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Final Programatic Report - Save the Tiger Fund (2003-0087-024)

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Final Programatic Report - Save the Tiger Fund (2003-0087-024) FINAL PROGRAMATIC REPORT - SAVE THE TIGER FUND (2003-0087-024) This Report consists of two Master’s Students Theses: 1) RESOURCES USE AND CONSERVATION ATTITUDES OF LOCAL PEOPLE IN THE WESTERN TERAI LANDSCAPE, NEPAL - Nabin Baral. 2) ANALYSIS OF FORESTS UNDER DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT REGIMES IN THE WESTERN TERAI OF NEPAL AND ITS RELATION TO ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN USE -Nilesh Timilsina FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSTIY Miami, Florida RESOURCES USE AND CONSERVATION ATTITUDES OF LOCAL PEOPLE IN THE WESTERN TERAI LANDSCAPE, NEPAL A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE by Nabin Baral 2005 To: Dean Mark Szuchman College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Nabin Baral, and entitled Resources Use and Conservation Attitudes of Local People in the Western Terai Landscape, Nepal, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it is approved. _____________________________ Dr David B. Bray _____________________________ Dr Mahadev G. Bhat _____________________________ Dr Joel T. Heinen, Major Professor Date of Defense: July 13, 2005 The thesis of Nabin Baral is approved. _____________________________ Dean Mark Szuchman College of Arts and Sciences _____________________________ Dean Douglas Wartzok University Graduate School Florida International University, 2005 ii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my TEACHERS of past, present and future. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to many individuals and institutions who have contributed to the success of this research project. I thank the members of my thesis committee. I express my gratitude to my Major Professor, Dr Joel T. Heinen for his inspiration, guidance, and meticulous editing of solecisms. His positive attitudes were valuable in times of hardship during the fieldwork. I am indebted to my committee members: Dr Mahadev G. Bhat and Dr David B. Bray, who enlightened me with an ocean of knowledge. They were always interested in the project and provided me invaluable suggestions. I could not have completed this thesis without financial assistance from numerous institutions. I thank the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Save the Tiger Fund and the Disney Conservation Fund for providing research grant that covered most of the field expenditures. I thank the Sigma Xi and the Institute of Asian Study, Florida International University for awarding a grant-in-aid for research and a travel grant, respectively. The Department of Environmental Studies awarded graduate assistantships. I thank the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation for granting permission to carry out research work in Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve. Many staff of these parks helped me during the fieldwork. The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC) provided accommodations in their field offices. I am thankful to Dr Shant Raj Jnawali, Naresh Subedi and Chiranjivi Pokharel, affiliated with the KMTNC, for their support in the field research. I appreciate iv hard work of my field assistants Kamal Thapa, Birendra Thapa, Janak Chaudhary, Rajendra Bhatta, and Dhan Chand. I am indebted to the alacrity of Thaneswar Tiwari and his family members when I was their guest in Mahendranagar. Birendra Tiwari, Dhan Bahadur Chand, Benu Gautam, and Prakash Tamang helped me in various ways. I want to thank Dr Paulette Johnson and Oscar Saenz for their help in statistical consulting and Ms Sushila Nepali, WWF-Nepal Program, for providing literature on the Terai Arc Landscape project. Nilesh it was great working with you. I am lucky to have loving parents and wife who were always supportive. Thanks for your patience and perseverance when I was not at home. v ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS RESOURCES USE AND CONSERVATION ATTITUDES OF LOCAL PEOPLE IN THE WESTERN TERAI LANDSCAPE, NEPAL by Nabin Baral Florida International University, 2005 Miami, Florida Professor Joel T. Heinen, Major Professor Two protected areas: Royal Bardia National Park (RBNP) and Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (RSWR) in the Western Terai, Nepal, are under threats due to present political turmoil, uncontrolled immigration, inefficient land reform policies and unsustainable resource use. I did a stratified random questionnaire survey of 234 households to determine how resource use patterns and problems influence conservation attitudes. Chi-square, Student’s t, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, and multiple regression were used. There was spatio-temporal variability in resource use patterns and dependency. People were collecting eight and seven types of resources in RBNP and RSWR, respectively. However, people in RBNP were more dependent on resources than RSWR. In both areas, the problem of firewood is serious. The mean attitude score of RBNP (8.4 ± 1.44) was significantly higher than the score of RSWR (7.7 ± 1.66; t = 3.24, p = 0.0007). Training received, wildlife damage and satisfaction with participation in user groups were significant predictors of conservation attitudes. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Evolution of the Conservation Concept 1 1.1.1 Fortress and fine conservation 2 1.1.2 Participatory conservation 3 1.1.3 Landscape conservation 5 1.2 Literature Review 8 1.3 Research Goal, Questions and Hypotheses 12 2 THE STUDY AREA 14 2.1 Ecological Divisions 14 2.2 Location 15 2.3 Geology and Soils 16 2.4 Climate 17 2.5 Vegetation 18 2.6 Wildlife 19 2.7 Settlements 20 2.8 Ethnographies 20 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS 24 3.1 Selection of Villages 24 3.2 Household Survey 24 3.2.1 Household survey team 24 3.2.2 Survey instrument 25 3.2.3 Survey procedure 25 3.3 Sample Size and Sampling 26 3.4 Survey of User Groups (UGs) 27 3.5 Survey Limitations and Constraints 27 3.6 Statistical Analyses 28 4 RESULTS 30 4.1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 30 4.1.1 Gender and age 30 4.1.2 Ethnicity 31 4.1.3 Education 31 4.1.4 Occupation 32 4.1.5 Family size 33 4.2 Migration and Economic Status 34 vii 4.3 Resource Use Patterns and Dependency 37 4.4 Participation in Conservation 42 4.5 Conservation Attitudes 43 4.6 Wildlife Harassment and Attitudes towards UGs 46 4.7 Institutional Development and Strengthening 47 4.7.1 Institutional working procedures 47 4.7.2 Resource management and demand fulfillment 49 4.7.3 Attitudes of conservation leaders 50 4.7.4 Content analysis of the work plans 51 5 DISCUSSION 52 6 CONCLUSIONS 69 REFERENCES 86 APPENDICES 96 viii LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE Table 1. Frequency distribution of ethnicity in two protected areas 73 Table 2. Frequency distribution of education level of respondents of two areas 73 Table 3. Comparison of family size between area and ethnic groups 73 Table 4. Percentage of immigrants in two protected areas 73 Table 5. Average landholdings in hectare among different ethnic groups in two areas 74 Table 6. Percent of respondents meeting need of staple food from their farm 74 Table 7. Average and range of livestock size unit in two protected areas 74 Table 8. Frequency of resources harvested by respondents of two protected areas 74 Table 9. Nonparametric correlation of resource use score with continuous variables 75 Table 10. Frequency distribution of resource dependency in two areas 75 Table 11. Number and percentage of households mentioning the grazing sites 75 Table 12. Number and percentage of households mentioning the source of fodder 75 Table 13. Number and percentage of households mentioning the source of energy 75 Table 14. Number and percentage of respondents suggesting measures to solve the problem of firewood scarcity 76 Table 15. Frequency distribution of households participating in conservation interventions in two areas 76 Table 16. Percent of respondents agreeing or disagreeing with conservation statements 77 ix Table 17. Multiple regression of conservation attitude score on demographic and socioeconomic variables 78 Table 18. Frequency distribution of mode of Users’ Group formation 78 Table 19. Perception of UG chairs on effective institute for resource management 78 Table 20. Frequency distribution of responses whether UGs are fulfilling demands 79 Table 21. UG chairs’ attitudes towards TAL in two areas 79 Table 22. UG chairs attitudes towards the BZMR and Guideline 79 Table 23. Losses of agencies under the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation 79 x LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE Figure 1. Map of Nepal depicting spatial distribution of protected areas 80 Figure 2. RBNP and RSWR with sampled households in the buffer zones 81 Figure 3. Average minimum and maximum monthly temperatures of two areas for the period 1987-2001 82 Figure 4. Average monthly precipitation of two areas for the period 1987-2001 82 Figure 5. Percentage of male and female respondents in two protected areas 83 Figure 6. Percent of respondents in five occupation categories 83 Figure 7. Average family size among ethnic groups in two areas 84 Figure 8. Average landholdings among ethnic groups in two areas 84 Figure 9. Frequency of households rearing four types of livestock in two areas 85 Figure 10. Total number of tourist arrival per year since the beginning of the Maoists insurgency 85 xi ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS BZMR Buffer Zone Management Regulation CBC Community-based Conservation CBS Central Bureau of Statistics CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora DNPWC Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation HMG His Majesty Government IUCN World Conservation Union LSU Livestock Size Unit MFSC Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation NGO Non-Governmental Organization NTFP Non-Timber Forest Product RBNP Royal Bardia National Park RSWR Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve TAL Terai Arc Landscape UG User Group UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ha hectare kg kilogram mm millimeter sq km square kilometer xii 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Evolution of the Conservation Concept Developing countries are facing the dilemma of balancing conservation and human needs.
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