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Mountain conservation in Nepal

18.07.2018

The role of conservation for Nepal’s prosperity both at the national and local level is addressed by the study “Conservation and prosperity in new federal Nepal: Opportunities and Challenges” by Shailendra Thakali, Brian Peniston, Govinda Basnet and Mahendra Shrestha. The study was conducted from February to April 2018 and commissioned and supported by the Asia Foundation and the Snow Leopard Conservancy.  It examines potential impacts of new governance structures on conservation and protected area management systems of the country.

The study highlights areas of challenges and opportunities related to conservation management structures of types of protected areas and suggests areas that need immediate assistance. It carries this out by highlighting potential risks that new local and provincial governments pose when they are eager to raise revenues for development activities but may turn to unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. The study identifies challenges and potential unintended consequences of the conservation sector in Nepal’s new constitution of 2015. Nepal’s new constitution transforms the country from a unitary political structure to a federal system, however some challenges involving clarifying roles and responsibilities in the various levels of government is explored in the study.

Furthermore, the study recommends specific opportunities in the conservation sector, and suggests ways to move forward. It highlights opportunities such as creating new fiscal transfer mechanisms to encourage conservation among local and provincial governments by creating incentives for business and industry to undertake environmentally friendly or “green” resource extraction practices. In particular, a recommendation is that the Government of Nepal create special criteria within the “special grants” category of funding under Inter-Governmental Fiscal Management Act 2074 based on the guidance and recommendations of National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission (NNRFC) to continue its history of productive investments in conservation. Past investments in conservation have yielded proven biodiversity and economic benefits.

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Photo by Nathan Rupert/Flickr

 

 

 

 

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