DOCSLIB.ORG

Corridor Conservation in Nepal

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Corridor Conservation in Nepal Sandeep Shrestha NRS 534 Role of Corridor Conservation in Landscape Ecology of Nepal By studying Island Biogeography theory(IBA) in Protected area management course during undergraduate study , I have understanding of this theory implicated in Protected area management systems as :1) Make protected area(PA) as large as possible,2) Protected areas should encompass wide range of contiguous and different ecosystems and 3)Protected area should be connected through some linkages for effective immigration and emigration of animal species and preventing isolation. I think the 3rd implication of IBA provides Knowledge based science to link PA ( which we assumes as Island) through a linear strip of vegetation cover, which we referred such linkages as " corridor" in Wildlife science. According to Wikipedia, wildlife corridor is a link of wildlife habitat through native vegetation giving two or more large areas of similar wildlife habitat. The role of Corridor is important in Landscape ecology for following reasons: As habitat ( can be considered as patch in spatial scale) becomes fragmented due to human factors or natural forces, species becomes isolated resulting into the loss of reduced population viability thereby facing greater risk of extinction. In such situation, linking species between these patches will result into species colonization and gene flow between species reducing potentiality of species being vulnerable to extinction. In this regard, maintaining corridor will serves species to move/disperse across the different habitat patches in landscape helping species to exchange genes , maintain viable population and accommodating larger space. Wildlife corridor are identified as a) Regional corridor with width(>500 m) and connecting primary landscapes between larger important area of habitat b) Sub regional corridor with width (>300m) and wide enough to provide landscapes connection for species movement and dispersal c) Local corridor with width (>30m) are small and providing local connection of remaining vegetation patches. Wildlife corridor can be manmade and natural corridors. Man made corridors are built across highway roads connecting forest , green ways and riparian buffer. Natuurburg Zanderij Craito build in Netherland is excellent example of manmade corridor. Experimental corridors are also designed to evaluate corridor effectiveness. Large scale corridors are corridor connecting habitat locally or internationally and connect larger blocks of Protected areas. Florida Wildlife Corridor and Yellowstone to Yukon are the successful examples of Large scale corridors. One of the large scale corridor implemented is Terai Arc Landscape(TAL) in Nepal. Before corridor management implemented ,I would like to brief on historical conservation background of Nepal. Nepal started conservation in species level focusing conserving species like One horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger, Elephant and Gharials. Later after 1970's the country 's started ecosystem level conservation and the first National Park , Chitwan National Park was established in 1973. Currently the protected area(PA) occupies 19.7% of total land of country and consists 10 National Park, 3 Wildlife reserve, 1 hunting reserve and 6 conservation areas. The PA's are successful in conserving endangered species like rhinos, tigers, elephants, vultures, several species of birds, fishes and reptiles . However PA management system was challenged by increasing human wildlife conflict ( for eg communities living nearby protected area suffering huge loss of agricultural/livestock depredation, household damages and human injuries and death from Park animals. Thereafter Buffer zone management system was adopted in 1990's to reduce human- willdife conflict as well as dependency of local people on PA resources. Under Buffer zone management system several areas (small patch size ) were reforested and these patches started offering extra additional habitat to Park animals, which substantially helped local communities in income generation through ecotourism and independency on Park resources. As adjacent forest areas of PA 's continues to expand through community effort it was felt that certain long ranging globally threatened species like Tigers cannot be protected by PA's themselves. This led to Paradigm shift of PA management system to Landscape Level Management conceptualizing Corridor connectivity in PA's leading to implementation of Terai Arc Landscape in 2001 - Largest corridor in Nepal. TAL, comprising 51,000km 2 is the largest forest corridor connecting 6 PA's of lowland region of Nepal as well connecting these PA's to 7 PA's of India. This landscape harbors globally important biodiversity of Terai Dun Savannah, grassland ecoregions and 3 Ramsar wetlands adopting landscape approach to conserve Asia's Large mammals like One horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger, Elephants, Dolphins and different prey species of tiger. The forest corridor comprise 3 large river systems flowing from hilly region creating critical habitats and connectivity between churia hills and lowland terai. TAL comprises 7 corridors of which 4 corridors link within regional PA's and 3 forest corridor link with 4 PA's of India. Nepal government report states the number of Tiger population has increased by 60% from 2008 and records 193 number currently. The report further states due to TAL forest corridors successful in maintaining connectivity for tigers as well providing good habitat for prey species has resulted into the increase of tiger population in Nepal. As I reviewed different research works conducted in TAL, I found 4 research papers reported tiger signs was detected higher in TAL forest corridor within PA's then corridor lying outside the PA's. These papers also found that Tiger sign was present in all TAL corridor except for one corridor indicating the good potential for tiger dispersal and genetic exchange. Further, Transboundary movement of tigers( Nepal-India-Nepal) are recorded in this corridor as well. A study conducted on Tiger of Transboundary Terai Arc landscape reported a total number of 10 tigers were common for forest of India and Trans boundary TAL corridor between 2012- 2014. These studies shows that Nepal is successful in achieving landscape conservation through corridor connectivity. I reviewed few research papers to assess the corridor effectiveness in benefitting socio-economic status of local communities . I found that TAL forest corridors has reduced fuelwood dependency on PA , conducting different management interventions by TAL program like skill trainings, subsidy for biogas installation, nursery establishment, revolving fund establishment for conducting small business and creating job opportunity have resulted positive attitude of communities towards landscape conservation in TAL. It seems TAL is one of the successful landscape conservation in conserving forest ecosystems in corridors and sustaining Tiger population and their prey species, I think there has been enormous challenges in future. Rapid urbanization and human pressure are deforesting some of the critical bottlenecks of this corridor. As Tiger Population are increasing, human's killing and injuries by tiger are been recorded higher in recent year further aggravating human -wildlife conflict in this landscape. Sand and gravel extraction, livestock grazing and uncontrolled forest fires further adds complexity in managing this corridor for future. Further, Nepal government envision to construct railway and major highway connecting to India border in this corridor , further posing the potential threat on sustainability of landscape conservation in this corridor. I feel TAL is essaying a conservation model system of corridor conservation in Landscape Ecology in Nepal. As the success stories of TAL conservation is providing impressive results in biodiversity conservation, Nepal government has implemented another ambitious landscape conservation in recent year- CHAL (Chitwan Annapuran Linkanges) connecting PA's of Himalayan region to PA's of lowland terai, based on landscape metric river basin approach ( hydrological connectivity). Hence, to conclude, I would say landscape conservation through corridor connectivity seems effective in recent time, however issues like tiger-human conflict, poverty, potential of tiger poaching and developmental works may be threatening the long-term sustainability of this holistic approach of landscape level conservation in future. Annotated Bibliography Barber‐Meyer, S.M., Jnawali, S.R., Karki, J.B., Khanal, P., Lohani, S., Long, B., MacKenzie, D.I., Pandav, B., Pradhan, N.M.B., Shrestha, R. and Subedi, N., 2013. Influence of prey depletion and human disturbance on tiger occupancy in Nepal. Journal of Zoology, 289(1), pp.10-18. This study used the standard method in assessing the occupancy of tiger throughout the Terai Arc Landscape questioning whether tigers using 5 corridors are connecting PA source populations as well as determining the presence of prey base and human disturbances influencing tiger distribution. The tiger occupancy was conducted in 4 PA's, corridor forest, buffer forest using cluster sampling design with grid cell size of 225 km2 throughout the TAL area. The tiger occupancy was analyzed by using Program Presence V to model tiger occupancy and Alkaike Information Criteria (AIC ) to compare and select models. I found this research paper very interesting and scientific. What I felt from this paper was, large area of TAL was used for intensive tiger survey and enormous
Load more

Recommended publications
  • View and Print the Publication
    Forest Fire Prediction Modeling in the Terai Arc Landscape of the Lesser Himalayas Using the Maximum Entropy Method Amit Kumar Verma and Namitha Nhandadiyil Kaliyathan, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India; Narendra Singh Bisht, Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department, India; and Satinder Dev Sharma and Raman Nautiyal, Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, Dehradun, India Abstract—The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is an ecologically important region of the Indian subcontinent, where anthropogenic habitat loss and forest fragmentation are major issues. The most prominent threat is forest fires because of their impacts on the microhabitat and macrohabitat characteristics and the resulting disruption of ecological processes. Moreover, wildfire aggravates conflicts between humans and wildlife in the forest fringe areas. The lack of a proper forest fire monitoring system in the TAL is a major management issue that needs attention for long-term forest viability. Hence, the present study was undertaken using maximum entropy modeling to predict the areas across the TAL at risk of wildfire and to identify key variables associated with fire occurrence. Spatiotemporally independent fire incidence locations along with other environmental variables were used to build the model. The accuracy of the model was assessed using the area under the curve. To evaluate the importance of each variable, a jackknife procedure was adopted. Areas in the projected map were categorized into high fire, marginal fire, and no fire areas. An adaptive forest management strategy can be implemented in the modeled high fire areas to mitigate forest fire and wildlife conflict in the TAL. Keywords: forest fire, maximum entropy, Terai Arc Landscape, Tiger INTRODUCTION biodiversity (Dennis and Meijaard 2001) because of changes in climate and in human use and misuse of A forest fire, whether caused by natural forces or fire.
    [Show full text]
  • INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background This Strategic Plan Is Prepared for the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) - Nepal Which Covers Part Or Whole of 14 Terai Districts Viz
    1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background This Strategic Plan is prepared for the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) - Nepal which covers part or whole of 14 Terai districts viz. Kanchanpur, Kailali, Bardia, Banke, Dang, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Palpa, Nawalparasi, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Bara, Parsa and Rautahat. The plan is prepared in consultation with different stakeholders for a period of ten years from 2004 to 2014. This section provides a background to the landscape, its people and biodiversity, and the conservation and livelihood approach. The TAL is a vast conservation landscape of approximately 49,500 sq km, stretching from Nepals Bagmati River in the east to Indias Yamuna River in the west (Map 1). It links 11 trans boundary protected areas (Table 1), from Parsa Wildlife Reserve in Nepal to Rajaji National Park in India. Map 1: Terai Arc Landscape Table 1: Protected Areas in TAL Protected Areas Area (km2) NEPAL TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE-NEPAL ARC TERAI Parsa Wildlife Reserve 499 2 Royal Chitwan National Park 932 Royal Bardia National Park 968 Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve 305 INDIA Valmikinagar Wildlife Sanctuary 336 Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary 551 Dudhwa National Park 490 Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary 227 Corbett National Park 520 Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary 798 Rajaji National Park 831 Fed by the watershed of the Churia (Siwalik) Hills that runs east to west, the TAL area in Nepal (TAL - The Nepalese portion of Nepal) is so fertile that it is called the rice bowl of the country. Less than 50 years ago, it was a TAL extends over 23,199 contiguous expanse of dense forests and tall grasses.
    [Show full text]
  • Nepal-Emission-Reductions-Program
    COMBINED PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENTS/ INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET (PID/ISDS) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: 154708 Public Disclosure Authorized Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 24-June-2020 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Nepal Project ID: P165375 Project Name: Nepal ER-Program for the Terai Arc Landscape (P165375) Region: South Asia Task Team Leader(s): Andrea Kutter/Rajesh Koirala Estimated Board Date: NA Practice Area (Lead): Environment, Natural Resources & Blue Econmomy Global Practice Public Disclosure Authorized Lending Instrument: Carbon Finance - Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) Sector(s): Environment Theme(s): Forestry Implementing Agency: Ministry of Forests and Environment Is this project processed under OP 8.50 (Emergency Recovery) or OP 8.00 No (Rapid Response to Crises and Emergencies)? Project Financing Data (in USD Million) Total Project Cost: 45.0 Total Bank Financing: Financing Gap: 0.0 Public Disclosure Authorized Financing Source Amount BORROWER/RECIPIENT Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Carbon Fund 45.0 Trust Funds 0.0 Total Project Cost 45.0 Environmental Category: B - Partial Assessment Is this a Repeater project? No Is this a Transferred project? Yes Public Disclosure Authorized 1 B. Introduction and Context Country Context A new government, backed by an unprecedented majority in Parliament, took office on February 15, 2018. This follows successful elections for all three tiers (local, state and federal) of the new state architecture defined by the 2015 constitution, marking a protracted-but-successful conclusion of a political transition that began with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in November 2006. State governments largely mirror the coalition at the center. At the sub-national level, funds, functions and functionaries hitherto managed by the central, district and village authorities are moving to the seven new provinces and 753 local governments for which new legislation, institutions and administrative procedures are being formalized as constitutionally prescribed.
    [Show full text]
  • Rapid Recovery of Tigers Panthera Tigris in Parsa Wildlife Reserve, Nepal
    Rapid recovery of tigers Panthera tigris in Parsa Wildlife Reserve, Nepal B ABU R AM L AMICHHANE,CHIRANJIBI P RASAD P OKHERAL,SHASHANK P OUDEL D IPENDRA A DHIKARI,SAILENDRA R AJ G IRI,SANTOSH B HATTARAI,TEK R AJ B HATTA R OB P ICKLES,RAJAN A MIN,KRISHNA P RASAD A CHARYA,MAHESHWAR D HAKAL U BA R AJ R EGMI,ASHOK K UMAR R AM and N ARESH S UBEDI Abstract Information on density and abundance of globally Chitwan–Parsa complex should be managed as a single eco- threatened species such as tigers Panthera tigris is essential logical unit for conserving the Endangered tiger and other for effective conservation as well as to evaluate the success of wide-ranging species. conservation programmes. We monitored tigers in Parsa Keywords Camera trapping, conservation success, Nepal, Widlife Reserve, Nepal, using camera traps, in , Panthera tigris, Parsa Wildlife Reserve, source–sink, tiger and . Once believed to be a sink for tigers from adjacent population Chitwan National Park, Parsa now provides a new hope for tigers. Spatially explicit capture–recapture analysis over survey years revealed an increase in tiger density from . to . individuals per km from to . The tiger abundance was estimated to be seven (–), Introduction (–) and (–) in , and , respectively. he tiger Panthera tigris, categorized as Endangered on Resettlement of communities from the core area, reduced Tthe IUCN Red List (Goodrich et al., ), remains in anthropogenic pressure, and improved security have made % of its historical range (Joshi et al., ). The remaining Parsa Wildlife Reserve a suitable habitat for tigers. Tiger habitat is not occupied at optimum density because of abundance increased considerably within a km radius of poaching of tigers, hunting of their prey species and conflict the evacuated village sites, from two in to eight in with local communities (Goodrich, ; Walston et al., and in .
    [Show full text]
  • Tiger Conservation in South Asia: Lessons from Teari Arc Landscapes, Nepal
    2nd International Conference on Tropical Biology “Ecological Restoration in Southeast Asia: Challenges, Gains, and Future Directions”, SEAMEO BIOTROP, Bogor-INDONESIA, 12-13 OCTOBER 2015 TIGER CONSERVATION IN SOUTH ASIA: LESSONS FROM TEARI ARC LANDSCAPES, NEPAL MAHESHWAR DHAKAL1* AND HIMLAL BARAL2 1Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal 2Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia *Corresponding author ABSTRACT The Tiger (Panthera tigiris tigiris) is an iconic, charismatic and umbrella species of certain terrestrial ecosystems. Globally the species faces very serious threats through habitat loss, and human-tiger conflicts like poaching and illegal trade of its body parts. There is clear need for policy-makers and conservationists to give greater attention to conservation strategy, if the species is to be saved in the wild. The iconic status of the tiger in terrestrial ecosystems, means success in its conservation has wide implications for the survival of other species. This study aimed to assess and review the efforts made by the Government of Nepal and its achievements in terms of conserving the tiger population and its prey-base. We assess the status of the species with reference to the Global Tiger Recovery program (GTRP) and the progress made by the Government of Nepal. The study was carried out in the lowlands of Nepal, the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), an important tiger landscape compromising six protected area of Nepal and nine protected areas in India. However, this paper covers only the Nepal part. The TAL (Nepal part) extends from Bagmati River in the east to Mahakali River in the west. There are six tiger bearing protected areas in the TAL, and Chitwan National Park supports the largest tiger population, one of the very few protected areas with more than 100 tigers.
    [Show full text]
  • Fall 2018 Vol
    International Bear News Tri-Annual Newsletter of the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA) and the IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group Fall 2018 Vol. 27 no. 3 Sloth bear feeding on a honeycomb in Melghat Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, India. Read about it on page 59. IBA website: www.bearbiology.org Table of Contents INTERNATIONAL BEAR NEWS 3 International Bear News, ISSN #1064-1564 IBA PRESIDENT/IUCN BSG CO-CHAIRS 4 President’s Column 6 Ancestry of the Bear Specialist Group: the People and Ideas at the Inception CONFERENCE REPORTS BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH 9 26th International Conference on Bear 49 What is it About the Terai of Nepal that Research & Management Favors Sloth Bears over Asiatic Black Bears? 52 Characterizing Grizzly Bear Habitat using Vegetation Structure in Alberta, Canada IBA MEmbER NEWS 54 Identifying Seasonal Corridors for Brown 25 Start of the 30+ Club in Service to Bears Bears: an Integrated Modeling Approach 57 Does Rebecca, a Seasoned Andean Bear IBA GRANTS PROGRAM NEWS Mother, Show Seasonal Birthing Patterns? 26 Crowdfunding Bear Stories – the Art of 59 Observations of a Sloth Bear Feeding on Asking Strangers for Help a Honeycomb in a Tree in Melghat Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, India CONSERVATION 27 Investigating a Population of Brown bear MANAGER’S CORNER (Ursus arctos) in K2 Valley Karakoram Range 61 SEAFWA BearWise Program Launches of Northern Pakistan Website: Biologists and Managers 30 Rehabilitation of the Andean Bear in Collaborate on Landmark Regional Bear Venezuela and the Strategic Alliances with Education Program Rural Communities in the Release Process 33 Sun Bear Conservation Action Plan WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT Implementation Update 62 24th Eastern Black Bear Workshop, April 22 35 If You Build It They Will Come: Black Bear – 25, 2019.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Landscapes of Nepal
    Conservation Landscapes of Nepal Government of Nepal Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Kathmandu Kathmandu 2016 2016 Conservation Landscapes of Nepal Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Kathmandu 2016 Publisher Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal Citation Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation 2016. Conservation Landscapes of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal Cover photo credits © WWF Nepal/ Susheel Shrestha © Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Conservation Landscapes of Nepal | iii Abbreviations and Acronyms ACAP Annapurna Conservation Area Project BZMC Buffer Zone Management Committee CAMC Conservation Area Management Committees CBS Central Bureau of Statistics CFUGs Community Forest User Groups CHAL Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora DNPWC Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation DoF Department of Forests ECTC Eastern Chure and Terai Complex GLOF Glacier Lake Outburst Flood HBP Hariyo Ban Program HDI Human Development Index IBA Important Bird Areas ICDP Integrated Conservation and Development Program IUCN The World Conservation Union KCA Kanchenjunga Conservation Area KCL Karnali Conservation Landscape KL Kanchenjunga Landscape KSL Kailash Sacred Landscape LRMP Land Resources Mapping Project LSU Landscape Support Unit MAP Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
    [Show full text]
  • TIGER UPDATE, a Bi-Annual NOTES from the FIELD
    for a living planet ® TNEWSIGER FROM THE FIELD UPDATEIssue 1, November 2004 In this Issue THE WWF TIGER PROGRAMME ........2 So Far This Year... HUMAN-TIGER CONFLICT: WHAT IS Tshewang Wangchuk HAPPENING? ....................................... 3 Welcome to the first issue of TIGER UPDATE, a bi-annual NOTES FROM THE FIELD ................... 4 newsletter highlighting analyses, news and stories COMING UP .......................................... 6 from various countries and landscapes where WWF works with its partners to conserve tigers in the wild. DID YOU KNOW? .................................. 6 he year 2004 started off on a strong positive note. In January, the WWF Species ON THE GROUND ................................6 Working Group meeting was held in Kanha Tiger Reserve (thanks to WWF-India) Tand many participants got an up close and personal view of tigers! In a partnership effort between WWF and WCS, several WWF staff were trained by Dr Ullas Karanth (WCS) Reflecting on a suitable format for the in tiger and prey monitoring techniques. This will greatly enhance scientific validity and Tiger Update, I was pondering over standardisation of monitoring techniques in WWF field tiger projects. A major highlight at the following: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was the 1. Should it be a story from each declaration of new protected areas by the Indonesian government. This was the culmination landscape? of years of support by WWF-Indonesia and other conservation partners. WWF-France has 2. Should it be an overview? raised funds for tiger conservation from the premiere of the film 'Deux Freres’ (Two Brothers) 3. Should it be a collection of news in Nice, and we are getting more European WWF NOs interested in supporting our field and stories? programmes.
    [Show full text]
  • Tropical Forestry and Biodiversity (FAA 118 & 119)
    Tropical Forestry and Biodiversity (FAA 118 & 119) Assessment Report Nepal May 17, 2010 Team Members Bijay Kumar Singh Team Leader and Forestry Expert Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha Ph.D. Biodiversity Expert Shyam Upadhaya PES Expert Hom Mani Bhandari Soil and Watershed Expert Manish Shrestha GIS Expert Andrew Steele Editor With inputs and support from Netra Sharma (Sapkota), USAID/Nepal Disclaimer This assessment was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The authors' views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect views of USAID or the United States Government. i Acknowledgements The study team leader would like to thank USAID/Nepal for giving us the opportunity to carry out this study. I would like to express special thanks to Dr. Bill Patterson, and the other professional staff at both USAID and the US Embassy who kindly provided cooperation and logistic support. Special thanks also go to Mr. Netra Sharma (Sapkota), Cognizant Technical Officer of USAID/Nepal for his inputs and whole-hearted support for the study. In addition I would like to thank Mr. Prakash Mathema, Mr. Govinda Prasad Kafley, Dr. Jagadish Chandra Baral, Mr. Krishna Acharya, Dr. Bhisma Subedi, and the many other government and non-government officials who directly and indirectly provided their intellectual input. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of the team members who worked extremely hard in the preparation of this report. Bijay Kumar Singh Study Team Leader ii Abbreviations and Acronyms ACAP
    [Show full text]
  • Asian Rhinoceros
    Species fact sheet: Asian Rhinoceros Mysterious, often unseen, and very low in numbers, two of the three Asian rhino species hover on the brink of extinction Greater one-horned rhino. © WWF-Canon / Jeff Foott Historically hunted for their horn, a prized ingredient in traditional Asian medicines, and devastated by the destruction of their lowland forest habitat, Asian rhino populations are now distressingly small. These animals are among the world’s most endangered, with one species numbering only around 60 individuals. Throughout their range, their habitat continues to dwindle fast due to illegal logging and other human pressures, and the threat of poaching is ever-present. Young greater one-horned rhino. © WWF-Canon / Michel Gunther Species: Greater one-horned rhino (or rhinoceros; Rhinoceros unicornis), At a Javan rhino (R. sondaicus), Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) glance: Habitat: Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannahs and shrublands, tropical moist forests Location: Southeast Asia, South Asia Population: Less than 3,000 Status: Endangered to Critically Endangered (IUCN–The World Conservation Union) © WWF-Canon / Michel Gunther 1 What are the problems facing Asian rhinos? Poaching The greatest threat by far to Asian rhino populations is poaching. Although there is no scientific proof of its medical value, rhino horn is highly prized in traditional Asian medicine as a cure for a variety of illnesses such as nosebleeds, strokes, convulsions, and fevers. As a result, poachers continue to kill the animals to take the horn, despite increased surveillance Greater one-horned rhino, Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. and protection. © WWF-Canon / Jeff Foott There are three species of Rhino horn is not like cattle horn, which grows from the bone.
    [Show full text]
  • Habitat Suitability Assessment for Tiger in Trijuga Forest, East Nepal
    A final report on Habitat Suitability Assessment for Tiger in Trijuga Forest, East Nepal Submitted by Himalayan Nature Kathmandu, Nepal Submitted to WildCats Conservation Alliance C/o ZSL Zoological Society of London Regents Park London-NW1 4RY December, 2018 1 Study Team Members: 1) Prof. Karan Bahadur Shah – Biologist and Team Leader 2) Mr. Kul Bahadur Thapa – Biologist (Zoologist) 3) Mr. Hem Raj Paudel – Biologist (Botanist) 4) Mr. Hari Basnet – GIS and Data Analyst 5) Mr. Bivek Gautam – Biologist and Social Surveyor 2 Acronyms and Abbreviations AIC: Akaike Information Criteria ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange CFs: Community Forests CFUGs: Community Forest User's Group CIB: Crime Investigation Bureau CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CR: Critically Endangered DD: Data Deficient DFO: District Forest Office/Officer EN: Endangered GIS: Geographic Information System GPS: Global Positioning System GTI: Global Tiger Initiative IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resource KTWR: Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve LC: Least Concern NPWC Act: National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act NT: Near Threatened NTFPs: Non-Timber Forest Products PAs: Protected Areas Sp.: Species SSC: Species Survival Commission TAL: Terai Arc Landscape VU: Vulnerable i Acknowledgements We are grateful to WildCats Conservation Alliance (WCCA), UK for funding this project. We sincerely thank Mr. Sharad Singh-Director, Mr. Prabin Shrestha and Mr. Shashank Sharma-Project Officers and Ms. Srijana Maharjan-Account Officer of Himalayan Nature for their coordination and cooperation during the project period. Thanks are due to Nepal Government's Department of Forest, Babarmahal for providing the research permission; Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Babarmahal, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • TAL) Has Been Identified As Priority Landscape by the WWF Tiger Action Plan1 and the WWF AREAS 2 Programs
    THE TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE IN INDIA Introduction: The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) has been identified as priority landscape by the WWF Tiger Action Plan1 and the WWF AREAS 2 programs. ‘The Terai-Duar Savannas and Grasslands’ are also a Global 200 Ecoregion. T3 T1 T2 T4 T5 The total area of the landscape is about 49,500 sq. km of which 30, 000 sq. km lies in India. There are 13 Protected Areas in the landscape, from eastern most Parsa Wildlife Reserve in Nepal to Rajaji National Park in India in the west catering to the need of protection of 3 of the 5 terrestrial flagship species viz., tiger (Panthera tigris), Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and the Greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) identified by WWF. The TAL represents one of the densest populations of Tiger in the world. The TAL represents the upper gangetic plain biogeographic zone and vegetation is mainly tropical moist and dry deciduous type. The forests are made up of many economically important species such as Shorea robusta, Dalbergia sissoo,Terminalia tomentosa, and Acacia catechu with other associated tree species like Butea monosperma, Bombax ceiba, Sterculia urens, Aegle marmelos, Terminalia alata, T. arjuna, Adina cordifolia, Syzygium cumini,, Azadirachta indica, Mallotus philippensis, Lagerstroemia parviflora etc. The Gangetic plain is also characterized by tall grasses like 1 Conserving Tigers in the Wild: A WWF Strategy for Action 2 WWF’s Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy Themeda, Saccharum, Phragmites, Vetiveria and several others. Both these elements (fauna and flora) of the TAL are of global ecological and local economic significance.
    [Show full text]