Message from the Country Rep with Each Passing Year WWF Nepal's Commitment Towards Biodiversity 2 Conservation Is Becoming More Profound

NOVEMBER Vol 6 | No. 1 | November 2011 WWF Nepal newsletter 2011

© WWF Nepal Message from the Country Rep With each passing year WWF Nepal's commitment towards biodiversity 2 conservation is becoming more profound. The recent launch of the Hariyo Ban Remembering our Conservation Program heralds a new era of partnerships and synergies that complement our overarching goal of creating a world in which humans live in harmony with Heroes nature.

Community-led snow leopard monitoring in the Himalayas is being further strengthened with our maiden project using camera traps in Kangchenjunga. The fact that we could capture an image of a snow leopard on the first day of the installation of the camera traps itself is a major landmark. 4 In this issue of ‘Inside the Himalayas’ these are two of the many stories I would like to share with you; a fitting tribute to our Conservation Heroes whose First camera-trap image memories we celebrated during the 3rd National Conservation Day. of Nepal’s Snow Leopard I take this opportunity to thank all our conservation partners, stakeholders released at the national and international levels and most importantly the local communities working on the ground. 7 Happy reading! The Great Escape Crossing the landslide in Langtang Anil Manandhar

Inside Country Representative LEAD STORY 2 conservation issues inNepal,wereawardedtoMs. media personsororganizationsinhighlighting founded torecognizethetransformational roleof Similarly, WWFMediainConservation Awards, conservation. Yeshi Lamafortheirlife-longcontribution to Award awardedinhonorofMatthewPreece and and YeshiLamaYoungConservationLeader Mr.Raj BahadurAirreceivedtheMatthewPreece organization category. and AlternativesHerbalProductsPvt.Ltdinthe individual category,andShivCommunityForest Bhandari andMs.KalawatiChudharyinthe Mr. BedBahadurKhadka,RajendraSingh level conservation.Theawardrecipientswere in recognitionoftheircontributiontograssroots awarded tothreeindividualsandtwoorganizations This year,theAbrahamConservationAwardswere programs. Abraham ConservationAwardsandScholarship conservation inNepaleachyearthroughthe and individualswhohaveexcelledinbiodiversity WWF-Nepal felicitatesleadingorganizations On theoccasionofNationalConservationDay, and SoilConservation,chairedthefunction. Mohhamad WakilMusalman,MinisterforForests Jha wastheChiefGuestofeventandMr. Vice PresidentofNepal,Rt.HonorableParmanand and sustainabledevelopmentoftheworld’sforests. people in the sustainable management, conservation for People’inrecognitionofthecentralrole theme forthisyear’seventwas‘CelebratingForests with theInternationalYearofForests2011, Consortium on24thSeptember2011.Tocoincide of NepalandthesupportConservation Kathmandu under the leadership of the Government 3rd NationalConservationDaywascelebratedin In memoryofNepal'sConservationHeroes,the © WWFNepal Remembering our Conservation HeroesConservation November 2011 Beat NepaliTheatre, inkeepingwiththethemeof performance 'TheTreeofLife’presented byEarth- The programconcludedwithacontemporary us fromaboveareproudofus. and Ibelieveallourconservationheroes lookingat which wereenvisionedbyourconservation heroes Nepal saidthatwehavebeenabletofollow thepath Anil Manandhar,CountryRepresentative, WWF commitment towardsbiodiversityconservation. of Nepalandconsortiummembersfortheir expressed sinceregratitudetotheGovernment Soil ConservationMr.MohhamadWakilMusalman, Similarly, Rt.HonorableMinisterforForestsand with environmentanditisourdutytopreserveit. activities. Hesaidhumanexistenceisdirectlylinked been rapidlydegradedinrecenttimesduetohuman significance ofbiodiversityconservationwhichhas Speaking attheevent,Jhastressedon the event. Warden ofChitwanwerealsoformallylaunchedat Man MaskeytitledTirthaMaskey:TheTiger five publicationsincludingabookonLateDr.Tirtha Himalayan LandscapeandTeraiArc showcasing conservationimpactsintheSacred Two videodocumentariesofWWF-Nepal Yashodhara Chaudhary. Scholarships wereawardedtoSabinaRijaland Tharu DahitwhiletheJenniferHeadleyMemorial were awardedtoBalKumarNepaliandDeepak the JillBowlingSchlaepferMemorialScholarships Chandra GurungMemorialScholarships.Likewise, Prasad BhattaandKabitaPoudyalreceivedthe to JohnLhomiNuppaandSalinaRaiwhileBharat The NepalMemorialScholarshipswereawarded magazine. Patrika Daily,andHamroSampada,amonthly Mr. PramodKumarTandan,reporterwithNaya Pragati Shahi,reporterwithTheKathmanduPost, “For the sake but aleg

© WWF Nepal of the Nepal. of ForestsandSoilConservation,Government Watch GroupundertheleadershipofMinistry Nepal, andTheMountainInstituteWildlife for NatureConservation,WildlifeConservation of EnvironmentalJournalists,NationalTrust The WorldConservationUnion,NepalForum for IntegratedMountainDevelopment,IUCN– Conservation Awareness,TheInternationalCentre Conservation Nepal,EnvironmentalCampsfor Consortium comprisingWWFNepal,Bird National ConservationDayisledbya September 2006atGhunsa,Kangchenjunga.. their livesinthetragichelicopteraccidenton23 in memoryoftheConservationHeroeswholost September) asNationalConservationDayin2008 The GovernmentofNepaldeclaredAsoj7(23 forests forpeople,wildlife,andalivingplanet and messagingtocelebratetheimportanceof the day.Theperformanceblendedmusic,motion lives w e’ve cy tha

lost

© WWF Nepal WWF © © WWF Nepal WWF © … In the News 3 November 2011 © WWF Nepal – The first complete chain of criminals involved in poaching Chitwan, Nepal – The first complete chain of criminals involved in has been detained by and trading of the one-horned rhinoceros in Nepal Chitwan National Park (CNP) authority. in Kasara on 25 October 2011, Organizing a press meet at the Parks’ headquarter the charge of poaching the the CNP authority made public the 17 people held on Rs. 900,000 ($11,465) was endangered species and smuggling their derivatives. also confiscated from some members of this group. days, is attributed to the The success of this operation, which lasted for ten National Park, Criminal close coordination among the authorities of Chitwan WWF Nepal Investigation Bureau, Nepal Army and the local administration. also played a vital role to achieve this success. since it has led to the This arrest is being seen as a significant achievement smugglers right from the complete breakdown of a network of poachers and facet brought out by this grassroots to the international level. A more interesting illegal an runs who Lama, TanjingNima those arrested, of one that was operation family had submitted a trade network was legally declared dead in 2003; his arrest is expected to lead false death certificate to the government then. Lama’s on the gamut of the poaching the CNP authorities towards valuable information and illegal trade network in Nepal. The CNP authorities are now carrying out a series of interrogations with the arrested criminals so as to acquire new and critical information on the network’s links both within the country and outside which could lead to fresh arrests in the future. The smuggling ring is believed to be part of a larger network involving Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Kathmandu in Nepal. Network of wildlife criminals arrested arrested Network criminals wildlife of in Chitwan smuggling and for poaching Rhino horns

itness from the Himalayas itness – I had never thought I would get an opportunity – The nations of Bhutan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh

© WWF Nepal camp on regional climate deal Thimphu, Bhutan Eastern Himalayan nations reach base have signed a regional climate change adaptation declaration that will see wide- ranging collaboration on energy, water, food and biodiversity issues, a deal that could lead the way to similar climate adaptation plans being implemented to cover other threatened ecosystems. “The success of our initiative will not only have direct and immediate benefits for our own people, but we could be setting a worthy precedent for other countries that share similar conditions,” said Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y. Thinley. The declaration was signed at the Climate Summit for a Living Himalayas – Bhutan 2011, a two-day summit that brought high-level government officials, NGOs, leaders of civil society, and youth ambassadors from the four Eastern Himalayan nations to Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu to work out a deal on energy security, natural freshwater systems, food security, and biodiversity across the region. A Climate W Kathmandu, Nepal expressed Chungda like this to represent my country in such a big platform recently returned to Nepal Sherpa, popularly known as Himali Chungda who by WWF-Japan in after attending the Climate Witness Symposium organized village, Ghunsa, in Japan. Mr. Sherpa, hotelier and a farmer from a remote and Mongolia in the Climate Kanchenjunga, represented Nepal alongside Kenya Osaka, and Tokyo Japan, of cities different two in organized Symposium Witness on 8th and 10th November respectively. Nepal team Mr. Sherpa Sharing his excitement and experience with the WWF remote communities like says, "On the symposium I was able to portray how basis and how we ours live with the impacts of climate change on a day-to-day of Japan would provide need help to adapt. I am hopeful that the government work in Kanchenjunga" us some financial assistance to initiate the adaptation Sherpa added. Area at WWF Sujeet Shrestha, Project Manager-Kanchanjunga Conservation stated, “for native people Nepal, who accompanied Mr Sherpa at the symposium a matter of survival as their like Chungda, watching and studying the climate is symposium was a platform lives are strictly interwoven with the climate and the the real climate witness to bring about the core problems as the speakers were themselves. "It was highly significant for Japanese audience to have a testimony of climate impacts direct from its witness like Mr Sherpa", said Mr Takamasa HIGUCHI, Chief Executive Officer, WWF Japan. I believe his urging message would also contribute to building up momentum toward more support from Japan to developing countries like Nepal for their adaptation to the climate change" Mr. HIGUCHI added. SPECIAL FEATURE 4 from successfulpaymentsforenvironmentservicessystems. direct capacitybuildingandlivelihoodssupportto180,000people;bring50,000hectaresofforestareasunderimprovedmanagement;generatevital revenue Hariyo Banprogramaimstoreduceemissions/sequesterover1millionmetrictonsofcarbondioxideequivalentinthetargetlandscapes.Italso provide Gurung, bothofWWF.” marks areturntotheworldfamousAnnapurnaConservationArea,whichwascreatedthroughpioneeringeffortsoflateMingmaSherpaandDr. Chandra for endangeredspeciesbutalsoarevitaltocombattheimpactsofclimatechange,”saidJudyOglethorpe,ChiefParty,HariyoBan.“ForWWF,thisproject also “This ambitiousprojectrecognizesthatforestsarethetruewealthofNepalasnotonlysupportlivelihoodsmillionspeopleandprovide a safehaven adaptation andmitigationneedsofdevelopingcountrieslikeNepal.” resilience againstclimateimpacts,reducedeforestationandlanddegradation,fosterlow-carbongrowth,promotesustainablesocieties,thus,meeting the the GlobalClimateChangeInitiative,”saidMs.PatriciaMahoney,Chargéd’affaires,U.S.Embassy.“Thisinitiativepromotesstrategiceffortstobuildlasting “Recognizing theinseparablelinkbetweenclimatechangeanddevelopment,USAIDisproudtoleadPresidentObama’svisionforglobaldevelopmentthat includes landscape levelconservationsiteinNepal,andthenewChitwan-AnnapurnaLandscape,whichlinkshighHimalayastoTerai. Hariyo BanwillbuildonthesuccessesofpastconservationinitiativeslikeTeraiArcLandscapeinsouthernNepal,whichisbiggestandmostambitious forests. ItwillalsoimprovethelivelihoodsofsomeNepal’smostimpoverishedcommunities. Meaning “greenforests”inNepali,thisprogramwillhelptobuildresilienceclimatechangecommunitiesandecosystemsbyrestoringconserving Nepal’s and environmentofNepal.” International YearofForestsandthetheme‘ForestsforPeople’alsocomplementsgoalsHariyoBan,whichisexpectedtobringpositiveresults thepeople by HariyoBan,”saidchiefguestMr.DeependraBahadurKshetry,Vice-ChairmanoftheNationalPlanningCommission.“Theyear2011isbeingcelebratedas “Nepal, beingaHimalayancountry,isoneofthemostclimate-vulnerablecountriesinworldandGovernmentNepalwelcomeseffortsmade species. downstream communities,infrastructure,propertyandwild outburst floods,whichcouldhavedevastatingconsequencesfor retreat intheHimalayashasincreasedriskofglacierlake and frequencyofforestfires,floodslandslides.Glacier Biodiversity hasalsobeenaffectedbyincreasedintensity climate vulnerableand10millionareincreasinglyatrisk. biodiversity ofNepal.Morethan1.9millionpeoplearehighly Climate changeisemergingasamajorthreattopeopleand serving asthemanagingpartner. National TrustforNatureConservation(NTNC)–withWWF of CommunityForestryUsersinNepal(FECOFUN)andthe for AssistanceandReliefEverywhere(CARE),theFederation conservation organizationsinNepal–WWF,theCooperative will beimplementedbyaconsortiumcomprisedoffourleading Agency forInternationalDevelopment(USAID).Theprogram conservation andclimatechangeinNepal,fundedbytheU.S. The HariyoBanprogramisanewinvestmentinbiodiversity the capitalonNovember8,2011. biodiversity inNepal,wasofficiallylaunchedataceremony reduce theadverseimpactsofclimatechangeandthreatsto Kathmandu, Nepal Climate-Vulnerablefrom AmbitiousNewInitiative NepaltoBenefit November 2011 –HariyoBan,afive-yearprogramto © WWFNepal Parks andWildlife Conservation throughfinancialassistance receivedfromWWF. The cameratrapswereinstalledwiththe supportofWWF-NepalandDepartmentNational community stewardshipinconservation iskeytotheprotectionofsnowleopards,”headded. habitat loss,poachingandretaliatory killing byherdersposingasmajorthreatstosnowleopards, snow leopards,”statedMr.AnilManandhar, CountryRepresentativeofWWF-Nepal.“With “The cameratrapsareameanstoempower localcommunitiestoleadconservationeffortsof populations inthefuture. Ghunsa. Itisexpectedthatthecameratrapswillguideestimationofsnow leopard Conservation AreaManagementCouncilandtheSnowLeopard Committee- Nepal’s Himalayas.Themonitoringisbeingledbylocalcommunitiesthrough theKangchenjunga Conservation AreainOctober2011underapioneeringinitiativetomonitor snow leopardsin Ten cameratraps(MoultrieD-40)wereinstalledinvariouspartsofKangchenjunga camera trapon24October2011inKhambachenvalleyofKangchenjungaon 23November2011. Kathmandu, Nepal Leopard released First camera-trap Snow imageofNepal’s © WWFNepal –WWFNepalreleasedthefirstpictureofasnowleopardtakenby SPECIAL FEATURE 5 © WWF Nepal November 2011 Development of Demonstration of Demonstration Development Pankhu Catchment Plot at Besides this, DKSBP has continued empowering the IRMC, enabling them to formulate and implement natural resource management plans with the coordination of district government line agencies such as District Agricultural Development Office (DADO) for the conservation and management of existing water resources. In this regard, DADO, Okhaldhunga leveraged a total amount of NRs 199,000 for Pankhu IRMC for the promotion of four water smart communities in Pankhu catchment. 45 households are benefitting from this support. Other local users are also benefitting from the regular technical facilities provided by the DADO. DADO, Okhaldhunga has formally recognized Pankhu Catchment as a ‘’Demonstration Plot’’ in managing and wisely using existing water resources for agricultural development. According to IRMC from Pankhu catchment, both DADO and IRMC are actively engaged in formulating strategies and action plans to build the basic infrastructure for the development of the demonstration plot at Pankhu catchment. DKSBP has, in effect, strengthened the IRMC to ensure greater participation from different sectors and stakeholders in formulating and implementing programs/activities of DKSBP in line with Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) initiative of Koshi River Basin Management. Moreover, Pankhu IRMC and water smart communities are continuing their efforts to streamline and strengthen their institutional set-up at the grassroots level so as to build linkages with government line agencies for implementing IWRM/IRBM activities in the project areas in a more coordinated manner. This is also expected to ensure the long-term programmatic and financial sustainability of the IRMC in Pankhu catchment. Gone are the days when vegetable farming was a luxury for the locals of Panku was a luxury for the days when vegetable farming Gone are the on the inhabitants had to rely solely Until few years back, the Catchment. has daily consumption. The situation for vegetables for their nearby market locals’ dependence on the market products has however changed now. The most of them have started cultivating seasonal and significantly reduced as to their own farms. Their produce has not only catered off-seasonal vegetable in allowed them to earn additional income by selling their daily needs but has also the local market. the surplus vegetables in off-seasonal vegetables has become a new trend Farming of seasonal and thanks to the support provided by at Pankhu catchment in Okhaldhunga (DKSBP). DKSBP has helped in improving the Dudhkoshi Sub-Basin Project by implementing activities related to conservation lifestyle of local communities resources and its proper use. and management of water or “water smart communities” have been formed 24 water promotion groups of the vegetable farming. The communities have in this area for the sustenance such as conservation ponds been supported through cost effective technologies irrigation system for and micro irrigation facilities like sprinklers and drip water for livestock). The multiple uses of water (household use, irrigation and and provide irrigation conservation ponds help store water during dry periods benefiting 926 local facilities to approximately 21 hectares of rainfed farmland, Resource Management people from 202 households. Pankhukhola Integrated and mobilizing the Committee (IRMC) is playing a leading role in promoting water smart communities. © WWF Nepal © WWF Nepal

As a first step in the implementation of the Green Economic Corridor program to program Corridor Economic Green the of implementation the in step first a As and economic development showcase the world's first Himalayan Conservation Bakaino and Lapsi zone, around 1500 saplings of broom grass, Salix species, species have been planted in Syaphrubeshi. of the Ministry of The plantation which was carried out under the leadership from park office, Forest and Soil Conservation saw the active representation Suryakunda Community armed force, Janapad, youths, mother group members, technical and financial Forest users group and project staffs . WWF provided process. support to the government and partners in the implementation the soil in the bordering "Along with maintaining the greenery and stabilizing a long lasting friendship area, the friendship plantation is a symbol of having the Chief District Officer of between countries", opinedMr. Kamal Kanta Regmi, Rasuwa district. instrengthening The friendship plantation is one of the key factors management and thetransboundary cooperation on sustainable forest Forest User Group has biodiversity conservation. The Suryakunda Community been given the responsibility of managing the plantation. The Syabrubensi-Rasuwagadhi Road runs along the Bhote koshi River originating from the Tibetan Autonomous Region. SinceChina is heralding the new avenue to boost economic activities, it is estimated that more than 50 settlements of approximately 50,000 populations residing within Rasuwa district willbenefit from the new opportunity.

Economic Corridor Economic Friendship plantation at Green at Green plantation Friendship q uarter 2011 rd HR 3

WWF growing BIG Prajana Waiba Pradhan GER Human Resources Officer

The award of the Hariyo Ban program brought with it a lot of excitement for who made sure that the event was well organized and that everyone went off for WWF-Nepal. For the Operations unit, especially HR, it also meant a lot of the holidays with a happy heart! work. This quarter was the busiest for the HR unit in the history of WWF Nepal Together with the excitement of Dashain, there was the more serious and probably, be it in organizing the annual Dashain party or the mammoth task enormous responsibility of recruiting 16 positions, that too within a month. of recruiting new staff for the Hariyo Ban program. This quarter was indeed a With so much to do in so little time, we landed a record of completing the major rush coupled with excitement and anxiety. recruitment process on time and with a good mix of skills, gender and ethnicity As with every year, a Dashain party was organized at WWF-Nepal office on 30 in the new recruitments. September. The festival of Dashain encapsulates cultural as well as social aspects The growth of WWF-Nepal from a staff-strength of 54 to that of 76 in a span of of Nepal. Understanding and keeping this in view, WWF celebrated the onset of 2 months has been phenomenal. And our interest is beyond the numbers and the festival by inviting staff’s family members and making sure that there was rather on the bigger milestones that we can achieve with a larger WWF-Nepal something for everyone to take part in and enjoy – game stalls, balloons and face family. painting, bingo and a lucky draw. Children and parents alike were seen to be having a great time. The success of the Dashain celebrations goes to our interns [email protected]

6 November 2011 F ield D iary

Looking back, I can’t remember when I had a more frightful experience. Born only we knew for how long, but there was absolutely no way of finding out. After in the mid-mountains of Nepal and having worked in rural areas for almost a waiting for almost 15-20 minutes and with the mist absolutely refusing to clear decade, I was always confident that I could survive any challenging terrain, but our, I asked Moon what our best alternative would be. To my surprise, Moon this incident in Langtang was a quite an eye-opener. It feels like yesterday that had made up her mind. She had decided to cross the landslide no matter what the grounds beneath shook and my survival was about to be ambiguous. the consequence. I tied my shoe laces and prepared myself for a run. I suggested to Moon to do the same while keeping an eye and ear out for falling rocks. We Langtang is WWF Nepal’s pilot climate adaptation site and, more importantly then ran like crazy. an example to the outside world of how mountain communities can devise their own ways of facing the climate complexities. I was in Langtang in July 2011 to It took only five to seven minutes to cross the critical part of the landslide- attend stakeholders’ meetings on climate change adaptation initiative along with affected zone. I heard more sounds of falling rocks as Moon and I safely made it my colleague, Moon, WWF’s Senior Climate Adaptation Officer. We were headed to the other side. to Dhunche, the district headquarter of Rasuwa district. But while we took a moment’s sigh of relief, we also knew that we would have After driving for a few hours through the crowded little towns, with the beautiful to cross the landslide one more time on our way back. . We kept hoping and mountain landscape before us and the raging Trishuli River below, we stopped praying for the weather to clear out but it just got worse. The night before our at our usual halt for lunch in a small shanty town of Kalikasthan situated on the return, it rained the whole night further aggravating the situation. When we got south-facing hill slope en-route to Dhunche. During lunch, we chanced upon a to the landslide area, we found that it had gotten even worse. But both Moon and conversation of the local people there regarding the monsoon landslides that I were mentally prepared for the worst and we took some relief in the fact that at had worsened since the last few days. We felt quite nervous listening to it since least the visibility that day was better. our journey would in fact be taking us through the landslide area. We were advised by the locals to exercise caution while driving through that area since it We left our hired vehicle and started to walk. After two hours of walk, we was really risky. Somehow, it never crossed our minds that the landslide could reached the landslide area. We saw bulldozers there to clear the path. The soil actually be life-threatening; for us it was just one of those many hurdles that was sliding slowing due to heavy rain. At certain intervals, rocks were also conservationists faced in their daily work. falling. The locals waited for the rocks to fall and once it stopped, they ran to the other side. We could see everyone saying their prayers and we decided it was Soon we were on the road again. We had to make it to Dhuncheon time for the the only thing that would give us courage to run to the other side. As we began stakeholders’ meeting as our field manager, Ashok, had already informed the our descent to the muddy ground, we realized it was not an easy escape as it relevant stakeholders about the venue, time and agenda of the meeting. After looked. The ground below was very muddy and our feet got stuck with every step an hour’s drive from Kalikasthan, we reached Mulkharka, the landslide-hit area we took. As we crossed the half way, a roaring sound caught us completely off that the locals all over had been chatting about. To our sheer disappointment, guard…we stood there frozen. “This was it,” I thought when suddenly it dawned a section of the road ahead had been swept away by landslide and we our only on me that it was actually the sound of the bulldozer’s ignition from the other choice was to cross the landslide area on foot and catch another vehicle on the side. I could not help laughing! other side to complete our journey to Dhunche. A number of eager village youth offered to carry our bags across for a small sum of money. “Where some saw As the land slide slowly under us, and we were helplessly trying to find our way, I misery, others of the entrepreneurial bent saw opportunity,” I thought to myself. suddenly saw the trail under Moon’s feet had given away. I immediately grabbed As we were approaching the landslide zone, all of a sudden, we were enveloped her wrist while the local villager next to her held her arm instinctively. It was a in a thick blanket of mist. The mist also brought with it as light drizzle. The horrifying feeling to see Moon completely hanging on to our support; the section visibility soon plunged and we couldn’t even see what lay a few meters ahead of she was walking on a second ago did not exist anymore. Nervous as we were, us. Suddenly the landscape around us took on a very eerie look as if filled with Moon stayed completely frozen. The question that haunts me till this day is what a sense of foreboding. I was completely frightened though I tried not to show it if we had missed her by a second? to Moon who was, in the meantime, trying to figure whether it would be a good idea to wait or to continue walking. But we knew that the people were waiting for Slowly and cautiously, we made it to the other side finally. Once on safer ground, us in Dhunche and that we had to get there fast. all we could do was breathe in relief and thank our lucky stars and guardian angels for looking after us. We knew it was a risk we should perhaps have not Soon we came across some local people, including porters, who were hurrying taken, but I guess that’s what conservationists are made for. We believe in taking across the landslides from the opposite side while at the same time warning us of risk to fulfill the mission of conservation we believe in. For us the blanket of mist falling rocks. The porters bluntly told us that if we were lucky, we would live to was just among many hurdles we cross each day to materialize our work for the see another day. This added all the more to our misery. Now and then we heard benefit of the grassroots communities, for the sake of a living planet! rocks rolling down the hill in the dark, which only heightened our fear. We stood transfixed in silence, not knowing what to do next. We didn’t mind waiting if [email protected]

November 2011 7 Hot off the Press

Hariyo Ban

WWF On Your Radio Kalika FM Thu 7:25 PM to 7:55 PM Phoolbari FM wed 8:30 PM to 9:00 PM Shuklaphanta FM Sun 7:15 PM to 7:45 PM Bageshwori FM Thu 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM Madhyapaschim FM Fri 7:30 PM to 8:00 PM Samudayik Radio Fri 6:35PM to 6:50 PM Solu FM Species and Climate Change Snow Leopard Conservation

Staff Announcements In the past months we welcomed new  Pallavi Dhakal  Manoj Kumar Chaudhary  ChaturmanMahato staff... Communications Officer, Hariyo Ban M&E Assistant, ChAL, Hariyo Ban F&A Officer, TAL PABZ  Judy Oglethorpe (WWF US) Chief of Party, Hariyo Ban  RajeshreeBista  Ram Bahadur Praja  Mreedu Gyawali F&A Officer, ChAL, Hariyo Ban Office Messenger, Hariyo Ban  Dr. Shant Raj Jnawali Communications and Marketing Coordinator - Biodiversity Associate Conservation , Hariyo Ban  Haisuba Gurung  Raju Kumar Khadka Office Messenger, ChAL, Hariyo Ban Driver, Hariyo Ban  Abdul Sahim Ansari  Keshav Prasad Khanal Project Co - Manager, TAL PABZ Coordinator - Sustainable  SangitaRamjali  Muna Thapa Livelihoods, Hariyo Ban Driver, ChAL, Hariyo Ban F&A Assistant  Yashaswi Shrestha  Rajendra Lamichhane  Luna Devi Ghimire  SobhanaBista Program Associate – Lumbini Project M&E Specialist, Hariyo Ban M&E Assistant, Hariyo Ban Accounts Officer  Ang Phuri Sherpa  Prabita Shrestha Grants & Compliance Officer, Hariyo  Anil Kumar Rai  Sanju Gurung Program Development Specialist – Ban M&E Assistant, TAL, Hariyo Ban Front Office Assistant Tsum Valley New positions in Hariyo Ban with existing staff: For Living Himalayas WWF’s work in Nepal is part of WWF’s  Purna Bahadur Kunwar Living Himalayas Initiative which aims Coordinator, ChAL, Hariyo Ban Editor: to bring the three governments of Nepal, Simrika Sharma Bhutan and India together to effectively Vol 6 | No. 1 | November 2011 WWF Nepal newsletter  Jayendra Raj Koirala Marasini manage and conserve the Eastern Program Administrator, Hariyo Ban Himalayan region for the sake of their Editorial Team: exceptional wildlife, breathtaking environment and unique people.  Salina Shrestha Pradhan Akash Shrestha Administrative Assistant, Hariyo Ban Eliza Sthapit WWF, the Global Conservation Organization Prajana Waiba Pradhan Nepal Programme and we bid farewell to... Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal On the Cover: Tel: +977 1 4434820  Ajay Jha Lhonak-Snow leopard [email protected] habitat, Kanchenjunga F&A Officer TAL Conservation Area. www.wwfnepal.org

Why we are here To stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.