climate crisis has caused Gurung’s community to abandon Dhee and Samjong villages in Upper Mustang, the village where he was born. He says, “Climate breakdown is already happening, we have spent enough time talking about how bad it is. It is time to start doing something about it ourselves with nature-based solutions to protect our water sources.”

Sonia Awale

Conversation with Mr Conservation

Raju Acharya from Nepal is one of the winners of the Whitley Award to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lesser-known-endangered-species">protect owls</a> in central Nepal after spearheading a government-backed ten-year plan to safeguard the birds which had been overlooked from conservation efforts. Acharya is the founder of Friends of Nature, a Kathmandu-based environmental group and was instrumental in driving The Owl Conservation Action Plan in 2020 which addresses threats to owls from hunting, illegal trade, and habitat loss.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-conservationist-wins-whitley-award">The Whitley Award</a> funding will help boost initiatives in central Nepal, home to the greatest density of birds and 19 of the country’s 23 owl species. Acharya received the award on 1 May at the Royal Geographical Society in a ceremony that marks three decades since the very first Whitley Award was presented.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240502050536_0508980af73328b90b5f18d7d03e4152ff685532992cc94e64ad6de3bff4e979.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240502050536_0508980af73328b90b5f18d7d03e4152ff685532992cc94e64ad6de3bff4e979" data-rendition-name="original" width="1128" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="Raju Acharya Whitley Award NT"> <figcaption>Raju Acharya receiving the Whitley Award in London on Tuesday from Britain's Princess Royal for his work preserving owls in Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>  Sir David Attenborough, WFN Ambassador and a long-term supporter of the charity, said the growing network of winners represents some of the best conservation leaders in the world: “Whitley Award winners combine knowing how to respond to crises yet also bring communities and wider audiences with them." Raju has spent decades shoring up support for Nepal’s owls which include the jungle owlet, rock eagle owl and Eurasian eagle owl – all of which are currently listed as Least Concern or Data Deficient under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.&nbsp; Raju’s work addresses the danger of focusing conservation efforts solely on highly threatened flagship species. Threats to the owls are significant: the birds are the subject of an illicit trade in central Nepal, with 1,500 owls hunted or traded each year in Nepal.&nbsp; Owls represent good or bad omens in central Nepal, with s Some people associate them with death, while in other areas, owl feathers are regarded as sacred objects that can ward off evil.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240502030548_d206a97966188c4b99d27bb508d580372f5401a1fc078cae3e75ec1eb490e989.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240502030548_d206a97966188c4b99d27bb508d580372f5401a1fc078cae3e75ec1eb490e989" data-rendition-name="original" width="3024" height="1702" loading="lazy" alt="Owl conservation in Nepal"> </figure>  Hunting by teenagers using catapults and habitat loss are other threats to the owls amid the felling of old trees whose cavities are crucial nesting sites for the birds. Forest makes up one-third of this region. Older trees also act as roosting, den or hibernation sites for owls which struggle to find nesting locations in semi-urban areas. Acharya’s project aims to build on Nepal’s success in conservation which has harnessed the proactive participation of communities. He aims to foster collaboration between the ethnic groups to foster a broader understanding of owls to reduce the use of catapults, discourage the consumption of owl meat and advocate for adherence to the government regulations which protect the birds. His Whitley Award project will conduct training events to increase the capacity of law enforcement agencies, policymakers and “owl envoys” – local ambassadors for the owls - with a goal of reducing hunting and trade by 25%. Acharya will also address the use of catapults by students who hunt the owls by creating five catapult-free zones. He aims to raise awareness among students and the public by creating 100 conservation camps. The abundance of birds significantly increases in those areas with larger numbers of old trees. His team will restore and rehabilitate 1,200 hectares of owl habitat by protecting 500 old trees and installing 100 artificial nests in semi-urban areas. “The appreciation from local people and colleagues serves as constant inspiration for me to continue my work,” Acharya said. At the forefront of owl research in Nepal and known locally as “Owl Sir” for his efforts to draw attention to the plight of owls, Acharya hopes to engage early career scientists to join him on his mission.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240502030548_fd983316cfac9bef9a1a146a8976a2479171969fc3c86d0f898690184f2a8487.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240502030548_fd983316cfac9bef9a1a146a8976a2479171969fc3c86d0f898690184f2a8487" data-rendition-name="original" width="2304" height="1728" loading="lazy" alt="Owl conservation in Nepal"> </figure>  He also brings out a digital owl newsletter called Hapsilo, Raju set up the Nepal Owl Festival eleven years ago. The festival has boosted eco-tourism to the region and become one of the country’s biggest conservation events despite owls being lower priority species than tigers and snow leopards. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepali-conservationist-wins-whitley-again">The Whitley Fund for Nature</a> (WFN) is a UK charity supporting grassroots conservation leaders in the Global South. Over 30 years it has channelled £23 million to more than 200 conservationists across 80 countries. The other 2024 Whitley Award winners are: Fernanda Abra from Brazil who is pioneering the use of low-cost canopy bridges over highway BR-174 in the Amazon rainforest to restore connectivity for tree-dwelling mammals and save them from road collisions Naomi Longa from Papua New Guinea who is safeguarding coral reefs in Kimbe Bay and creating a network of marine protected areas led by local Indigenous women Aristide Kamla from Cameroon who is restoring the African manatee habitat in Lake Ossa, addressing threats from invasive species and pollution Kuenzang Dorji from Bhutan who is protecting the Endangered Gee’s golden langur and implementing solutions for farmers whose crops the primates are targeting. Leroy Ignacio from Guyana who is leading an expansion of one of the country’s first Indigenous-led conservation movements to protect the Endangered Red Siskin finch.

Nepal's 'Owl Sir' awarded

Despite lack of resources, war and instability, Nepal’s conservation achievements have won acclaim worldwide. From community forestry, our unique approach to conservation areas in fragile mountain regions, to integrating environmental protection with indigenous knowledge, Nepal has been a model.&nbsp;
As <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/conservation-vs-conservatives">our page 1 story in this edition shows</a>, Nepal has doubled its forest area in the past 30 years, 25% of the land area is protected, tiger numbers have tripled.&nbsp;
But now, Nepal has a forest minister hell-bent on undermining these gains. Forest and Environment Minister Birendra Prasad Mahato has proposed to auction <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-tiger-conservation-too-successful">Nepali tigers</a> through global bidding so they can be trophy hunted to generate revenue because, as he put it, “Nepal now has too many tigers and license to hunt will reduce human-animal conflict”.
Nepal was the first tiger-range country to nearly triple the population of its big cats from 121 in 2010 to 355 in 2022. This increase has indeed led to tigers coming out of parks to hunt livestock, but the solution lies in better management and setting up rescue centres for problematic tigers.&nbsp;
Mahato’s proposal violates international norms and treaties including the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) of which Nepal is a party. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-jungle-out-there">Tigers</a> are on Appendix 1 of CITES which includes species threatened with extinction. Nepal’s own National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act has listed tigers as fully protected species.
Nepal’s conservation pioneer, Hemanta Mishra, who helped convert Chitwan from a royal hunting reserve to a national park 50 years ago, told us: “The proposal is not just unethical and unscientific, it is irrational, illegal, illogical and unimplementable.”
Mahato claims to have received offers from American and Japanese hunters to pay millions of dollars to shoot a tiger and believes Nepal can finance the entire annual cost of his ministry with that money.
“I fear this kind of loose statement makes Nepal a laughing stock in the global conservation community,” Mishra told us. “It also dilutes the country’s unparalleled achievements in bringing endangered species such as the rhino and the tiger back from the brink of extinction.”
Mahato is from the Tarai-based Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) and has been pushing for other anti-conservation activities including amending EIA laws to allow infrastructure inside parks, the trade of restricted lichens with medical properties to favour businesses, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests">‘management’ of community forests</a> and the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/fight-or-flight">Nijgad airport project</a> that would destroy the last remaining native forests of the eastern Tarai.&nbsp;
The government is amending regulations to allow <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/balance-of-power">major hydropower plants</a>, hotels, resorts, paragliding and cable cars to be constructed within the national parks and reserves. The National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Manual 2030 (Fifth Amendment 076) and the regulations of six parks are being repealed and new regulations are being issued.
Now that poaching has been reduced, the biggest threat to Nepal’s national parks and other forests are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet">new roads, railways, transmission lines and irrigation canals crisscrossing them</a>. And a greedy government.
Nepal's protected areas are the main <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/wildlife-people-coexistence-in-nepal-national-park">attraction for nearly half the tourists visiting Nepal</a>. Domestic tourism has lifted the economy of villages outside parks, and 90% of the revenue of national parks come from tourism.&nbsp;
Any move to undermine the biodiversity of protected areas will not just hurt tourism jobs and incomes, but also damage the ecosystem. Head of World Wildlife Fund Nepal (WWF Nepal) Ghana Gurung has this to say: “Nepal stands as one of the models for conservation, and any sudden and drastic change will undermine those successes as well as hurt tourism.”&nbsp;
Allowing hotels and resorts inside parks could be an option if Nepal’s regulatory mechanisms were transparent and clean. But given the climate of corruption, poor governance and impunity in Nepal today, it would open the floodgates to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/naturally-nepal">commercialisation of nature</a>, and destroy hard-earned conservation achievements of the past five decades.
Tiger culling is such a ridiculous proposal that it does not even need refuting. Despite our successes, we are not out of the woods yet in conservation in Nepal. Population pressure in the Tarai, climate change, infrastructure, corruption and incompetent decision-making could unravel everything very quickly.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Sonia Awale

Don’t fix what ain’t broke

One of the few arenas for which Nepal has got well-deserved international praise is conservation. Nearly a quarter of the country’s area is protected, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/how-many-tigers-in-nepal">wild tiger population</a> has tripled in 12 years, rhino poaching has been curbed, and forest cover has doubled in the past 30 years to 45% of Nepal’s area.&nbsp; And that makes Forest and Environment Minister Birendra Prasad Mahato of the JSP salivate. He is the architect behind a series of proposals that could undermine Nepal’s hard-earned conservation achievements, forgetting that his portfolio is for protecting forests, not destroying them. Nepal was the first tiger range country to not just double but nearly triple the population of big cats. The minister now wants to auction tiger trophy hunting licenses because Nepal has “too many tigers”.&nbsp; “Beyond just the unethical and unscientific, the proposal to cull tigers is illegal, illogical and unimplementable,” says <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/Hemanta-Mishra-on-eco-tourism-in-Nepal,1029">Hemanta Mishra</a>, one of the founders of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/chitwan-national-park-handbook-book-review,1612">Chitwan National</a> Park in 1973, which rescued Nepal’s tigers and rhinos from the brink of extinction.&nbsp; “The proposal violates the CITES treaty and Nepal’s own laws. Even if super-wealthy foreigners shoot tigers in Nepal, they will certainly be breaking the laws of their own countries if they take the trophies back. In short, it ain’t doable,” says Mishra, who is now Global Ambassador at <a href="https://wellbeingintl.org/">WellBeing International</a>. Indeed, many find Minister Mahato’s assertion laughable that Nepal can earn up to $25 million through tiger hunting licenses and that would underwrite the cost of maintaining national parks.&nbsp; The tiger is on Appendix 1 of CITES, and Nepal is among 184 countries to have signed this international treaty. Nearly half of all <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/wildlife-people-coexistence-in-nepal-national-park">tourists coming to Nepal visit national parks</a>, and there are growing numbers of Nepali tourists also contribute to local jobs and income.&nbsp; In fact, 90% of the revenue of the parks is from tourism. Chitwan and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-tiger-conservation-too-successful">Bardia</a> are world class national parks and any loss of biodiversity would undermine tourism. Admittedly, the increase in tiger numbers has affected prey density forcing some to venture outside national parks and leading to contact with villagers outside. Expansion of forests has also led to crop loss from wildlife. There are protocols in place to deal with man-eating tigers, and crop damage by wildlife.&nbsp; The government is trying to dismantle other areas in which Nepal has achieved success, like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests">community forestry</a>, by allowing ‘management’ of trees. It is strongly backing the Nijgad Airport project that would decimate the last remaining native forests in the eastern Tarai, and it is drafting a bill to amend laws to allow resorts, hotels and infrastructure inside national parks. &nbsp; “Minister Mahato clearly has no understanding of how conservation works,” says environmentalist Babu Krishna Karki. “Someone who dreams of making a national park a source of revenue doesn’t know the first thing about conservation. How can he consciously spout such nonsense?”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230915050944_6bbe3df3771b76221ad7902060ee1f567309531f4254dc0376238eb56f2e1ed6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230915050944_6bbe3df3771b76221ad7902060ee1f567309531f4254dc0376238eb56f2e1ed6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Birenda Mahato Forest Minister"> <figcaption>Forest and Environment Minister Birendra Prasad Mahato. Photo: RSS(Photo: HARRAM BHETUWAL)</figcaption> </figure>  Minister Mahato has accused national park employees of colluding with wildlife poachers, and even blamed international development partners of making money from Nepal’s achievement in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nature-without-borders">tiger conservation</a>. Mahato was appointed forest minister in May by Upendra Yadav’s Tarai-based JSP and has been brazenly trying to find ways to cash in by allowing extractive projects inside national parks. Given this government’s lack of transparency and impunity for corruption, he may well get his way. “We have to be very careful not to kill the goose that lays golden eggs,” warns Ghana Gurung of WWF Nepal. “Tiger culling is an absolute no-no, and any decision to allow resorts inside national parks has to be consultative and transparent.” Indeed, Tarai national parks like Chitwan, Parsa, Bardia already face threats from encroachment, poaching, river pollution, and the climate crisis. Allowing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet">infrastructure like roads, railways and irrigation canals inside</a> them will further damage the ecosystem. &nbsp; Mahato has formed a task force under the Director General of the Forest Department Shivkumar Wagle to relax the restrictions to collect Tamarix dioica, a kind of lichen locally known as jhau that has medicinal properties. A ban has been in place in harvesting this shrub since 2010.&nbsp; Botany professor Krishna Kumar Shrestha says that some lichens found in branches of trees or on rocks are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/between-existence-and-extinction-in-nepal">rare species</a>, and as such should be studied thoroughly first. “We have to ensure the reproduction of those lichen species before lifting the ban otherwise we are destroying biological diversity,” he adds. Experts who have spoken against Mahato’s proposals are being sidelined by his ministry. &nbsp;Forest Secretary Rewati Raman Poudel was transferred after he raised objections and was replaced by Deepak Kharel of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Mahato himself has no background in conservation, and his only claim to fame is that he is the brother of Belarussian billionaire of Nepali origin Upendra Mahato, and was the chair of Machhapuchche Bank and has investments in hydropower.&nbsp; As minister, Mahato has also exerted pressure to pass the EIA of the Rs3 billion Pathibhara Cable Car project which is opposed by the local indigenous Yakthung Limbu people. He has also forced officials to ignore EIAs on several <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/balance-of-power">hydropower projects</a> in which he has investments. The National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act has provisions to operate facilities inside the park for tourism, but the regulation stipulates that any decision has to be transparent so it does not impact on the ecosystem. Under Nepal’s current governance climate, that is problematic.&nbsp;

Conservation vs Conservatives

Monday is Nag Panchami, a day dedicated to the mythical serpents that were once said to inhabit the lake that was Kathmandu Valley. But although snakes are worshipped, they are also threatened because of public perception that they are dangerous. Asbin Raj Ojha is out to change that. Growing up in Vorletar, Lamjung close to nature, he was curious about wildlife and as a hobby tried to find out more about the slithering reptiles. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/hisss">Most snakes in the mountains are non-venomous</a>, even so Ojha was struck by how people felt threatened by them and would kill the animals even when they were harmless. His fascination with snakes grew as he watched YouTube videos of conservationists effortlessly catching and handling even dangerous snakes on the National Geographic channel. He started being called to rescue non-venomous grass snakes from people’s houses. By the time he was a teenager, Ojha’s family moved to Rajahar in Nawalpur and his obsession with snakes travelled with him. But the snakes of the plains were more dangerous, and on his own he studied their habitat and habits and ways to identify different species.&nbsp; Two years ago, he got a call about a King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) on the loose in Nawalpur. News about his snake expertise had got around, and he successfully trapped the 4m long snake and relocated it back into the jungle.&nbsp; “Cobras are sacred, but they are also feared, and rescuing them was a milestone in my life, and increased my confidence in handling such &nbsp;majestic snake species,” recalls Ojha, 30, who later realised the danger he had put himself in by handling the snake without protective gear. Even 12mg of cobra venom will kill an adult human. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/save-snakes-to-save-nature">Save snakes to save nature</a>, Tulsi Rauniyar The video of the dramatic rescue went viral, and many more people found out about his work. But Ojha got to work doing more research about safety protocols in handling venomous snakes, and methods in handling non-poisonous ones without harming them using gloves, tongs, safety pads and hooks. After getting married, Ojha’s wife Anjali Thapaliya has also been infected, as it were, by his snake bug. She comes along on every rescue call, and together they have rescued 15 King Cobras from farms and households and translocated them to Chitwan National Park in coordination with the warden’s office.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230821150824_720b9afba2b2bfca972c77b1a8dfe76fad73d3f070ea6dfeb87c53dc99b5db5e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230821150824_720b9afba2b2bfca972c77b1a8dfe76fad73d3f070ea6dfeb87c53dc99b5db5e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1440" loading="lazy" alt="Snake rescue"> <figcaption>Asbin Raj Ojha and Anjali Thapaliya.</figcaption> </figure>  But such is the fear of snakes that even non-venomous ones are killed or harmed before the couples reach the site. Some are burnt with kerosene or beaten with sticks. Ojha and Thapaliya are chemistry and environmental science majors respectively and are not trained vets, but they do what they can by trading injured snakes with traditional treatments like mustard oil or turmeric.&nbsp; Anjali Thapaliya was initially not too keen about snakes, but understood her husband’s passion for snakes. She supported him from afar. One day, while rescuing a venomous Krait snake which is 10 times more poisonous than a King Cobra, Ojha was bitten on his hand. Thankfully, he was wearing gloves but Thapaliya was worried sick and decided to accompany her husband to the rescue after that. “In the beginning, I used to look at the rescue from afar, but as I started working more with snakes, I developed a soft corner for them,” says Thapaliya, 29. “I’m really happy he is rescuing snakes but by doing so he is also saving lives, not just of snakes but of humans too.” Snakebites are widespread in the Nepal Tarai during the monsoon and can be lethal because antidotes are often not readily available at health posts. As many as 3,000 people are said to die every year from snake bites according to the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9795130/#:~:text=In%20Nepal%20around%2040,000%20individuals,people%20dying%20as%20a%20result.&amp;text=The%20problem%20is%20most%20common,rural%20areas%20of%20the%20Terai." target="_blank">National Institute of Health</a>. Lack of awareness about snakes and snake bites also end up harming snakes, which is why Ojha and Thapaliya have made it their mission to better educate communities by conducting classes to help reduce snake-human conflict. Says herpetologist Santosh Bhattarai: “Their work in King Cobra conservation is really praiseworthy and has directly contributed to reducing death of snakes as well as in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/snakebite-is-treatable-no-one-need-die-from-it">lethal snakebite cases</a>.” Ojha is a teacher by profession and is often interrupted in class to attend to an emergency rescue. But he has trained some young volunteers to also help in rescues.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230821150828_8afffe0e361a7d7d5c0d43eb78de55281db6fc072aff8f687b3ab92f59f81560.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230821150828_8afffe0e361a7d7d5c0d43eb78de55281db6fc072aff8f687b3ab92f59f81560" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="810" loading="lazy" alt="Snake rescue"> <figcaption>Photo: NATIONAL PARK OFFICIAL</figcaption> </figure>  Ojha says his team needs more support from the Forest Department to spread awareness and invest in snake translocation efforts. The team often faces legal and community issues while relocating snakes. &nbsp; “Sometimes people call us killers because they think we are releasing venomous snakes near their homes,” says Ojha, who wants the same priority in conserving snakes as the protection that tigers and rhinos get. Bishal Prasad Neupane is a zoology undergrad specialising on the amphibians and reptiles of Nepal.

Snakes on plains

The Royal Belum State Park in Perak is the last remaining and largest continuous rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia, and these jungles were also where Nepali soldiers helped the British Army fight Maoist guerrillas from 1948-1960. With some 185,000 species of fauna and 12,500 species of flowering plants, Malaysia is one of the 12 megadiverse countries in the world, and a biodiversity hotspot. The jungle of Royal Belum has existed for over 130 million years, making the park the world’s oldest rainforest. It has a high concentration of large mammals including Asian elephants and Malayan tigers. The park also hosts the endangered helmeted hornbill and all 10 Malaysian hornbill species. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230820130820_63cc2881d7b7fc88a7cc5e4a055d6acd7f7ea8b73a3471cf9652113c989b667c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230820130820_63cc2881d7b7fc88a7cc5e4a055d6acd7f7ea8b73a3471cf9652113c989b667c" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="Royal Belum State Park"> <figcaption>Royal Belum State Park near the Malaysia-Thailand border is the largest and oldest rainforest in the world that has existed continuously for 135 million years.</figcaption> </figure>  What protected the forest was also the insurgent activity when Malaya was under British colonial rule. The armed wing of Chin Peng’s Mao-inspired Communist Party Of Malaya (CPM) had launched a guerrilla campaign to end British rule. The British Army fought back, and on the frontlines were its Gurkha commandos recruited from the mountains of Nepal, battle-hardened during World War II <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-atom-bomb-saved-my-life">against the Japanese</a> in these same forests.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/former-gurkha-soldier-turns-author">Tim I Gurung</a> in his book The Gurkhas: A True Story writes, ‘In order to protect those British interests of the early fifties in Southeast Asia (Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei in Borneo), the first battle the Gurkhas had to fight was the Malayan Emergency and it was a long, nasty and costly guerrilla war that lasted from 1948 until 1960’. Although the insurgency was crushed with a scorched earth policy as well as the spraying of Agent Orange herbicides on the jungles, the guerrilla presence persisted till 1989 and was under tight security. Even today, security posts stop travellers for inspection along the East-West Highway which traverses the jungle. The <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6176/">Royal Belum State Park</a> was set up in 2007 with a 300,000-hectare forest complex near the Malaysia-<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lost-village-of-nepalis-in-thailand">Thailand</a> border, and is now a hub for research and eco-tourism. The Park is home to Rafflesia, the world's largest flower, and one of the world’s rarest and most threatened species. A <a href="https://parasiticplants.siu.edu/Rafflesiaceae/Raff.azlanii.page.html">Rafflesia azlanii </a>blossom is featured on the Malaysian 10 Ringgit banknote and was named after the British founder of Singapore, Stamford Raffles.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230820130824_2bbc7f3e935bcc4790484d76c7b65edcb03e7b91c02b34b1d629478791775c47.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230820130824_2bbc7f3e935bcc4790484d76c7b65edcb03e7b91c02b34b1d629478791775c47" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="Rafflesia flower"> <figcaption>The author with a rare sighting of the Rafflesia flower in the Royal Belum State Park in Malaysia recently.</figcaption> </figure>  What makes Rafflesia so unique is that it takes nine months to blossom into a flower up to 1.2m in diameter with the smell of rotting meat, but dies within a week after pollination which makes it difficult for anyone to see it. David Attenborough <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxIpl38rsMo">featured the flower for a BBC Earth telecast</a> and called it a “corpse flower” because of its extraordinarily foul odour. Given that the Gurkhas were deployed extensively in these jungles, one cannot help but wonder if the Nepalis saw and marvelled at this enormous flower with a stench strong enough to put off all enemies. Gau Lal Gurung, 96, is a Gurkha veteran of the Malayan campaign and a composer of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/ghatu-dance-of-lamjung">traditional Ghatu folk songs</a> of his people. He spent much of his youth in Malaya, travelling for months through the remoter parts of the jungle hunting for insurgents.&nbsp; “We found plenty of guerrillas, but never came across a Rafflesia flower,” Gurung says. Since the Rafflesia flower blooms for a day or two, it is a rare sight indeed. One has to be lucky, and be at the right place at the right time.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230820130824_0104573292797c9df0725a99231c976497677eee22684d9cee399f4a2da3cf6e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20230820130824_0104573292797c9df0725a99231c976497677eee22684d9cee399f4a2da3cf6e" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="Gurkha veteran"> <figcaption>The author with Gau Lal Gurung, 96, is a Gurkha veteran of the Malayan campaign who traversed the rainforest hunting for insurgents but never once saw the rare Rafflesia bloom.</figcaption> </figure>  The Malaysian Nature Society set up over eight decades ago has been collaborating with the government for biodiversity conservation and environmental education. Programs including the BirdLife-led forest governance project and forest condition are under operation with the engagement of indigenous people Orang Asli. The Royal Belum State Park itself was recognised as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area in 2004 by BirdLife International. It is also the first to receive CA TS (Conservation Assured Tiger Standards) in Southeast Asia. In 2019, it was also shortlisted on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. But Malaysia is also one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of palm oil. The multi-billion dollar industry has cost the country much of its rainforest to make way for palm plantations. A win-win plan is needed to safeguard the ecology and green economy — &nbsp;much like in Nepal where planners want to clear 80 sq km of native hardwood forest in the eastern Tarai to build <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/fight-or-flight">Nijgad airport</a>. Hum Gurung is the Asia Partnership Manager and Former Regional Project Manager of Asia Pacific Forest Governance Project, BirdLife International.

The Malayan rainforest and its rare flower

Patrick Devlin who taught a whole generation of Nepali environmentalists at Lincoln University in Christchurch died on 16 August at age 86.&nbsp; Many of us Nepali students in New Zealand knew him as <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-Kiwi,421" target="_blank">‘Pat Guru’</a>, a name that was a mark of our deep respect as well as the closeness we felt to him. For five decades, he was involved in training professionals in his home country as well as Nepal and other Asian countries. Pat’s students now shoulder the burden of continuing his legacy in training national park wardens and professionals managing nature reserves. When the history of the evolution of national park management is written, Pat will be remembered for his immense contribution to professionalising national park and reserve service in his home country as well as in Nepal and South East Asia.&nbsp; Among more than 50 of Pat Devlin’s Nepali students were Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa who helped establish the Qomolangma Nature Preserve in Tibet which shares its border with three national parks on the Nepal side, making it one of the largest protected areas in Asia.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023081906084_0a0a595107c5002f9fafe6c1e14419eb0f70b0ae86a7b1e4f32b220d61b0dbce.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023081906084_0a0a595107c5002f9fafe6c1e14419eb0f70b0ae86a7b1e4f32b220d61b0dbce" data-rendition-name="original" width="3648" height="2736" loading="lazy" alt="Patrick Devlin"> <figcaption>Patrick Devlin with Shailendra Thakali in Christchurch in 2010. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Other students also hold important positions in international conservation organisations: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/11-day-trek-is-now-a-day-s-drive-in-nepal" target="_blank">Ghana Gurung</a> heads WWF Nepal, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-red-panda-house" target="_blank">Ang Phuri Sherpa</a> is Executive Director of Red Panda Network International, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/the-man-from-sikles" target="_blank">Hum Gurung</a> is Asia Partnership Manager for BirdLife International. Other Nepali Lincoln alumni that Pat tutored include Shankar Koirala who had a long stint with the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation and other ministries. Gopal Upadhaya, Megh Pandey and Phanindra Raj Kharel went on to head the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, and Mingma Norbu Sherpa was the head of WWF’s Asia Pacific Program. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12581" target="_blank">Mingma Sherpa</a> was among the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-nepal-s-conservation-heroes" target="_blank">dozen prominent Nepali and international conservationists</a>, officials and journalists who were killed in a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/out-of-the-ashes" target="_blank">helicopter crash at Ghunsa in 2006</a> during the inauguration of the 2,035 sq km Kanchenjunga Conservation Area. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18151" target="_blank">Prof David Simmons</a>, another of Pat’s distinguished students, played a central role in establishing Lincoln University's <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17700" target="_blank">Mingma Norbu Sherpa Memorial Scholarship</a> with support from Pat Devlin, Mingma’s family, WWF Nepal, and New Zealand. Ten Nepali students who got the scholarship have so far <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/the-nomadic-nepali" target="_blank">graduated with master degrees</a> from Lincoln.&nbsp; All national parks and reserves in New Zealand, and almost 70% of protected areas in Nepal were once managed by graduates from Lincoln University, Pat’s base camp to educate and train conservation professionals. He was the main supervisor for the majority of Nepali graduate and undergraduate students from the 1970 onwards.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023081906084_800499bd49d7b7058fcaa861d5c422d26d5bfc16bb6a1dd31424b75cfb285029.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2023081906084_800499bd49d7b7058fcaa861d5c422d26d5bfc16bb6a1dd31424b75cfb285029" data-rendition-name="original" width="3303" height="2317" loading="lazy" alt="Patrick Devlin"> <figcaption>Pat Devlin felicitated in 2013 during a visit to Nepal by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation and the Lincoln University Alumni Association for his immense contribution to protected area management in Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023081906084_8f43de5f4605c3f113d824e27f85cb31ff7d472773a9240a9af95bbfc3e4e3ee.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="2023081906084_8f43de5f4605c3f113d824e27f85cb31ff7d472773a9240a9af95bbfc3e4e3ee" data-rendition-name="original" width="1244" height="875" loading="lazy" alt="Patrick Devlin"> <figcaption>Pat Devlin with students he supervised at Lincoln University along with their families during a visit to Kathmandu.</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;As a supervisor, Pat was very supportive but non-compromising when it came to the quality of work. Pat inspired his students to produce the best. I had the honour to be the last student he supervised when I went back to Lincoln University to pursue a doctoral program in environmental management in 2008.&nbsp; Pat Guru was more than a supervisor to me. Besides constant encouragement and support, he and his wife, Maureen, were great hosts. They were kind to me and my family as they had been to a generation of Nepali students, made sure we had comfortable and enjoyed our time and experience in New Zealand. During the 1970s and 80s, the majority of rangers working for national parks and reserves in New Zealand had no formal degrees or training. They chose the career out of a love for nature and the great outdoors, and were happy to take remote postings. As national parks and reserves started to become popular, park management grew more challenging and complex.&nbsp; Pat was quick to realise this and devoted his entire life to developing and teaching parks and recreation courses at Lincoln University, and most importantly grooming and mentoring the next generation of managers. &nbsp; He was key to the design of ‘Parks and Recreation’ courses at Lincoln and also condensed the Parks and Recreation syllabus into six-week block courses for in-service park rangers that professionalised New Zealand’s national park and reserve services and management.&nbsp; Lincoln University under Pat also offered block courses to the Park and Forests service in Kuching in Malaysia. Pat also wanted to roll out his block courses in Nepal, but did not materialise. There is an urgent need in Nepal to include multidisciplinary teams to effectively manage emerging challenges related to tourism, buffer zone management, climate change, human-wildlife conflicts, and local aspirations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023081906084_3f754bb3595b022546a6413497f192cd05b345b42d8bd4ca49cd151eb2fdb657.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="2023081906084_3f754bb3595b022546a6413497f192cd05b345b42d8bd4ca49cd151eb2fdb657" data-rendition-name="original" width="2592" height="1936" loading="lazy" alt="Patrick Devlin"> <figcaption>Pat Devlin (with umbrella) in Chitwan National Park in 2013 with his wife Maureen, David Simmons and a park official in 2013. Photo: HUM GURUNG</figcaption> </figure>  Pat was modest and generous to a fault. Despite his accomplishments, he was not one to brag about them or seek the limelight. Always calm and composed, he took all challenges in his stride.&nbsp; My last meeting with Pat was in April this year. Despite failing health, he stood up, shook hands, smiled, tossed a drink, and made us feel at ease. He took immense pride in the achievements of his students, and kept in touch with them as much as possible right till the end.&nbsp; Patrick Devlin’s life work lives on in New Zealand, Nepal, Sarawak and around the world. His funeral will be held in Christchurch on 23 August. Shailendra Thakali, PhD is a freelance consultant in environmental conservation, tourism and livelihoods.

Remembering Pat Guru

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

Four international names in architecture, Shigeru Ban, Rem Koolhaas, Tadao Ando and Louis Isadore Kahn, all left their mark in Nepal. But despite their best intentions, the ambitious designs fizzled out. Ban, Koolhaas and Ando won Pritzkers, the best known international award for architecture, and Kahn could have won it had the prize been given in his lifetime. But their designs fell short of transforming Nepali architecture and did not help inspire local architects.&nbsp; Why were these four ‘starchitects’ unable to pull off their Nepal projects and enrich the country with exemplary contemporary designs? The failure, especially the violation of Kahn’s design, also raises larger questions about how much contemporary architecture is valued in Nepal.&nbsp; Whereas Sri Lanka had Geoffrey Bawa and Bangladesh had Mazharul Islam, the pioneers of contemporary architecture in Nepal have had far less public appreciation. One wonders if Nepali architecture only refers to the monuments and heritage of the past. Nepal does have examples of outstanding modern architecture such as the &nbsp;पाङ्रे घर ‘Wheel House’ and खुट्टे घर &nbsp;‘House on Legs’ by Shankar Nath Rimal in the 1960s. These are the best examples of how some Nepali designers successfully tailored modern architecture to the Nepali context.&nbsp; Ten years ago, Nepal had three architecture magazines, SPACES, praXis and Business Architecture, but none of these survived. This newspaper has prominently covered contemporary architecture, and the built environment, but these are exceptions in Nepal’s media. There have been a few encouraging signs. The 2024 exhibition Modern Encounters in Architecture in Kathmandu Valley (1945-1985) at the Taragaon Museum had many visitors and its accompanying book is a seminal document.&nbsp; In 2023, the Mountain Architecture Dialogue (MAD) that focused on examples of good-practice sustainable contemporary architecture for the mountainous terrains of Nepal was a packed event with over 300 young architects, engineers, environmentalists and architecture students. <h2>Shigeru Ban</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_8bb8dde080c5698c2585966bef27ce4c08e4ee488d3432b2caac98b9de762dfe.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024122003128_8bb8dde080c5698c2585966bef27ce4c08e4ee488d3432b2caac98b9de762dfe" data-rendition-name="original" width="990" height="1074" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  Shigeru Ban had already built a name for himself in post-disaster construction when he came to Nepal following the 2015 earthquakes in which 500,000 people lost their homes. The basic design and its 3D-rendered images were reviewed in upbeat articles on DOMUS, Architectural Review, Dezeen, and Arch Daily.&nbsp; But his signature cardboard tubes could not handle the monsoon and the roof structure had to be re-designed with timber. Only two shelters were completed in Sindupalchok, and only one of them still stands at the Hyatt Regency grounds today, as Ban’s souvenir to Nepal.&nbsp; <h2>Rem Koolhaas</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_58afec9b57accfa38327af0936648c6eb2f2e11ff18f1af8ca27383dc57dc222.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024122003128_58afec9b57accfa38327af0936648c6eb2f2e11ff18f1af8ca27383dc57dc222" data-rendition-name="original" width="750" height="722" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  The designs of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas have a specific signature: bold shapes and an intriguing architectural typology that challenges standard building blocks. Some designs even seem to defy gravity, like the CCTV headquarters in Beijing: an angular, continuous geometry of glass and steel.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_a18dc8a8d6b97bc6fa9d590036cf374f9dc3709c699fe5c5787304bbd05cb17d.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241220031216_a18dc8a8d6b97bc6fa9d590036cf374f9dc3709c699fe5c5787304bbd05cb17d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1812" height="1168" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Rem Koolhaas' design for Ullen's School in Khumaltar.</figcaption> </figure>  Koolhaas was commissioned by Belgian billionaire Guy Ullens to design a new building for Ullens School in Khumaltar. The most prominent feature is its vertical glass block staircase. Some interior spaces have lowered windowsills, which provide ample views and daylight. But the school building has gone unremarked in Nepal. <h2>Tadao Ando</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031212_cc16bd6feb8be07a7198285b847a45d2126dc3a479e0cc7370331861fc544675.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241220031212_cc16bd6feb8be07a7198285b847a45d2126dc3a479e0cc7370331861fc544675" data-rendition-name="original" width="626" height="628" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> </figure>  Doctors providing aid to victims of the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995 in Japan requested Tadao Ando, who had donated his Pritzker money to the victims, to also make a design for a hospital in Butwal.&nbsp; Ando’s contribution would be pro-bono and the construction was funded by the Hanshin Earthquake victims and by the popular Japanese newspaper Mainichi, as a tribute to Nepali doctors. The first block that Ando designed for the Siddhartha Children and Women’s Hospital (SCWH) was the out-patient department. He quickly realised that he would not be able to pull off structures with his typical style of smooth-finished, high-quality concrete.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_73ec0950d52320277ccc81d4a66fa6aa6acb38141e7b7633683e4cf8179dc579.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241220031216_73ec0950d52320277ccc81d4a66fa6aa6acb38141e7b7633683e4cf8179dc579" data-rendition-name="original" width="1594" height="958" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Tadao Ando's Siddhartha Children and Women Hospital in Butwal.</figcaption> </figure>  Ando wrote in the online architectural catalog Architectuul, that the two main problems with the project were costs and the availability of local technology. ‘It became a facility that has a slightly different expression from the buildings I have completed so far,’ he wrote. He designed a colonnade for the west façade that would provide shelter from harsh sunlight, and the exposed brick walls were locally manufactured bricks.&nbsp; The hospital is characterised by modernist cuboidal massing, but the outer brick façades now appear unintentionally badly weathered by monsoons. The interiors lack both sufficient natural light and natural ventilation. <h2>Louis I Kahn</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_612e199d62fb3e72b6b8f6a936b0fa0451d8c0aa3d831c071320bf423ee3d67f.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024122003128_612e199d62fb3e72b6b8f6a936b0fa0451d8c0aa3d831c071320bf423ee3d67f" data-rendition-name="original" width="694" height="926" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  American architect Louis I Kahn had experience of projects in South Asia, and several were under construction when he died suddenly in 1974. Amongst these were the National Assembly complex in Dhaka, the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and the Family Planning and Maternal Child Welfare Centre in Kathmandu.&nbsp; Kahn had started the USAID funded project in Nepal by developing a master plan for the government institutional zone in Kathmandu, which included a building for the Health Ministry. The building’s façade in exposed brick has deeply recessed vertical windows for shading.&nbsp; The balancing of accentuated horizontal lines in the brickwork with the verticality of the larger composition is the work of a master. The brick walls rise up into punctured parapet walls at the roof level. These square apertures ‘frame the sky’.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_69c2e4972dbe38773e0a3a3f1129485c9c87033ee84cd454e24ae0dc772d05cf.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241220031216_69c2e4972dbe38773e0a3a3f1129485c9c87033ee84cd454e24ae0dc772d05cf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1924" height="1242" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Louis Kahn's plan for the Ministry of Health.</figcaption> </figure>  When Kahn died, only the eastern half of the building was finished. The Western part was never built and Nepal’s bureaucrats decided that without paint, the exposed brick façade was not finished. Then in 1995, citing roof leakage and a space crunch, the Health Ministry added a floor.&nbsp; The frames-to-the-sky in the roof parapet were converted into windows and topped off with a sloping roof of corrugated steel sheets, whose only virtue was that it was cost-effective.&nbsp; Kahn’s orthogonal composition, which clean horizontal and vertical lines, was desecrated despite a public outcry and legal challenges from architects and cultural organisations. A version of this article was first published in HIMAL Southasian. Illustrations by Varun S Bapu.

Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal

If you were raised in Nepal, you must have picked up its unique set of vocabulary: आन्दोलन, चक्का जाम, बन्द, राँके जुलुस, आफ्नो मान्छे, हाम्रो दल, कर्फु and many more words connoting political protest.
We became familiar with the acrid smell of burning tyres, and eyes smarting from tear gas. And yet, everyone speaks of another revolution in the making. Not by desire, but by suffocation.
We heard speeches about नयाँ नेपाल, but the New Nepal never arrived. The governance system changed, but it did not reflect on people’s lives — except for those close to centres of power. The state is still unreachable and is not bothered about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/matter-of-life-and-debt">victims of loan sharks</a>, cooperative scams and other injustices.
Politicians continue to speak in sound bites, but fail to deliver. They have mastered the game of pointing fingers towards an external enemy and convincing people that they are never at fault. The political narrative is so disconnected from the actual analysis of the problem that suffocation doesn’t go away after every revolution.
No genuine effort has been made to deliver at all, which is why there is a palpable sense of disillusionment in the air forcing us to seek another revolution, even if Nepal may not be able to afford it.
How has the current system successfully held power, even if the public is deeply frustrated? How is it that for three decades we continue to be led by the same faces, who have time and again, proved to us that they may be great politicians but not national leaders?
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/improving-internet-governance-in-nepal">My experience at the epicentre of politics</a> has led me to identify three cultures that have enabled political parties to keep a tight hold on power: acceptance, silence and dependency.
We accept things the way they are. We use fatalistic phrases like “नेपालमा यस्तै हो” or “नेपालको कानुन दैब जानुन”. While this resilience enables us to rise back up from devastating calamities, it is also a reason for our compliance with the status quo.
Despite so many ‘revolutions’ that have led to significant reforms, these phrases keep getting reinforced, to the point that the upcoming generations have made it their lingo.&nbsp;
This acceptance is not a symbol of law-abiding citizens, but citizens living in fear of those in power, unable to ask the whys and why-nots.
Innovation suffocates in this culture of acceptance of the status quo. This is manifested in remarks like “but we don’t have any laws for this,” or “we don’t have the capacity to implement this”. An innovator or entrepreneur therefore has to spend that energy to become a political lobbyist, often educating and convincing the bureaucracy.&nbsp;
Remember when locally assembled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/designed-and-made-in-nepal">Yatri motorbikes</a>, despite having willing customers, had to suffer to secure license numbers because of a lack of regulations? Instead of creating new laws, the government kept chanting the “We will promote Nepal-made goods” mantra, leaving entrepreneurs in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. The weight of acceptance of the law lies heavily on innovators. Fatalism is a tactic used by those in power to generate mass fear in society.
When we accept, we become silent. This is a pervasive phenomenon. We are trained to keep quiet, lest we ruffle feathers, burn bridges, or not get the help we need in future. We know, yet we don’t speak.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">Bureaucratic hurdles in researching Nepal's bureaucracy</a>, Daniel W Edwards
Here is one example: the 2021 census shows that the number of baby boys born for every 100 baby girls is 112. This is a clear indication of female foeticide because of boy preference in society.
Despite such horrifying realities, there is finger-pointing within the government between the Ministry of Health and Population with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the citizen level, we know those who are involved in killing girls. Yet, we don’t speak up. The Nepal Medical Council reports state that despite this gender imbalance at birth, there is no indication of any action.
But why would anyone speak against one's own fraternity, no matter how vile the act is?
When we accept and keep quiet, we become dependent on those who yield power. From getting our government procedure completed on time to getting transfers, to accessing any of our legally protected rights as well, we are forced to depend on our networks of चिनेको मान्छे people we know by blood, village, relations, political affiliation.
The culture of dependency has been the established way in Nepal. If you drive a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, and you get into a small accident, you will be asked to sort it yourself, dialing up the most powerful person you know. It becomes a competition of who knows who.
Recently I was told that there were calls from the Ministry of Health and Population and another from the Prime Minister's Office for just one medical position in a private hospital. Each was pushing its own candidate. Guess which candidate got the position.&nbsp;
The dependency of people is not on the laws or the state, it is with people in power, a reliance on the network of somebody who knows somebody, including those not officially in power.
These cultures are deeply ingrained in our heads, and in society. Collectively they form a vicious circle that helps those in power to retain power. This is not the society we want to live in.
Then, what do we do as a collective to break away from this? How do we break away from the cultures of acceptance and silence that have created this dependency? What can we do to ensure that our children do not have to learn the jargon of आन्दोलन before they learn about the state?
These are the cultures political parties need to shed rather than use them to perpetuate their power. This is what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/an-alternative-to-alternative-politics-in-nepal">alternative politics</a> needs to be about.
Sumana Shrestha is a member of Parliament’s Education, Health and Information Technology parliamentary committee and represents the Rastriya Swatantara Party.

conservation