NEPAL FOURTH NATIONAL REPORT TOTHECONVENTION ONBIOLOGICALDIVERSITY REPORT NATIONAL FOURTH NEPAL NEPAL FOURTH NATIONAL REPORT TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977 1 4220 067 / 4224 892 Government of Nepal Fax: +977 1 4223 868 / 4224 892 Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Website: www.mofsc.gov.np Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal Email: [email protected] March 2009 NNEPALEPAL FFOURTHOURTH NNATIONALATIONAL RREPORTEPORT TTOO TTHEHE CCONVENTIONONVENTION OONN BBIOLOGICALIOLOGICAL DDIVERSITYIVERSITY Published by: Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Tel: +977 1 4220 067 / 4224 892 Fax: +977 1 4223 868 / 4224 892 Website: www.mofsc.gov.np Email: [email protected] Review Team Uday R. Sharma, PhD. Pralad Yonzon, PhD. Eklabya Sharma, PhD. Prepared By: Prof. Ram Prasad Chaudhary Krishna Chandra Paudel, PhD. Sudhir Kumar Koirala Edited and Processed by: Deependra Joshi National Report Coordination Team 1. Dr. K.C. Paudel Coordinator 2. Dr. S.B. Bajracharya Member—NTNC 3. Dr. M.P. Upadhyay Member—NARC 4. Dr. Narendra Man Babu Pradhan Member—DNPWC 5. Prof. Madan Koirala Member—NEFEJ 6. Prof. Pramod Kumar Jha Member—TU 7. Dibya Gurung Member—UNDP 8. Sagar Kumar Rimal Member—DoF 9. Sudhir Kumar Koirala Member and Contact Person—MFSC The Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation encourages the usage of this material for educational and non-profit purpose, with appropriate credit to the publisher. The Ministry appreciates recieving a copy of any publication that uses this report as a source. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. © Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal © Ram P. Chaudhary Front Cover Photographs © Ram P. Chaudhary, Deependra Joshi and Bird Conservation Nepal. Back Cover Photograph © Deependra Joshi Design and Production by: Ultimate Marketing (P.) Ltd. Ranibari, Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 4352223, Fax: 4365195 E-mail: [email protected] NEPAL FOURTH NATIONAL REPORT TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY © Ram P. Chaudhary © Bhagwan Dahal © Sarbendra Pachhai © Deependra Joshi Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal March 2009 ii NEPAL FOURTH NATIONAL REPORT TO THE CBD March 30, 2009 Preface Nepal has been moving towards the fulfilment of its commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Since long time, Nepal has been adopting all the decisions emanating from the Conference of the Parties. As Nepal is rich in biological diversity, we are committed to play the important role of conserving this heritage despite the depletion of species. Nepal has also become party to various legally binding international instruments that are in line with CBD and hence very much committed to meet the international obligations. A wide array of biodiversity conservation policies, plans and legislative instruments have been formulated and promulgated. Likewise, participatory forest and protected area management programmes are getting much popular that have added greater values to biodiversity conservation. People of Nepal have become more aware about the advantage of biodiversity conservation and now are in better position to bring their voice in making wise utilisation of their valuable genetic resources. In the context of political transformation, I am very much confident that Nepal will be able to maintain its profile in the field of biodiversity conservation with all the focus on the need to the conservation of biological resources, sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of natural resources. The Nepal Fourth National Report to the CBD is expected to greatly benefit the people of Nepal, including the indigenous communities, who have been meaningfully contributing to promote, conserve and protect the biodiversity and traditional knowledge. Let me also take the privilege of thanking the entire team of the Fouth National Report Coordination Team. Without their hard work this report would not have been completed on time. I find this report as outstanding, which is different than the previous documents. This report has been developed after having a series of consultative meetings with all the concerned and relevant stakeholders both at local and national levels. I am very much sure that it reflects all our commitments towards our promises of the long-term conservation of biological resources. We, as the CBD focal point, would like to take every possible initiative to meet the Convention’s goal despite all challenges and difficulties ahead. I believe that the report will serve the purpose of getting acquainted with actual scenario of biodiversity status in Nepal. The report certainly inspires all involved in the conservation of Nepal’s biological diversity. As we are also part of the global biodiversity conservation, every effort towards the better management of our biological resources will help in benifitting global community. I would like to ensure that the ministry will continue to play the catalytic role in coordinating the overall biodiversity conservation efforts in future as well. This report would not have been possible without the extraordinary commitment of academia, scientists, researchers and professionals, reviewers, and the communities who have contributed their knowledge, creativity, time and enthusiasm to the preparation of the report. My special thankfulness goes to the Coordinator Dr. Krishna C. Paudel, Contact Person Mr. Sudhir K. Koirala, Government of Nepal, and Consultant Prof. Ram P. Chaudhary, Tribhuvan University, who took the lead in order to prepare this report. Finally, I would like to recognise the contribution of UNDP GEF (both financial support and technical guidance) in the preparation and publication of the report. Uday R. Sharma, PhD. Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation NEPAL FOURTH NATIONAL REPORT TO THE CBD iii Acknowledgements First of all, my team would like to thank the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation who entrusted us to bear the overall responsibility for processing the Nepal Fourth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Nepal Fourth National Report to the CBD is an outcome of the extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders comprising various cross-section of society in general and the participants of all those workshops held during the preparation of the report in particular. Regular contacts from CBD Secretariat was instrumental and inspiring as it provided valuable guidance and enriched with the comments in the first draft. Unlike other reports, this report is different because of broader consultations among stakeholders through mass media, publications, interview in FM radios, visits to the different relevant institutions that made the report more realistic and created a sense of common belongingness. I am extremely grateful to the members of the National Report Coordination Team withour their hard work this report would not have been made possible. Also, I would like to thank all the participants who have contributed their time and effort to preparte this report. The consultant team comprising Prof. Ram Prasad Chaudhary (Team Leader) and Mr. Surya Prasad Khanal deserve special thanks for preparing quality report on time. I also extend sincere thanks to the peer reviewers Dr. Uday R Sharma (MFSC), Dr. Pralad Yonzon (Resources Himalaya) and Dr. Eklabya Sharma (ICIMOD), Dr. Siddhartha Bajra Bajracharya (National Trust for Nature Conservation), Mr. Vijaya P. Singh (UNDP Nepal), and Mr. Jhamak B. Karki (DNPWC) for their contribution in enhancing the quality of the report, and Mr. Deependra Joshi for excellent editing. I would like to pay special thanks to the Heads of the Departments and Regional Directorates under the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation for their invaluable support during the report preparation process. I am also thankful to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ministry of Local Development, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, UNDP Nepal, Resources Himalaya, ICIMOD, BCN, WWF, IUCN, NTNC, National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities, Federation of Community Forest Users Nepal, Biodiversity Sector Assistance Project-Siwaliks and Terai, Western Terai Landscape Complex Project and HIMAWANTI for their every support during report preparation. I am also grateful to Mr. Lijie Cai, Programme Officer, CBD/UNEP, for providing timely comments on the first draft. Finally, I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to all who contributed a lot in various consultation workshops during the preparation report. Krishna Chandra Paudel, PhD. Coordinator Nepal Fourth National Report Coordination Team and Director General, Department of Forests. iv NEPAL FOURTH NATIONAL REPORT TO THE CBD Executive Summary The goal 17.8% others. The population in 2007 is estimated at 26 million; increasing from 23 million in 2001 with an annual population In 2002, Nepal developed a comprehensive Nepal Biodiversity growth of 2.25%. Strategy (NBS) with the participation of a broad cross-section of Nepali society as well as in consultation with international 1.1 Ecosystem and habitat diversity experts to fulfil its obligations of being