More than 300,000 tourists visited Chitwan National Park (CNP) in the past year, more than half of them from Nepal. In total, they injected Rs307 million in revenue to the park which also had income from timber sales and regulated sand mining and fines.&nbsp; The park’s buffer zone spreads across 729km and includes 12 rural municipalities in Chitwan, Parsa, Nawalparasi, and Makwanpur districts. There are 21 Buffer Zone User Committees, and 73 community forest committees.&nbsp; Nepal’s population of tigers has tripled, and most of the wild cats roam inside the Chitwan National Park. The prey density is still adequate, but tigers, rhinos and wild elephants often venture into the buffer zone and nearby settlements.&nbsp; “Despite high prey density within the national park, there are still wildlife attacks,” admits Dil Bahadur Purja Pun of CNP. Last year alone, there were 10 fatalities, mostly from tiger attacks.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/crocodile-chronicle">Crocodile Chronicle</a>, Shristi Karki Although this number is high, it is also an indication of Nepal’s conservation success story. &nbsp;Efforts are now underway among CNP rangers and staff, conservationists, as well as organisations like the WWF’s crossborder Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) program to minimise human casualties.&nbsp; Madi municipality is inside the buffer zone surrounded by Chitwan National Park to the east, west, and north, and India’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve to the south. Communities here have close and frequent encounters with wildlife. Wounded tigers which cannot hunt usual prey venture out to attack livestock, wild elephants trample through farms that are on their traditional migratory paths, and leopards stalk domestic animals. The village of Pandav Nagar is one of the most impoverished and there is no community forest here. Outmigration is rife, and most youth have moved to Bharatpur and beyond. The young and elderly who are left behind are more vulnerable to predators.&nbsp; Conservation organisations have erected a kilometre-long cement wall with mesh wire that keeps elephants out, but there are still gaps through which the animals can get through. The TAL program facilitates an awareness campaign called Behaviour Change Communication for Conservation.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241029091012_f6768dd1f6a3b1a4edc4e79c1f43a0f3f5e9a89cbf4debb813c78178fd2bfa91.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241029091012_f6768dd1f6a3b1a4edc4e79c1f43a0f3f5e9a89cbf4debb813c78178fd2bfa91" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="wildlife and human coexistence"> <figcaption>Fish ponds constructed in Madi as an alternative to crop farming.</figcaption> </figure>  One of the trainees is Poonam Pandey, a teacher from Panch Pandav village, who now instructs children in her community about how to avoid contact with wildlife and help conservation efforts.&nbsp; “In the past, people here used to say that the wild animals have given them nothing but conflict and grief, but there has now been a change in attitude,” says Pandey. “Now, they are actively engaged in conservation.” Some of the older residents who have had close shaves with wildlife are still not convinced that co-existing with wildlife is possible.&nbsp; In Madi’s &nbsp;Chainpur, a group of women supported by conservation institutions plant turmeric as cash crops, which wild elephants do not like to eat. Other buffer zone communities grow other cash crops like lemon, which are less in risk of being destroyed by wildlife.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241029091012_05ee644c055d42107b6a45297aae235fc7de76bcd55feaa9f0378683e076a795.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241029091012_05ee644c055d42107b6a45297aae235fc7de76bcd55feaa9f0378683e076a795" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="wildlife and human coexistence"> <figcaption>A predator-proof pens (PPP) goat shed in Chainpur.</figcaption> </figure>  “In the past, we used to have to go into the forest for fodder and firewood,” says one participant of the program. “With these cash crops, we now generate our own income and the elephants leave us alone.”&nbsp; Conservation groups have also helped local communities with predator-proof pens to protect their goats. In June this year, Chainpur village was declared a PPP model village.&nbsp; Over in Meghauli near Bharatpur, there are five community forests in the buffer zone where rhinos, tigers, elephants, and deer roam in abundance. Wetlands have been constructed so the wildlife have watering holes and ample grazing land.&nbsp; With an abundance of prey, there is less likelihood of tigers and leopards venturing out into residential areas. The prey attract tigers which means tourists on safari trips can enjoy sightings. The eco-tourism possibility of Rapti Hariyali Community Forest has gone up just from the increased chances of observing tigers and rhinos in the wild.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241029091012_f765265ed36044a85262ff61ad9399b7ae87e9e696323346cd2f1b03bb205ceb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241029091012_f765265ed36044a85262ff61ad9399b7ae87e9e696323346cd2f1b03bb205ceb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="wildlife and human coexistence"> <figcaption>Sikaribaas corridor that connects CNP, Parsa NP, and Valmiki tiger reserve.</figcaption> </figure>  “Although Sauraha and Kasara are the popular entry points for tourism, we want to spread the visitors out to Meghauli as well,” says Yum Bahadur Thapa of Rapti Hariyali Community Forest. “It is proof that conservation, income generation, and tourism can go hand in hand.” The Nirmal Thori Buffer Zone User Committee is the park’s only buffer zone in Parsa district. It lies on the tri-junction of Chitwan and Parsa National Parks and India’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve. Conservation officers here coordinate closely with the Indian reserve to minimise human-wildlife contact. “Our goal here is to minimise wildlife contact and generate income for the communities through ecotourism,” says Bal Kumar Basnet, chair of the Nirmal Thori Buffer Zone User Committee. “That includes jungle safaris, and homestays, and other tourism promoting activities.” However local government must ensure that visitor numbers does not exceed the carrying capacity. Nepal’s conservation success could be in jeopardy if there is a rush to excessively monetise nature. The federal government has amended the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act to allow private sector investment in Nepal’s protected areas. In theory, this is to ensure that local communities benefit more from conservation.&nbsp; But this could kill the goose that lays golden eggs. The feeling here is that while resorts and homestays can be opened in the buffer zones, they should never be allowed inside the national park. One conservation official told us: “Allowing private companies to build inside protected areas will spell disaster.”

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Buffering nature in Chitwan

In July, less than a month after it was first introduced in parliament, Nepal President Ramchandra Paudel authenticated a Bill to amend some laws to spur investment. Among the bill’s provisions is 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>.&nbsp; Section 5A of the Act, which has provisions related to prohibited activities within national parks and reserves, now includes an added clause: ‘The Government of Nepal may designate highly-sensitive areas within protected areas including National Parks, Reserves or Conservation Areas through a notice in the Nepal Gazette if it deems it necessary.’ This could mean that the government is now trying to disingenuously classify areas within <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/does-nepal-need-the-army-to-guard-parks">protected wildlife habitats</a> also as ‘non-sensitive’ to allow private sector investment in resorts, cable cars and other infrastructure. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/More-trouble-in-Chitwan-National-Park,2956">Restoring resorts</a>, Smriti Basnet The 1973 Act lays out definitions of National Park, Strict Nature Reserve, Wildlife Reserve, and Hunting Reserve, and stipulates that those areas are set aside for conservation and management of the natural environment in areas of ecological importance. By designating some parts of these reserves as ‘sensitive’, activists say, the government is trying to defuse criticism of investment by the private sector. &nbsp; The 1973 Act has been critical in Nepal’s conservation success story, ensuring that nearly a quarter of the country’s area is protected, the tripling of Nepal’s tiger population and protection of its habitat, and the doubling of forest cover to 46% in the past 25 years. &nbsp; “Conservation areas are created for biodiversity-sensitive regions, and as such, only a minimal part of such areas can be categorised as not being highly sensitive,” says Rajesh Rai, professor at Tribhuvan University's Institute of Forestry. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/economic-benefits-of-saving-the-ecology">Economic benefits of saving the ecology</a> The amendment also states: ‘Apart from the areas specified under section 5A, the Government of Nepal can approve specified projects of national priority, projects approved by the Investment Board or national pride projects in any intermediate zone within national parks, wildlife reserves, conservation areas while maintaining the co-existence of nature and human beings.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240910080928_8f1ae1e1c7acd2f0ebd5ca946a173c492f040844a79dfdb4af75081b0e2d169a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240910080928_8f1ae1e1c7acd2f0ebd5ca946a173c492f040844a79dfdb4af75081b0e2d169a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1250" height="600" loading="lazy" alt="Tiger conservation in Nepal NT"> <figcaption>Photo: WWF</figcaption> </figure>  This conservationists say, would mean disturbance of protected wilderness areas, and open them up to construction and disturbance by all three levels of government which are not known for transparency and rule of law. In fact, there is such an unhealthy alliance between politicians and their business cronies that it is becoming difficult to tell them apart. Projects under consideration that directly impact protected areas include the Kori cable car proposal in Sikles of Kaski, the 80km Pokhara-Jomsom gondola cable car, new resorts inside Rara, Chitwan and Bardia National Parks.&nbsp; Constitutional experts assert that the Act goes against Nepal’s Constitution, the <a href="https://dnpwc.gov.np/media/publication/convention-on-biological-diversity-e.pdf">1992 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity,</a> the<a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/"> 1972 World Heritage Convention</a> and the <a href="https://dnpwc.gov.np/media/publication/Convention_ramsar.pdf">1971 Convention on Wetlands</a>. “This Act will destroy wildlife habitats, undermining gains in Nepal’s biodiversity protection,” adds Rai, explaining that ensuing habitat fragmentation will lead to wildlife relocating beyond protected areas, thereby increasing human-wildlife conflict. Even though laws and governance related to conservation areas and wildlife protection fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Forests and Environment, it is significant that the bill was tabled by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/gambling-on-the-future">Gambling on the future</a>, Sikuma Rai And while it typically takes years for Parliament to pass any law, this bill was passed by both the lower and upper Houses within 26 days, and verified by the President’s office on the same day that it was passed by the National Assembly. All this has given credence to critics who smell a rat.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240910080928_17b880e02db74bbea29bc27e215a80c17aa379d29aa5a63ef0de0e1e29ae27ec.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240910080928_17b880e02db74bbea29bc27e215a80c17aa379d29aa5a63ef0de0e1e29ae27ec" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="933" loading="lazy" alt="elephant conservation NT "> <figcaption>Photo: WWF</figcaption> </figure>  This is not the first time that corporate groups have eyed development inside nature conservation areas, and have lobbied repeatedly for ordinances, procedures and regulations. This amendment comes at a time when major corruption scandals and have rocked the highest echelons of government. In fact, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-government-changes-again">coalition reshuffle in June</a> after which the NC-UML government came to power has been attributed to the two parties protecting their top leaders from investigations by the previous RSP home minister into scandals. &nbsp; But even the previous coalition led by Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal amended the National Parks Act in April by issuing the Ordinance Amending Some Nepal Acts Related to Investment Facilitation 2024. Before that, the government published the Construction of Physical Infrastructure Inside Protected Areas in January, which allows hydropower and other infrastructure within protected areas. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/rivers-be-dammed">Rivers be dammed</a>, Pinki Sris Rana In 2018, businesses bypassed laws to prepare for infrastructure construction including ropeways, hotels, resorts and campsites in conservation areas and buffer zones after the Ministry of Forests published a draft outlining procedures to operate and regulate tourist services within protected areas. Conservationists and analysts have called for the immediate repeal of this Act that puts commercial interests over the protection of Nepal’s wildlife and biodiversity. They say the law is unjust and hypocritical because it punishes villagers for foraging fodder inside protected areas, while giving politically-connected businesses the freedom to build whatever they want inside wilderness areas.&nbsp; “Businesses must not be allowed to operate anywhere in our protected areas, not just biodiversity-sensitive regions,” says Rai. “In the event that such commercial activities are allowed, priority must be given to the indigenous communities and locals who have been historically displaced in the process of creating these conservation areas.”

Not out of the woods yet in Nepal

Villagers in Nepal’s Kanchenjunga region were baffled-- wild animals were preying on their livestock but they had ruled out leopards. Finally, a camera trap caught a dhole (Cuon alpinus) also known as the Asiatic Wild Dog at an altitude of 3,800m. Subsequent scatology study concluded that 22% of the dhole’s excrement contained remains of goats and juvenile cattle, confirming that they were the culprits. This study, led by researcher Ambika Prasad Khatiwada, was the first to research the habitat and habits of wild dogs in Nepal. Since then, other studies have identified the presence of the animal in the southern plains of Chitwan and Parsa. The research concluded that Nepal’s wild dogs are seriously endangered, and only about 200 remain. With habitat loss, wild dogs increasingly venture near human settlements where they are trapped and killed. Despite being on the brink of extinction in the country, the conservation of tigers, rhinos, wild elephants, snow leopards and other charismatic species <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/2-nepal-tiger-reserves-awarded">get more priority in Nepal</a>. This is why the wild tiger population in Nepal has rebounded with total numbers tripling in the past 13 years. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/wildlife-people-coexistence-in-nepal-national-park">Wildlife-people coexistence in Nepal national park</a>, Kunda Dixit But such extensive focus on iconic wild mammals has meant that other wildlife like wild dogs, pangolins, porcupines, snakes and others have been largely ignored and do not get as much targeted protection. The Cuon alpinus is native to Asia, is brown with large rounded ears and a black muzzle, and a drooping black-tipped tail. Wild dogs have a lifespan of about 16 years and can grow up to 17 inches in height and up to a metre in length. They move in packs of five to ten and can swim, usually living in caves or under rocky outcrops near a water source. They collaborate to chase and attack their prey, able to hunt animals ten times their size. Other predators like tigers and leopards do not attack wild dogs, deterred by their packs. Dholes are found across 11 Asian countries, including Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. India currently has the largest population of wild dogs at 2,500. Dholes are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) list of endangered species, meaning the animals are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but may become in the near future. They are similarly included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and currently updated data confirms that this species is critically endangered or rare. “Because critically endangered and rare species are at risk of extinction, their conservation must be done expeditiously,” says dhole researcher Ambika Prasad Khatiwada. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/champions-of-nepals-conservation-movement/">Champions of Nepal's conservation movement</a>, Lisa Choegyal  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230725070740_9efd2f0d926e43eef4732c1f020c98228354a5365616dddc13965f4d7ef2d0eb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230725070740_9efd2f0d926e43eef4732c1f020c98228354a5365616dddc13965f4d7ef2d0eb" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="502" loading="lazy" alt="Dhole NT 2"></figure>  In Nepal, Dhole sightings have occurred up to 4,350m above sea level in the Rara and Khaptad National Parks, the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve in the western Himalaya, the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area in the east and Chitwan and Bardia National Parks as well as Parsa and Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserves in the Tarai. Wild dogs are sighted in several districts outside protected areas, but populations are low and threatened by low prey base, poisoning and habitat loss. Indeed, an increase in the number of tigers has meant that wild dogs are in direct competition with dholes which share their prey base. “An in-depth study is required to find out if it is this scarcity that has drawn them out in the Parsa region,” says Khatiwada. That wild dogs have begun to attack and feed on cattle seems to support the theory that dwindling prey has drawn the previously elusive species nearer to human habitats, and locals have retaliated by poisoning the prey to protect livestock. Because the species move across the Nepal-India border, there must be international efforts in its conservation, says Martin Gilbert, a veterinarian at Cornell University conducting conservation research in Nepal. In 2019, dhole experts, researchers, and scientists from across the world came together at the first International Dhole Conference in Thailand. The following conference was held in Chitwan in 2023 and saw the participation of 42 experts from 14 countries, including 11 members of the IUCN Dhole Working Group. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/is-wildlife-conservation-a-victim-of-its-own-success-in-nepal/">Is wildlife conservation a victim of its own success in Nepal?</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel Khatiwada is a member of the IUCN group and represents Nepal in the study of wild dogs, and says the conference has renewed momentum for wild dog conservation. So far none of the wild dog range countries have formulated a Conservation Action Plan. As important as the government’s role is to the protection of dholes, experts believe that local efforts will be much more effective than national laws. Khatiwada explains: ”In other countries, the danger to wild dogs stems from habitat loss, but in Nepal, it comes directly from humans.” Indeed, while there is less <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-needs-wildlife-friendly-highways-wt3rbx2v">human-wildlife conflict </a>because dholes move within protected areas in the Tarai, the same cannot be said for mountain regions of Nepal and Bhutan where the animals are hunted, trapped, and poisoned for preying on livestock. According to Nepal’s National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973, those who kill, injure or otherwise harm protected wildlife are punishable by imprisoned for 6 months to 1 year, a fine ranging from Rs20,000-Rs50,000 or both. As with snow leopard and tiger conservation, financial compensation can reduce the hostility of local farmers towards wild dogs. Says Khatiwada: “Some compensation is already provided to those who lose livestock to protected animals provided the livestock are insured. This provision must be amended to provide people with full compensation when there are attacks on livestock so farmers do not poison endangered wild dogs." Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lesser-known-endangered-species">Lesser known endangered species</a>, Nepali Times

Nepal’s wild dogs also need to be saved

Nepal’s success in doubling its forest cover in 30 years has been possible for two reasons: community management of woodlands, and the protection of the country’s national parks by the Nepal Army.
But questions are now being raised about why national parks need to be guarded with guns when protection by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-women-at-forefront-of-saving-tigers">local communities</a> have been so successful.
“Our internal evaluation has shown that it is due to the presence of the military that endangered species have been successfully protected,” says Megh Nath Kafle of the Ministry of Forest’s Department of Biodiversity and Environment. “Without the army, conservation would have been much more difficult.”
However, some activists say giving all the credit for Nepal’s successes in conservation solely to the military would be a disservice to the scores of local communities that have been even more successful in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/villagers-step-up-to-protect-nepal-s-tigers">protecting wildlife habitats</a>.
Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-protected-areas-from-infrastructure">Protecting protected areas from infrastructure</a>, Sonia Awale
“People living at the edge of national parks have played the most important role in nature conservation,” says Bharati Pathak of the Federation of Community Forest User Groups.
“By praising only the army, we ignore the contribution of local communities. The Annapurna Conservation Area is an example of successful conservation even without a military presence,” she adds.
The Nepal Army has also been accused of harassing local communities for entering buffer zone forests to collect wild edibles, or grazing livestock even though those areas outside the parks are not within the army’s jurisdiction.
Conservationists, however, say that the military's presence is critical in parks along the border with India to deter poachers. Killing tigers and rhinos for their pelts, bones and horns nearly decimated India’s wildlife in the 1980s and 1990s. Poaching increased in Nepal during the Maoist conflict when the army was redeployed elsewhere.
The Royal Nepal Army’s involvement in guarding national parks started in 1975 after Chitwan National Park was established, mainly to protect the seriously depleted numbers of rhinos and tigers.
Today, more than 8,000 soldiers are stationed in Nepal’s various nature reserves, with battalions in Chitwan, Bardia, Shuklaphanta, Banke, Parsa, Shivapuri and Langtang, while there are company-strength bases guarding Khaptad, Sagarmatha, Bara, Shey Phoksundo, Makalu Barun, Kosi Tappu and Dhorpatan reserves. Conservation areas like Annapurna, Manaslu, Kanchenjunga and Gauri Shankar do not have an army presence.
The main duty of the soldiers is to control <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet">encroachment and poaching</a> with regular patrols as well as to help with wildlife census and wildlife translocation activities.
Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/wildlife-people-coexistence-in-nepal-national-park">Wildlife-people coexistence in Nepal national park</a>, Kunda Dixit
“Problems arise when villagers enter the national park from the buffer zones, and our patrols have to take action,” explains Brigadier General Krishna Prasad Bhandari. “Our units constantly work with the national park authorities to spread awareness about park rules.”
Even so, for many activists and locals it is not clear why nature needs to be protected with guns when local communities everywhere in Nepal have a proven track record in effective nature conservation.&nbsp;
“It would be much more effective if the army worked more closely with local communities because without their cooperation, genuine conservation is not possible,” says Ramprit Yadav, a pioneer naturalist who was involved in the establishment of Chitwan National Park.
Soldiers have been accused of terrorising local villagers, especially those from Indigenous communities like Tharu, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/chitwan-s-bote-people-in-a-changing-world">Bote</a>, Chepang and Majhi.
“Conservation does not come out of the barrel of a gun, you have to involve local communities, especially Indigenous peoples who have traditionally managed their forest habitats,” says Naya Sharma Poudel of Forest Action Nepal.
Nepal’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/reviving-nepals-community-forestry-success-story">forest cover</a> has increased from 26% in 1992 to 45% today, largely due to the role of the community forestry program. Nearly 24% of the country's area is now protected nature reserves, and the army is deployed in 15 of them.&nbsp;
Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/villagers-step-up-to-protect-nepal-s-tigers">Villagers step up to protect Nepal’s tigers</a>, Teri D. Allendorf

Does Nepal need the army to guard parks?

Nepal's <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/reviving-nepals-community-forestry-success-story">community forestry program</a> doubled tree cover to 45% in 30 years. Nature sanctuaries make up a quarter of the country's area. Two years ago, Nepal’s national parks marked five years with zero rhino poaching. Nepal is also the first <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/2-nepal-tiger-reserves-awarded">tiger range country</a> to nearly triple its population of the big cats. But new linear infrastructure projects will soon be crisscrossing national parks along the Tarai, disturbing the habitat and blocking <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-wild-elephants-are-also-on-the-move">wildlife migration</a> routes. Nearly 400km of the 1,028km East-West Highway slices through national parks in Parsa, Chitwan, Bardia and Banke districts. Transmission lines have been built through protected areas, more are planned. Irrigation canals such as Babai, Ranijamara and Sitka obstruct wildlife movement pathways. “Nepal is among the fastest growing countries in terms of infrastructure, but projects are also the least well planned,” says World Wildlife Fund Nepal (WWF-N) Country Director Ghana Gurung. Development vs <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/conservation-at-the-crossroads">conservation</a> has been a longstanding dilemma for countries like Nepal, but experts say it need not be. Around the world, planners are now building infrastructure with climate-smart and wildlife-friendly safeguards. With technical expertise and investment, there is no reason Nepal cannot do the same. In fact, the 30km Narayanghat-Mugling Highway features the first two of Nepal’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/underpasses-to-reduce-roadkill-in-nepal">wildlife underpasses</a> where the busy highway artery passes through an important animal migration corridor. Camera traps at underpasses showed deer, wild boar and other animals used them regularly, with half the wildlife movement occurring in winter when animals search for water The Narayanghat-Butwal highway, which is being upgraded, will have 40 wildlife crossings along the Daunne-Gaidakot section. Their location is being determined after monitoring wildlife movement in the area. The project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will also monitor how much the animals use the crossings. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/infrastructure-for-wildlife-in-nepal">The facilities</a> are necessary not just to prevent the fragmentation of wildlife habitats, but also to reduce roadkill of endangered species.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023032316030_c6b778a207c5a2fd618af03fc656535d3ab2f445a1618f573394169724e9fbd4.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2023032316030_c6b778a207c5a2fd618af03fc656535d3ab2f445a1618f573394169724e9fbd4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1083" loading="lazy" alt="Map"></figure>  But there is contradiction between road engineers and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-conservationist-wins-whitley-award">conservationists</a>, with the former prioritising connectivity while the latter are blamed for one-dimensional advocacy for wildlife. Bridging this gap is the recently launched Asia’s Linear Infrastructure safeGuarding Nature (ALIGN) project which aims to protect protected areas from the impact of new infrastructure. Funded by USAID and implemented by WWF, the ALIGN project was launched at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal in December 2022 with an initial focus on three countries: Nepal for its rich biodiversity, Mongolia for its fragile protected areas, and India which is accelerating investment in infrastructure. ALIGN has three main objectives: refine and strengthen existing policies such that they align with international best practices, enhance partnerships to promote and support investment, and implement safeguards for linear infrastructure and capacity building. “As it stands we have a very weak policy framework but we must strengthen it to avoid the impacts of big infrastructure. Soon we will be reviewing them,” says Semina Kafle of the ALIGN project. She adds: “Our focus is on producing our own experts.But there is a big gap between how an engineer thinks versus a conservationist. So we have decided to go back to school and make the impact of linear infrastructure on climate and wildlife an integral part of engineering studies.” ALIGN is working with the Institute of Engineering (IOE) in Pulchok Campus to develop a syllabus for an elective for students of civil and electrical engineering, and urban planning. The team is also collaborating with American universities to bring engineering lecturers to the Institute. As the demand and interest for the course increases, the elective will be upgraded to a core course or even a Master’s program. “It is crucial that we equip our students with the latest technologies and construct linear infrastructure while also ensuring the safety of the wildlife,” says Shashidhar Joshi, dean of IOE.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023032316030_73628a3d88b550287dc7439f6fc6fe5b035d99943381590466a8df621fd58be6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2023032316030_73628a3d88b550287dc7439f6fc6fe5b035d99943381590466a8df621fd58be6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Protecting protected areas from infrastructure NT 2"></figure>  He adds: “This is already practiced elsewhere in the world and we are integrating it now into our engineering studies to redefine infrastructure and planning." Poorly planned highway, power line, or railway alignments now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet">threaten to undo Nepal's conservation success</a>. With poaching controlled to a large extent, protected areas are now getting overcrowded leading to more frequent contact between people and tigers, wild elephants and leopards. Wildlife crossings over or under highways or irrigation canals can make them safer for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/protecting-nepal-s-endangered-wild-cattle">endangered species</a>. Otherwise roadkill will be a problem on upgraded highways because of more vehicles and their speed. Safe routes for animals will also reduce <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/is-wildlife-conservation-a-victim-of-its-own-success-in-nepal">human-wildlife contact</a>. They provide drainage, preventing inundation especially as climate-induced weather extremes lead to more downpours and flash floods. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/human-animal-interface-in-nepal-wildlife-corridor">Wildlife friendly structures</a> across highways and irrigation canals are helpful, but they need to be maintained and monitored. An underpass in Barandabhar, a 29km-long forest corridor bisected by the East-West Highway in Chitwan is often cited as a notable wildlife crossing. But, says Sandesh Singh Hamal of the ALIGN Project, lack of upkeep has turned it into a garbage dump. He adds: “Who should be responsible for their maintenance? There should be no conflict regarding the jurisdiction, we cannot pass the buck from one agency to another.” The ALIGN project has a performance period until September 2025 during which it will also facilitate learning and sharing between the three focal countries. With Nepal embarking on mega projects like the East-West Railway, Nijgad Airport and the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway, wildlife crossings need to be integrated into their planning. Says Ghana Gurung of WWF: “We will work with governments and try to bring engineers and conservationists together to ensure infrastructures do not disturb protected areas.”

Sonia Awale

Protecting protected areas from infrastructure

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413114/63722f599c7e80680e0c250fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"/>Tucked away in northern Chitwan between the Prithvi and Mahendra Highways is a land that has been bypassed by time. And this has helped protect the unique <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/model-for-post-covid-ecotourism/">landscape and biodiversity of Gadi-Siraichuli</a>.The mountain forest here is one of a network of sites in the world designated as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area by BirdLife International. It is the habitat of the Spiny Babbler (Turdoides nipalensis), the rare and shy bird that is found only in Nepal.Ironically it is state neglect of the past decades that has protected the unique ecosystem of Gadi-Siraichuli. The mountains also have historical significance for the 18th century fort that dates back to the Anglo-Nepal wars of the early 19th century.A five- day trekking itinerary takes visitors through remote villages and wilderness areas so untouched that it is hard to believe Gadi-Siraichuli is that close to the national highways.The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Chepang-living-edge,3136">nomadic Chepang people</a> still practice Shamanism, and it is the only health care for villagers before they can reach hospitals in Bharatpur. Children along the trail have to travel two hours each way to reach the three government schools in the area.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413114/63722f5c9c7e80680e0c2510jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">Thanks to the <a href="https://besnepal.org/">Bird Education Society</a>, the trail from Kot to Upardang Gadi via Kaaule has become a popular hike for birders from Nepal and around the world.The trail begins in the village of Hugdi along the Kathmandu-Pokhara highway, from where it is an uphill to Kot Pass that leads to the fort. When the clouds part, there is a panoramic view of Himalchuli and Annapurnas, with Himalayan vultures wheeling overhead.The walk then follows the Rigdi Khola to the nightstop at Lower Kaaule village. Lush sub-tropical broad-leaf forests cover the valley sides. Black and Bonelli’s Eagles appear over the skyline.Lower Kaaule is a Magar and Chhetri settlement with 25 houses situated by the river amidst terraced fields. There are homestays here where the owners are used to trekkers passing through. Villagers practice agroforestry, bee-keeping and organic farming, and there are orange, peach and pear trees along the paths. Recently, tea gardens and black cardamom plantations have sprung up.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413114/63722f5f9c7e80680e0c2511jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">The autumn nights are clear and starlit, with the Milky Way, shooting stars and satellites crossing the sky. Visitors fall asleep listening to the calls of Collared Owlets and Mountain Scops Owls nearby.The next morning it is a climb up a steep forested slope alive with flycatchers, warblers and babblers on the trail to Kotari, and onward to Upper Kaaule where there is also a homestay.This is where the Spiny Babbler was sighted in 2020, marking a new locality for this bird. The next morning the trail climbs through the dense rhododendron forest of Gadi-Siraichuli to Upardang Gadi village via Chisapanitar. There are plenty of homestays, and the area is a haven for birders. There are stunning mountain views, especially before sunrise.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/spiny-babbler-tourism/">Spiny babbler tourism</a>, Kamal MadenThe fort at Upardang Gadi is situated at 1,275m with unsurpassed views of Chitwan Valley to the south and the mountains to the north. Birds of prey soar over the fort, with sightings of the Greater Spotted, Steppe Eagles and Pied Harriers. At dusk Lesser Kestrels hawk acrobatically for termites.The next day it is downhill to Shaktikhor in Chitwan, where a forest was cleared for a UN-supervised camp for the demobilisation of the Maoists after the conflict ended in 2006, and then on to the highway.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413114/63722f639c7e80680e0c2512jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">Gadi-Siraichuli forest has been designated one of Nepal’s 37 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, which are of global importance for birds and other wildlife. It includes the largest extent and the highest quality of subtropical mixed broadleaved forest remaining Nepal that supports significant populations of bird species as well as four globally threatened and 20 nationally threatened species.The Chepang people followed a nomadic lifestyle until recently, and various factors including influx of settlers forced them to take up a more sedentary subsistence  agriculture. But Chepang families still harvest wild food from the forest which serves as the watershed providing drinking water for seven villages in Chitwan, but it is still outside Nepal’s protected area system.Designating the area as a Watershed and Bird Sanctuary would be invaluable in protecting the forest for wildlife and as a resource for local communities, including their precious water sources. Promoting eco-tourism would also raise incomes and help in conservation of this precious habitat.Carol Inskipp is a UK conservationist and author of books on Nepal birds and their conservation, who has been coming to Nepal since 1977.Prem Thapa is an avid birder,  trekker, and life member of Bird Education Society, and works at Samsara Trekking &amp; Safari in Kathmandu.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-the-last-home-of-the-spiny-babbler/">Protecting the last home of the Spiny Babbler</a>, Carol Inskipp and Rupendra Karmacharya

Eco-tourism in Gadi-Siraichuli

<figure><img width="437" height="329" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216be9c7e80680e0ba9acjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Fishing cat found dead in small sugarcane patch, approx. 20m from the road. Photo: DIVISION FOREST OFFICE, NAWALPARASI</figcaption></figure>In January this year, my husband sent me an image of a small dead cat. A forest officer in West Nawalparasi had sent it to him to find out what it was. I recognised immediately from its pelt that it was a fishing cat, Prionailurus viverrinus, possibly male.  <figure><img width="780" height="439" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216c09c7e80680e0ba9adjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As a researcher of fishing cats, I was shocked by the specimen and decided to explore it. Early next morning, I left for Nawalparasi to inspect the site at Pratappur where forest guard Ram Piyari led me to where he had buried the carcass of the cat. The cause of the death could not be determined, but when Piyari had found it, he said there was blood coming out of its mouth. Based on the size and other physical features, it was possibly a young (sub-adult) male weighing less than 5kg. It was found on a downward slope some 20m from a gravel road, and did not have any scars suggesting a struggle or fight. So the most logical conclusion was that the cat was roadkill. Growing up, my dog had died in similar circumstances after an auto-rickshaw ran over it, and he had no external injury. It died after a few minutes some distance away. Since then, I have witnessed several similar <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-needs-wildlife-friendly-highways/">cases of wildlife being killed on highways</a>.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/protecting-the-worlds-largest-squirrel-in-nepal/">Protecting the world’s largest squirrel in Nepal</a>, Bashu BaralFishing cats are medium-sized wild cats from South and Southeast Asia, living near <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4663#.Ym9LtdNBxH0">wetlands</a> and are found ‘fishing’ for prey on ponds, rivers and lakes. They are an indicator species, meaning their presence signifies that the body of water is ecologically sound.But increasing threats from habitat loss, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18976#.Ym9LsNNBxH0">destruction of wetlands</a> and poaching have contributed to the rapid decline in their numbers in Asia, and it is listed as <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18150/50662615">Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List</a>. <figure><img width="504" height="456" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216c39c7e80680e0ba9aejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="498" height="371" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216c59c7e80680e0ba9afjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In December 2021, I was involved in collaring fishing cats in the Sunsari district to understand their ecology in the human dominated landscape. The research included their movement patterns between fish farming communities along the Kosi River. One day I received an image of two kittens from the Parsa National Park (PNP) Office, asking to verify their species. They were unmistakably P. viverrinus kittens, recognisable through their yellowish-grey fur and black lines and spots.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-lumbinis-rare-cranes/">Protecting Lumbini’s rare cranes</a>, Rajendra N SuwalSome farmers in the Bara district had taken them to their house from the sugarcane field where the kittens had been found. After a few days, the farmers handed them to the District Forest Office in Bara, which then transferred them to PNP. From there, the kittens were taken to National Trust for Nature Conservation, Biodiversity Conservation Centre in Chitwan, but only one of them survived. The good news is that the other cat will soon be released into the wild. This, however is proof of a chronic lack of awareness about small cat species and proper rescue centres that could provide optimum care and safely rehabilitate them in the wild. Another similar case is from April 2021 when a fishing cat was trapped in Gurusinghe in Kapilvastu. The locals had set up the snares to capture a wild boar, but it caught the cat instead. Fortunately, it was safely rescued and released into the wild.These endangered cats face threats in Nepal’s densely populated Tarai either because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/republic-of-nepals-animal-kingdom/">unplanned infrastructure</a>, or <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildlife-poachers-active-during-lockdown/">traps laid by animal poachers</a>. Most incidents go unnoticed due to limited knowledge about rare species of cats.  <figure><img width="428" height="451" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216c69c7e80680e0ba9b0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As its name suggests, fish make up a large part of the cat’s diet, but they also prey on smaller animals and insects harmful to agriculture. But lack of awareness means farmers and fishermen consider them a nuisance and often kill them.  <figure><img width="706" height="499" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216c89c7e80680e0ba9b1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Globally, over 90% of fishing cats’ potential range lies <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.16.476498v1.full">outside the protected areas</a>. In Nepal as well, around <a href="https://www.authorea.com/users/432020/articles/538304-predicting-the-distribution-of-vulnerable-fishing-cat-prionailurus-viverrinus-in-nepal">70% of its potential habitat in Tarai</a> is outside national parks, adding to its <a href="https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/njz/article/view/38284">anthropogenic threats</a>. Even within their native habitat, the cats are much less well studied than their charismatic cousins, the tiger and leopard.To ensure the long-term survival of fishing cats and other small cats, we need to remove the threats to their existence by raising awareness about the species, their ecology and behaviour. This might deter people from randomly picking the kittens up from the farmland forest. Similarly, drivers should be mindful not to over-speed to prevent road kill. More importantly, we need to discourage bushmeat. Fishing cats are integral to the ecosystem, and the only way to help them thrive in the wild for future generations is to educate and involve the local communities in their conservation. Rama Mishra is a PhD Candidate at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and is involved in the Terai Fishing Cat Project, Nepal.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/villagers-step-up-to-protect-nepals-tigers/">Villagers step up to protect Nepal’s tigers</a>, Teri D Allendorf

Curiosity did not kill these cats

<img width="800" height="466" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c559c7e80680e0b7863jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>3 May 2009 has a special significance for Tulsi Laxmi Suwal, as it was the day she found a mother pangolin with her new-born pup inside the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests/">community forest</a> area in Bhaktapur.Suwal, who is a researcher of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-pangolins-from-being-eaten-to-extinction/">pangolins</a> and a conservation activist, took the shy and harmless little creatures to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-zoo-out-there-2/">Central Zoo</a> in Jawalakhel where she began to study them. Co-incidentally, her own child was five years of age then, and watching the mother pangolin feed, cuddle and take care of her pup, Suwal felt a growing emotional attachment with the pair.“For 15 days I would go to the zoo every morning,” Suwal recalls. “Then I would observe them all day and return home in the evening.”This experience, Suwal adds, helped her gain a more holistic knowledge of the scaly mammals. Later the mother and the pup were released back to the Bhaktapur community forest.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-pangolins-from-being-eaten-to-extinction/">Protecting pangolins from being eaten to extinction</a>, Sonia AwalePangolins are small mammals, between 30 to 100cm in size, with large, protective keratin scales covering their skin. There are eight extant species found in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, all of which are currently <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lesser-known-endangered-species/">considered threatened</a> by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-routes-for-the-worlds-most-trafficked-mammal/">most trafficked mammals in the world</a> because of illicit demand for their meat and scales in China.Nepal is home to two species: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-day-of-pangolins/">the Chinese and Indian varieties</a>. Both species are in Nepal’s protected list and the killing, poaching, transporting, selling or buying of the scaly anteater is punishable with Rs1 million fine and/or up to 15 years in jail.However, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-pangolins-from-being-eaten-to-extinction/">100,000 pangolins are smuggled live</a> from Southeast Asia and Africa into China every year where its scales are believed to have therapeutic value and its meat is considered a delicacy. Some ethnic groups in Nepal also consume pangolins for their supposed health benefits.<a href="https://www.savepangolins.org/">Save Pangolins</a>, a global organisation that supports conservation actions in Africa and Asia, and raises awareness of pangolins around the world, estimates that one million of the animals have been killed worldwide in the last decade alone. <img width="4000" height="3000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c589c7e80680e0b7864jpeg.jpg" alt="">Suwal was first introduced to pangolins in 2007 when she came upon a picture of the animal in a book. She was at the time a post-graduate student at the Central Zoology department in Tribhuvan University.Curious, she looked for more information on pangolins and discovered the works of conservationists Juddha Gurung and Daniel Challender. As her interest grew, so did her affection for the animals, which appear to her like new-born babies. Then in 2009, along with her studies, Suwal also began her conservation work, joining Nepal's <a href="https://smcrf.org/">Small Mammals Conservation and Research Foundation (SMCRF)</a>.For her dissertation on pangolins, Suwal chose to work in Balthali in Kavre district where the private forest is a good habitat for the animals, studying them for months. This was almost 12 years ago when female students of Zoology would usually choose parasitology as their field of study. <img width="126" height="150" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c5b9c7e80680e0b7865jpeg.jpg" alt="">Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-routes-for-the-worlds-most-trafficked-mammal/">The routes for the world’s most trafficked mammal</a>, Nepali Times“When we were studying, even botany and environment were more popular choices among girls,” says Suwal. “But I picked zoology and focused on ecology.”Her passion for pangolins has taken Suwal all over the country, often to identify the different species found in the community and national forests. However, she feels that many people are still unfamiliar with the animal and its significance.She would inform people, wherever she went, about the role of pangolins in our ecology and biodiversity. She even started a campaign to impart relevant news and information about the animal through the social network. <img width="1600" height="1200" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c5c9c7e80680e0b7866jpeg.jpg" alt="">Gradually the interest took on momentum and more people have come to join the conservation efforts in recent years. Suwal works with the local people, media, community forest groups, security forces, the Ministry of Forests and Environment, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, and also conducts discussions and talks in communities, schools, colleges and universities on pangolins to raise awareness.By 2012, there was already a growing interest among locals as well as post-graduate students. So far, the number of studies done by the university on pangolins is 35, which includes the participation of government institutions involved in conservation and habitat protection. Suwal, who is currently pursuing PhD in Taiwan, is nearing the completion of her research, which will make her the first female zoologist from Nepal with a doctorate on pangolins.Taiwan has the highest population density of pangolins in the world. “Taiwan is proof that China can also reduce its demand for pangolins through education, stricter laws, transboundary collaboration and enforcement,” adds Suwal.“I wanted to study,” she says thinking back on her journey. “All of this has been possible because of the support from various people in my life.” Her husband Manoj Bakhunche who is an engineering officer with the Armed Police has been her strongest supporter. <img width="3603" height="2590" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c609c7e80680e0b7867jpeg.jpg" alt="">Born in Chochhe of Bhaktapur, Suwal wanted to be a teacher like her father when she was a child. She began to teach at Dipendra Police School in Sankhu when she was 19 after her mother passed away, and continued to teach until she completed her Bachelor eight years later.Even as she took evening post-graduate Sociology classes at Tri-Chandra College, her true interest was Zoology, and promptly returned to it after taking two year’s unpaid leave of absence from teaching.Through her expertise and involvement in pangolin conservation, she was made a member of the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">IUCN</a>’s pangolin specialist group in 2012. She is among seven Nepalis in the group and this network brings her together with 148 experts from 37 countries. Further, her dissertation is aided by Save Pangolins, which recently recognised and honoured her conservation work. <img width="583" height="443" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c639c7e80680e0b7868jpeg.jpg" alt="">“Pangolins are critically endangered in the world,” says Suwal: “But the growing concern for its conservation is promising. It is important that we all work together to keep the mammal from going extinct.”An example of such work is the observation of the World Pangolin Day on the third Saturday in February annually across the world. Another is also the ‘pangolin pavement’ in the Bagh Bhairab Community Forest in Kathmandu’s Machhegaun – a first in Nepal. As conservation institutions expand their work, they are also beginning to include pangolins in their scope and programs.However, Suwal believes that while community and organisations are now taking pangolins seriously, current efforts are not enough. A major concern is that there is no budget allocated especially for pangolin conservation, and nor have regular programs for long-term study and research been decided.She adds: “Conservation work need to be expanded across the country systemically to save more pangolin lives.” Translated from the Himalkhabar Nepali <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/128424">original</a> by Ashish Dhakal.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lesser-known-endangered-species/">Lesser known endangered species,</a> Nepali Times

Planet of the pangolins

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1e909c7e80680e0af418jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="540" height="504"/><figcaption>Former Prime Minister Kirti Nidhi Bista in a program with host Suman Kharel. Photo: SUMAN SANGA</figcaption></figure>I was watching a talk show. The host was grilling the celebrated Panchyat-era figure former Prime Minister Kirti Nidhi Bista about his political experiences. But my attention was solely fixed on the tiger pelt hanging on the wall behind.The episode was shot at Bista’s living room and for a researcher who had recently visited several prisons across the country to interview people jailed in wildlife crimes, it was a bitter reminder of the impartiality in the way the Nepali state treats citizens.Under Nepal’s laws, wildlife crime also entails transport and collection of contraband, not just peaching. But regulatory authorities have been blatantly ignoring this. Pelts of tigers and leopards have become showpieces for the rich and powerful to flaunt, and are openly exhibited in public spaces.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-drives-wildlife-poaching/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">What drives wildlife poaching?</a>, Sonia AwaleFollowing that tv interview in August 2016, we took to social media urging an investigation into the tiger pelt and how it came to be in an ex-prime minister’s possession. We also filed a complaint through Hello Sarkar, but the agency that is always quick to reply on every matter stayed mum on this.Sometime later, during a visit to the head office of Citizens Bank in Kamaladi, I saw a stuffed tiger head hanging on the wall. Thereafter I found more places in Kathmandu where wildlife parts are openly displayed, flouting the law.A leading weekly paper in 2012 named a select few families in Kathmandu that had tiger, bear, wild ass, leopard and deer parts in ancestral property settlements.It is clear for everyone to see that there are rampant wildlife parts in private uses in Nepal. But why does the law apply only to the poor while those in the positions of power openly display them? Why are some <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wildlife-smuggler-caught-in-kathmandu-after-15-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildlife crimes</a> punished while others are ignored?<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1e929c7e80680e0af419jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="924"><figcaption>A stuffed tiger head in the head office of Kamaladi, Kathmandu. Photo: KUMAR POUDEL</figcaption></figure>I was born in Barabise of Sindhupalchok district bordering Tibet. From a young age, I knew about crossborder smuggling of wildlife parts from Nepal to China. Many locals in the region and even some of my classmates made money from smugglers transporting red sandalwood across the border up north.When I came to Kathmandu in 2006 for higher studies, I got to learn more about this illegal trade. I also found out that Nepal has some of the strictest penalties for the crime in the world, and yet is among the countries with the highest wildlife crime rates.This means our legal system does not discourage criminals, there is rampant impunity and existing laws are applied unfairly and without transparence. This is a clear lack of legal bias: while small-time criminals are prosecuted, ringleaders even when arrested <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lax-laws-make-nepal-haven-for-tiger-poachers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">find loopholes in a corrupt judicial system</a>.Regulatory bodies do not even have a record of how many wildlife crime prisoners are in Nepal and which prisons they are held in. I had to call every prison across the country to collect this data. In 2016, there were 384 inmates, most of them from indigenous communities.Some of the prisoners were not even aware of why they were arrested in the first place. Others told me they were taken into custody when they had gone to collect fodder in the forest. I found inmates who ended up in jail because they were trying to make an extra Rs500. But there were also those who were part of international wildlife trafficking syndicates.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1e959c7e80680e0af41ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="686"><figcaption>Animal pelts seized from a local's house in Tribeni of Bajura district in July 2020. Photo: NEPAL POLICE BAJURA</figcaption></figure>From the centre to local governments, there are many wildlife crime and poaching control groups at work in Nepal. Some 8,000 Nepal Army soldiers are deployed to guard national parks across the country and the Nepal Police even has a separate <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-wildlife-watchdogs-honoured/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">branch for wildlife crime</a>.And yet Nepal is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/better-nepal-china-connectivity-helps-wildlife-smugglers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">flourishing hub for wildlife trade</a>. Contraband from Africa and Asia are transported to China and beyond across the Himalaya. The country’s location is no help – it is situated between India, which is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world with a 1,300km open border, and China that is the world’s largest wildlife market.According to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1972, no one is allowed to use, sell or distribute wildlife without permission in Nepal. But even before it was issued, the law stipulated that those in the possession of wildlife parts must get a permit within 35 days by disclosing their source.But no such permit has ever been issued according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Department of Forest and Soil Conservation. I reported the illegal wildlife parts in use in Kathmandu with evidence and lobbied for them to be brought under the purview of the law. But I was warned to keep quiet, with authorities even threatening to end my career. I chased them for two years but with no other progress and alternative, I went to court.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rare-anti-cancer-tree-on-verge-of-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Being a wildlife specialist</a>, legal matters are not my forte. I also realised just learning about ecology is not enough to save wildlife in Nepal. So, I joined Nepal Law Campus where I met advocate Padma Bahadur Shrestha, who specialises in environmental law.He helped me prepare the writ and in May 2018 we went to the Supreme Court with our petition. The staff at the registration read the writ and laughed. The head of the branch said it was an important case but refused to register it. It got registered the second day because there was no basis not to, and the date for the hearing was fixed for the very next day.The judge on the bench was Cholendra SJB Rana. I could hear advocates say, “Most of the wildlife parts are in the Rana family. How do you expect the judge to give a verdict?”After reading the writ, judge Rana smiled and said, "Immediate order may be difficult to implement, so I have given a show cause order to the government with priority."For the last three years, I am following up on the Supreme Court. The authories who did not respond to my report have sent written answers to the court. From the office of the prime minister to the forest department, they have all come up with varying excuses.The Ministry of Forests and Environemnt requested the writ petition to be dismissed claiming that the wildlife parts currently in the display, private or otherwise may have received permits. But responsible departments say they have never issued any permits. This means all the wildlife parts that are in private possession is illegal.The Supreme Court had fixed 19 December this week for the hearing of our petition. But it has now been postponed to 17 April 2022 due to a public holiday that coincided with the day.If the order is issued as per our demand, the government will be obliged to keep a record of the historic wildlife parts in private use across the country, then give a permit if there is a legal basis or confiscate and take action if found illegal.This will also shine a light on culprits and bring them under the purview of law while helping to curb the crime that is taking place under the guise of ancestral trophy hunting. Ignoring this aspect of wildlife crime will only boost the morale of criminals and add to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-conservation-nepal-is-not-out-of-the-woods-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">existing challenges of conservation</a>.Wildlife trafficking is not a local but an international problem, and as such needs cross-border collaboration between countries. Nepal’s legal capacity is also important for the conservation of wildlife in South Asia and the world.Translated from <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/127298?" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Nepali original</a> in the Himal monthly.Kumar Paudel is an MPhil graduate from the University of Cambridge and is co-founder of Greenhood Nepal based in Kathmandu.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1e989c7e80680e0af41bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="109" height="109">

Nepal's unequal wildlife laws

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d02669c7e80680e0a367bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>All photos: RED PANDA NETWORK</figcaption></figure>When British naturalist Sir <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Dalton_Hooker">Joseph Dalton Hooker</a> first made his ecological expedition in eastern Nepal from October through December of 1848, a flock of mountain sheep was grazing around the Tumling-Jaubari area of Ilam district.One hundred and seventy-two years since then, the region has witnessed a tragic loss of the mountain sheep, called Argali. Encroachment of natural habitats and human activity have also depleted other mammalian species.Hooker’s expedition travelled northwards from Taplejung to the valleys of Yangma and Yalung, and his <a href="https://books.google.com.np/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=sCYKAQAAIAAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PR1&amp;dq=Himalayan+Journals%3B+or+Notes+of+a+Naturalist:+In+Bengal,+the+Sikkim+and+Nepal++Himalayas,+the+Khasia+Mountains&amp;ots=SEYKOSxhCN&amp;sig=oBIVKZrPZG4L9IlT_DKymulgvcM&amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;q=Himalayan%20Journals%3B%20or%20Notes%20of%20a%20Naturalist%3A%20In%20Bengal%2C%20the%20Sikkim%20and%20Nepal%20%20Himalayas%2C%20the%20Khasia%20Mountains&amp;f=false">Himalayan Journal</a> account of the trip is the first ecological documentation of eastern Nepal’s rich biodiversity. He was accompanied by shooter and specimen collectors of <a href="https://books.google.com.np/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=sCYKAQAAIAAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PR1&amp;dq=Himalayan+Journals%3B+or+Notes+of+a+Naturalist:+In+Bengal,+the+Sikkim+and+Nepal++Himalayas,+the+Khasia+Mountains&amp;ots=SEYKOSxhCN&amp;sig=oBIVKZrPZG4L9IlT_DKymulgvcM&amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;q=Himalayan%20Journals%3B%20or%20Notes%20of%20a%20Naturalist%3A%20In%20Bengal%2C%20the%20Sikkim%20and%20Nepal%20%20Himalayas%2C%20the%20Khasia%20Mountains&amp;f=false">Brian H. Hodgson</a>, a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist who later became the British resident in Kathmandu.Since then, the landscape of eastern Nepal has metamorphosed, forest coverage and weather patterns have altered, socioeconomic and cultural values have been transformed. Yet, there is still a lack of systematic study of mammalian diversity in this neglected but biologically diverse part of the eastern Himalaya.The eastern Himalaya is one of the world’s <a href="https://www.environmentbuddy.com/endangered-wildlife/list-of-biodiversity-hotspots-examples/">34 Global Biodiversity Hotspots</a> and has been identified among the six transboundary landscapes to be protected. The region spans a wide spectrum of ecological zones containing parts of three Global Biodiversity Hotspots and is the meeting place of three biogeographic realms: the Kangchenjunga Landscape, which extends across eastern Nepal, Darjeeling, and Sikkim of India, and western Bhutan.Kangchenjunga Landscape with an area of more than 25,000 sq km includes 19 protected areas, including the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) in Nepal, India’s Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, Singalila National Park, and Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary.The Kangchenjunga Landscape in Nepal represents four eastern Himalayan ecoregions ranging from the Himalayan alpine meadows and subalpine conifer forest to the eastern Himalayan broadleaf, and the Tarai-Duar savannas and grasslands stretching across four districts – Taplejung, Panchthar, Ilam, and Jhapa.The landscape comprises 11 bioclimatic zones, 23 forest types with 32.15% canopy cover, exhibiting a vast variation in physiography, and altitudinal and climatic conditions resulting in rich faunal and floral diversity. And it provides habitat to about 160 types of mammals, 580 bird species, and more than 1,400 flowering plants, some of which are globally threatened, endemic, rare or endangered.Inside the broader region of the Kangchenjunga Landscape in Nepal, there is an important forest corridor dominated by human settlements, a network of community forests, private and public lands stretched along with Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung (PIT) districts. The unprotected forest patches in those districts have much biological significance as they provide connectivity between the protected areas of Nepal and India, harbouring important species diversity and movement.These forest patches contain approximately half of the PIT area suitable for the red panda, of which 85% is unprotected. The Red Panda, Habre in Nepali, is a flagship species of eastern Himalaya and a permanent dweller of the unprotected forest of the three districts. The PIT region also includes globally Important Bird Areas: Upper Mai-Valley Forests and Tamor Valley.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d02699c7e80680e0a367cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125">The PIT region has high endemicity in terms of species richness and they require extensive habitat areas with high-quality corridor linkages between the habitats for their long-term survival.But of late, the region has suffered from over-extraction of resources, haphazard market-driven land-use practices, intensive agriculture, overgrazing, unmanaged tourism, and unplanned infrastructure development. These have lead to habitat destruction and fragmentation in an already neglected forest habitat.The <a href="https://redpandanetwork.org/">Red Panda Network (RPN)</a> initiated its conservation journey in 2007 with its efforts in eastern Nepal, and with a commitment to conserve wild red pandas and their habitat through the<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/red-panda-conservation-nepal,1668"> education and empowerment of local communities</a>.To fill the knowledge gap of locals in the region on its mammalian diversity, the RPN has been conducting surveys mobilising local youths as forest guardians for systematic camera trap studies with a network of approximately 200 community forests.The research is the most comprehensive after Hooker’s travel to the region nearly 200 years ago, and has already succeeded with the ground-breaking discovery of <a href="https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/article/29740/list/8/">wildlife species for the first time in Nepal</a>, and the <a href="https://redpandanetwork.org/post/Press-Release-Tiger-Photographed-for-First-Time-In-Nepal-s-Red-Panda-Habitat">highest-ever Bengal tiger sighting in Nepal</a>. The longest run community-based monitoring of wildlife in the region has been able to document and photograph 25 mammal species from five orders and fifteen families, among them, were six cat species indicating higher diversity of felids in the PIT.Some of the noteworthy species that have been photographed in the region include red panda Ailurus fulgens, Bengal tiger Panthera tigris, common leopard Panthera pardus, marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata, Himalayan serow Capricornis thar, Himalayan goral Naemorhedus goral, Assam macaque Macaca assamensis and Himalayan black bear Ursus thibetanus. The PIT is also home to the Critically Endangered Chinese pangolin Manis pentactyla and White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis. <img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d026c9c7e80680e0a367djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="563">Eastern Nepal also has an ethnically diverse population mix, many of whom rely on the forests for traditional healing practices, unfortunately the very reason endangered animals and their body parts are smuggled across the border. The porous border of the region to Tibet and India has also made illegal trade easier for various wildlife including the Chinese pangolin — the world’s most trafficked mammal. A <a href="https://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/2181">study</a> has inferred a possibility of an organised network of poachers and traders in the region often involving local unemployed youth.This rich assemblage of the wild mammals demonstrates the significance of eastern Nepal as an important ecological zone. The recently <a href="https://checklist.pensoft.net/article/69208/list/11/">published paper</a> on photographic evidence of the Bengal tiger, Nepal’s first marbled cat, among others has highlighted the importance of Panchthar, Ilam and Taplejung as an important biological corridor for tigers, red panda, and other sympatric species at a transboundary level.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d026f9c7e80680e0a367ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="940" height="788">Likewise, the paper suggests the need to prioritise the region for community-centric conservation designation of national and transboundary importance.This International Red Panda Day on 18 September is a timely reminder to prioritise the protection of the ecologically rich and biodiverse Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung region before we stand witness to the loss of many more species.Sonam Tashi Lama and Janam Shrestha are with the Red Panda Network.

Republic of Nepal’s animal kingdom

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

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

As soon as she milks her cow, 52-year-old Punam B K is off, pedaling her bicycle furiously along the highway with a blue milk can in the front basket.&nbsp; By the time she arrives at the Jaya Shiva Ganesh Dairy Producers Cooperative in Gopalganj village, others are already there, their bicycles parked on the roadside. The farmers are all holding on to their blue milk cans, and are chatting away.&nbsp; “We keep what is needed for the family, and sell whatever remains here at the cooperative,” says B K, as the volume, fat and non-fat solid content of her milk is measured. It is then poured into a bigger vat to be mixed with milk from other farmers. B K collects her receipt with the value of her milk, and prepares to head home. The farmers are reimbursed on a quarterly basis.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-family-that-works-together-stays-together">A family that works together stays together</a>, Sahina Shrestha “Everyone around here has at least a cow or buffalo to provide milk for the family, the cowdung is used for fertiliser, and we can bring whatever is left over to the cooperative,” says B K who, like the others, brings her milk by bicycle twice a day, once in the morning and again in the evening.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241210081232_0df32c0f6a572aef83eca02dc7a86f75ea5dbc88dc6c2390d42a44ab3cc93395.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241210081232_0df32c0f6a572aef83eca02dc7a86f75ea5dbc88dc6c2390d42a44ab3cc93395" data-rendition-name="original" width="1700" height="1275" loading="lazy" alt="dairy farmers in Chitwan"> </figure>  All this may seem like nothing special, just an ordinary farmer selling her milk. But it has to be seen in the context of dairy farmers overcoming subsistence and increasing household income. Nearly 200,000 dairy farmers from over 1,200 cooperatives have not been paid by the government-run DDC for their milk for a year or more.&nbsp; The DDC has fixed a quota for buying milk from cooperatives that limits production even during the peak winter months. Farmers in Chitwan are so fed up, they have staged demonstrations in Kathmandu and even poured milk on the East-West Highway in protest.&nbsp; Punam B K’s milk ends up in Bhawani Dairy, a milk processing plant in Chitwan that buys milk from various cooperatives in the district. It was established six years ago by three entrepreneur cousins Devrath Baral, Drishya Baral and Subash Paudel and is now being supported by the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) project.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241210081232_4e3c65390b9c5345f807b10cbb8c36b006ef6d3cb972e07b5067f4b2db2be32e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241210081232_4e3c65390b9c5345f807b10cbb8c36b006ef6d3cb972e07b5067f4b2db2be32e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1102" loading="lazy" alt="dairy farmers in Chitwan"> </figure>  This UK-funded project implemented by Swisscontact in Nepal has been supporting agro-businesses in 23 countries in Asia and Africa. They focus on improving the capacity of private dairy and vegetable farmers to find markets and build a sustainable supply chain for their produce. It helps dairies like the one in Chitwan with branding and marketing, as well to track business through a Dairy Management System (DMS) digital database.&nbsp; Bhawani Dairy also got support to conduct orientation for cooperative farmers to learn about new ways to boost productivity with breeding, cowshed management and hygiene maintenance. Many commercial farmers in Chitwan, some with up to 60 cows and buffaloes, have benefited.&nbsp; B K says she only has six cows, so not everything she hears at the orientation about increasing cowshed area is applicable. “We are just happy our milk is not wasted, and we can earn some cash from the surplus,” she says.&nbsp; Bhawani Dairy’s clientele is based entirely in Chitwan and in towns along the East-West Highway. But building on its success here, the company is looking to expand nationwide and target the Kathmandu market. Being a perishable product, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/nepal-s-milk-heartland-rebounds">diary business is challenging</a>. Businesses also need investment and technical support to diversify into value-added milk products like cheese, yoghurt, ice cream or powdered milk.&nbsp; “For now, the best thing we as a dairy business can do for farmers is to buy their milk at a decent price and pay them in time,” says Drishya Baral of Bhawani Dairy.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241210081232_6c06efb5674dbcd8679015af543bfda87030755383a13c9269e272af28e85953.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241210081232_6c06efb5674dbcd8679015af543bfda87030755383a13c9269e272af28e85953" data-rendition-name="original" width="1700" height="1275" loading="lazy" alt="dairy farmers in Chitwan"> </figure>  Another agro-industry supported by CASA since 2018 is Himalayan Supervores, a venture that sources farm produce to supply vegetables and other foods to restaurants and hotels in the city, and even export Halal-certified produce to Gulf countries.&nbsp; CASA helped with cold chain management system to keep vegetable produce fresh so that the products earn trust about quality in the national and international market. Himalayan Supervores is already exporting to UAE and Qatar, and is targeting other Gulf countries next. “The guidance provided by the international expert was invaluable, we could not have bought that knowledge even with money,” says Nelson Shrestha of Himalayan Supervores. “It was not about fancy hardware, but how to minimise wastage, increase productivity, save time and money.”&nbsp; Though Himalayan Supervores collects vegetables from vegetable cooperatives, it indirectly works with a network of thousands of cooperative farmers. Its catchment area therefore is enormous, and it has enhanced their knowledge about organic farming methods, bio-pesticides, and the right way to handle and package vegetables. CASA’s most recent tie-up is with Pokhara-based Poshilo Foods, which specialises in increasing the shelf-life of local nutritional food items. During the Covid lockdown <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p3bparajuli/">Prithwi Kallyan Parajuli</a> saw an opportunity to supply nutritional foods that stayed longer, and set up Poshilo.&nbsp; It took traditional satu flour made from dry-roasted pulse, added more nutrients, and packaged it. Four flavours of satu with nutrient values differentiated for various age groups now line the shelves of supermarket chains like KK Mart, Saleways. Poshilo is now exploring the export market in India.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241210081232_a8dbea8c8d45ac4eff6c37fb47da7ff461989c662ba86d207a008381101acdcf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241210081232_a8dbea8c8d45ac4eff6c37fb47da7ff461989c662ba86d207a008381101acdcf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1700" height="1275" loading="lazy" alt="dairy farmers in Chitwan"> </figure>  In the five years of helping Nepali agribusinesses, CASA has already teamed up with 35 established companies. Parajuli heaps fulsome praise on the catalytic support and guidance he got early on, not just for product design, but to explore market viability, branding and marketing.&nbsp; He has participated in government-led programs before, but says those are one-off and focus only on technical solutions and do not pay much attention to the important back-end work with management and sales.&nbsp; Says Devrath Baral of Bhawani Dairy in Chitwan: “We would probably have eventually got to where we are now, but it would have taken years longer without CASA. And now we can share our experience with other agribusinesses in Nepal.”

wildlife-conservation