#802 1 - 7 April 2016 16 pages Rs 50 A jungle out there fter returning from has begun. key posts. It will take him at least EU officials in Brussels. A joint China early this week, UCPN(M) spokesman three months. He is not expected press statement underlined ‘the APrime Minister KP Oli Dinanath Sharma publicly said to create any trouble for Oli till need for a lasting and inclusive told journalists that Chinese this week that the Oli government that happens. constitutional settlement in Nepal President Xi Jinping had had failed and there should be But Khand was sure that the in a timebound manner’. accepted his invitation to visit an alternative -- this from the present government would not be Nepal’s Foreign Ministry Nepal by the end of 2016. The UML’s main coalition partner in in power to present the national reacted swiftly on Thursday, question is: will Oli still be government. budget for the next fiscal year. accusing India and the EU of around to welcome Xi? The RPPN, the other important Analysts say that as long ‘interfering in Nepal’s internal Even while he was in China, UML ally in the government, is as the UCPN (M) Chair Pushpa affairs and hurting the sentiment’ speculation was rife that the also on the verge of a split with Kamal Dahal stands by Oli, the of the people’. days of the UML-Maoist-RPPN senior leader Keshar Bahadur present ruling coalition will not Om Astha Rai coalition was numbered. Bista putting pressure on the unravel. Dahal has said that in the The gossip mills had started party president and Foreign worst case the present coalition spinning as soon as three-time Affairs Minister Kamal Thapa to can be transformed into an all- Prime Minister Sher Bahadur quit the government. party government by bringing in SUN AND MOON Deuba was elected the Nepali We asked NC leader the NC and Madhesi parties also Korean spiritual movement gains Congress president. Deuba is a Balkrishna Khand, a close aide to on board. political foothold in Nepal veteran political coup-maker Deuba, if the main opposition is Deuba would benefit if the with a reputation for toppling trying to topple the government. Madhesi parties take to the streets BY SEULKI LEE PAGE 14-15 incumbents. His reply: “We do not need to again. If that happens, Oli may But the Oli camp tried to topple this government, it will have to give way for an all-party quash the rumours. ‘Government collapse on its own.” government led by the NC. now stronger’ read the banner Deuba has told close aides On Thursday, the Madhesi SAVE NATURE headline in the UML’s party to focus on electing him as the Front threatened more protests FROM POLITICIANS organ, Budhabar. But the more party’s parliamentary leader next not only in the Tarai but also in EDITORIAL Oli and his allies try to reassure week. If he is party president and Kathmandu. That came a day the public and party cadre, parliamentary leader, Deuba will after Nepal figured prominently PAGE 2 the more they believe that try to consolidate his hold in the in talks between Indian Prime the countdown for his ouster NC by nominating his aides into Minister Narendra Modi with Restoring Resorts Re-introduce resorts inside Chitwan National Parks, or not? PAGE 8-9 LIEW YU WEI 2 EDITORIAL 1 - 7 APRIL 2016 #802 SAVE NATURE FROM POLITICIANS Patronage and corruption threaten to undo Nepal’s achievements in conservation. ne achievement that Nepalis can justifiably feel proud villagers were allowed in to cut thatch once a year, and in of is nature conservation. In a country where a vertical return they helped by providing intelligence about the activities Otopography bestows such a stunning spectrum of of poachers. biodiversity, preserving nature is Nepal’s contribution to protecting Chitwan also became a model for eco-tourism and sustainable the global environment. nature protection. In the 1970s and 80s, it was Tiger Tops Jungle The foundations of conservation in this country were laid Resort -- with rooms located on the high branches of tall sal during the much-vilified Panchayat, and it was royal patronage that trees -- that introduced exotic Chitwan (and Nepal) to the world. saved our national parks from the devastation that has been seen in Not only did the lodge showcase the amazing work done to India and elsewhere. conserve Nepal’s biodiversity but, by attracting upmarket world In earlier times, the jungles of the Tarai were decimated by travellers, brought the government substantial revenue that was trophy hunting. In 1850, Jang Bahadur Rana infamously killed 30 ploughed back into conservation work in Chitwan and other tigers in just one hunt. In 1911, Nepal’s rulers hosted King George national parks. V in Chitwan, and the 600-elephant hunting expedition massacred In 2012, Tiger Tops and a few other concessions lost their 36 tigers, 18 rhinos, an innumerable leopards, bears and even contracts. The argument was ostensibly that such resorts porcupines in a day of bloodshed. That gory record was broken by disturbed the wilderness area, but as we reported in this paper Juddha Shamsher who personally slaughtered 433 tigers from 1933 back then, it was mainly due to political pressure exerted by to 1940. lodge owners in Sauraha who thought they could corner Nepal’s royal families later turned from being avid hunters the upscale tourism market. Today, Sauraha has become a to ardent conservationists. But, by then there was an even more backpacker strip, overrun mainly by cheap eateries and sleazy lethal threat to wildlife: habitat loss caused by national policy of bars, earning it the moniker ‘Thamel by the Park’. Meanwhile, transmigration of hill peoples to the plains during King Mahendra’s Nepal lost the only destinations it once had for high-end safari reign. tourism in the same league as Cottar’s 1920s Camp in Kenya’s The tide turned in 1973 when enlightened Nepali Masai Mara, or Four Seasons in Tanzania’s Serengeti. environmentalists and the royal government set aside what was left The debate about whether or not concessions should be of Chitwan into a 923 sq km national park and a World Heritage Site. given out to the highest bidders to set up resorts inside the park The tiger and the rhino were rescued from the brink of extinction, has hotted up again after the Supreme Court overturned its own and there are now over 200 tigers and 500 rhinos in Chitwan alone. earlier ban in a decision in 2014. The government is drawing up Gharials released into the wild from a breeding centre in Nepal have guidelines to regulate future contracts for park lodges. been found as far downstream as the Ganges delta in Bangladesh. We have misgivings about allowing resorts inside the park After the democratic transition, however, political interference given the state of lawlessness and impunity, the politics of and corruption threaten to undo past achievements. Wildlife patronage and reckless kleptocracy prevalent in Nepal today. poachers with political protection thrive amidst Nepal’s unstable As we have seen with shady petroleum contracts, the protection transition. There is demographic pressure as the population of of black-marketers and the state’s involvement in illegal sand- the Tarai explodes. The proposed East-West Railway alignment mining and logging, Chitwan concessions could very well go bifurcates Chitwan, jeopardising the park’s integrity. Pollution, not to the most bonafide bidder, but to the ones offering the overfishing and dam construction on the Narayani endanger aquatic juiciest kickbacks. fauna and the reptiles and birds that depend on it for food. Even so -- and indeed we cannot -- halt progress any more Despite all these hazards, Chitwan survived because of the than we could stop breathing just because the air is too polluted. pragmatism shown by Nepal’s early conservationists in partnering Our effort should be targeted towards cleaning up the park with local communities. The antagonistic ‘people vs park’ practice lodge industry, and revive the successful eco-tourism model seen in other nature reserves was replaced by a ‘people for park’ that allowed Nepal’s national parks to be sustainably conserved approach. Community forests were set up in the buffer zone, through revenue from high-end tourism. BIKRAM RAI YOUR SAY www.nepalitimes.com THIS WEEK DYING FOR OTHERS came out of those. It is unfortunate that some Being recruited into the Gurkha Army Cartoonist organisations take advantage of is 100 times better than slaving it those wanting to volunteer. There out in the Arabian desert or working Perhaps the ghosts of the 1962 are others out there committed as a darban in Mumbai (‘Dying for Sino-India war is still haunting India, to responsible volunteer travel. Working with reputable local groups others’, Om Astha Rai, #801). I would and its colonial schizophernia has not ended. That is why it cannot is an important factor, and as an suggest young Nepali men to get an organisation, we make that part see Nepal as a bridge to normalise education and do something worthy in of our commitment, with Nepal their villages in Nepal, but if they want realtions with China through trade. being one of our areas of specialty. to serve in the British Army or other Sabita Thapa We support local communities by forces they should be free to do so. employing local guides, staying and R Rai VOLUNTOURISM dining in family and locally owned It’s a two way street (‘So you want to lodging. We also connect humanity TRANS-HIMALAYAN CONSEQUENCES be a voluntourist?’ Michael Nishimura, by helping people to understand the anti-Nepal lobby will poke fun at #801).