HARIYO BAN PROGRAM II (2016-2021) THREATS AND VULNERABILITIES ASSESSMENT OF PARKS AND CORRIDORS OF TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE Prepared by: WWF in partnership with CARE, FECOFUN and NTNC P.O. Box 7660 Kathmandu, Nepal 21 April 2017 © WWF 2017 All rights reserved Any reproduction of this publication in full or in part must mention the title and credit WWF. Published by WWF Nepal PO Box: 7660 Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal T: +977 1 4434820, F: +977 1 4438458 [email protected] , www.wwfnepal.org/hariyobanprogram Disclaimer This Threats and Vulnerabilities Assessment of Parks and Corridors in Terai Arc Landscape is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................5 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................6 Chitwan National Park and Buffer Zone ...................................................................................................................7 Threat Ratings of Chitwan National Park and Buffer Zone...................................................................................8 Barandabhar Corridor ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Threat Ratings of Barandabhar Corridor ........................................................................................................... 11 Banke National Park and Buffer Zone ................................................................................................................... 13 Threat Ratings of Banke National Park and Buffer Zone ................................................................................... 14 Kamdi Corridor ...................................................................................................................................................... 17 Threat Ratings of Kamdi Corridor ...................................................................................................................... 19 Bardia National Park and Buffer Zone ................................................................................................................... 23 Threat Ratings of Bardia National Park and Buffer Zone .................................................................................. 24 Karnali Corridor ..................................................................................................................................................... 26 Threat Ratings of Karnali Corridor ..................................................................................................................... 27 Suklaphanta National Park and Buffer Zone ......................................................................................................... 30 Threat Ratings of Suklaphanta National Park and Buffer Zone ......................................................................... 31 Bhramhadev Corridor ............................................................................................................................................ 34 Threat Ratings of Bhramhadev Corridor ........................................................................................................... 35 List of Figures Figure 1: Hariyo Ban Program II Working Areas .......................................................................................................5 Figure 2: Chitwan National Park ...............................................................................................................................7 Figure 3: Barandabhar Corridor ............................................................................................................................. 10 Figure 4: Banke National Park ............................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 5: Kamdi Corridor ....................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 6: Bardia National Park ............................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 7: Karnali Corridor ...................................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 8: Suklaphanta National Park ..................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 9: Bhramhadev Corridor ............................................................................................................................. 34 INTRODUCTION Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) identified biological corridors for the mobility of the endangered mega fauna around the protected areas network in India and Nepal. The landscape was designed on the tiger dispersal model in the landscape. In its first phase, the identified corridors are Khata, Basanta, and Mohana-Laljhadi. It also identified critical bottlenecks in dire need of restoration so as to maintain the contiguity of the ecosystem. The bottlenecks are Dovan, Dang, and Mahadevpuri. Later, new corridors were identified and are Brahamadev, Karnali river corridor, and Barandabhar. Similarly, Kamdi area was identified for restoration. TAL represents a continuum of PAs and biological corridors. For the first time, the threats and vulnerabilities assessment of National Parks (Chitwan National Park, Banke NP, Bardia NP and Suklaphanta NP) were conducted along with the critical corridors adjoining those parks. Figure 1: Hariyo Ban Program II Working Areas METHODOLOGY ‘WWF Standards of Project and Programme Management’ comprises of 5 major steps in programme/project cycle namely, Define, Design, Implement, Adapt and Share. The Define phase contains 5 steps/sub steps as, 1. Step 1.1 is ‘Team Composition and Operation’ 2. Step 1.2 is ‘Project Scope and Vision’ 3. Step 1.3 is ‘Biodiversity Targets’ 4. Step 1.4a is ‘Situation Analysis’ and Step 1.4b is ‘Threat Rating’ Criteria for Threat Rating It is based on three criteria which are Scope, Severity and Irreversibility. 1. Scope refers to the proportion of the overall area of a project site or target occurrence likely to be affected by a threat in a given time frame (e.g. next 10 years) by a given threat. It shows how extensive is the area affected by the threat, and if the threat affects the entire project area or only a small portion. 2. Severity quantifies or categorizes the level of damage to the conservation target expected in a given time frame (e.g. next 10 years). It shows how severe is the impact of the threat on the project area or target species and if the threat destroys the target completely or cause only minimal damage. 3. Irreversibility refers to the ability to reverse the effects of a given threat. It shows if the damage from the threat be undone and restore the target. Absolute Threat Rating This step-by-step method relies on rating threats on a four-point scale (e.g. very high, high, medium, and low) for each criterion and then summing the results. Each scale is operationally defined for the criterion. Lately, rating of each threat and the summing up across the targets is automated by software ‘Mirdai’, https://miradi.org/. Miradi is a user-friendly program that allows nature conservation practitioners to design, manage, monitor, and learn from their projects to more effectively meet their conservation goals. The software helps teams to prioritize threats, develop objectives and actions, and select monitoring indicators to assess the effectiveness of their strategies among others. The threat rating is portrayed colored as shown below, Very High High Medium Low Chitwan National Park and Buffer Zone Chitwan National Park was established in 1973 and has a total area of 932 sq.km. CNP accommodates wide varieties of mag species like tiger, rhino, elephant and other prey base species. Recently, wild water buffalo has been translocated in the park and is now protected inside fence. The Park is also recognized as World Heritage Site in 1984. Figure 2: Chitwan National Park For the first time, threats and vulnerabilities of CNP and its buffer zone was conducted on March 2017. It was joined by Chief Warden of CNP, representatives of Barandabhar Protection Forest, CFUGs, BZUCs, district forest office, and partner organizations (CARE, FECOFUN and NTNC). The overall threat was rated ‘High’ for Chitwan National Park. In the list of identified direct threats, invasive plant species is rated as ‘High’ threat. Similarly, drying of water sources, river pollution, large infrastructures, wildlife disease and isolated and/or skewed species population are rated ‘Medium’ threats. Encroachment, Human Wildlife Conflict, Forest fire, poaching, river bank cutting, river poisoning and electrocution, grazing, sand and stone mining, illegal logging and fuelwood collection are rated ‘Low’ threats. The detailed threat ratings and pressure points of those threats are illustrated below: Threat Ratings of Chitwan National Park and Buffer Zone