Sunday, December 19, 2010

Bardia National park

Bardiya National Park_Binita
Abstract
The paper is focused on Bardia National Park, its challenges and issues with regards to the proposed books: Bhuju Ukesh Raj and Groom M. J. The paper is divided into six different sections. Secondary data are collected for the preparation of the paper. The objective of preparing the paper is to analyze every aspects of Bardia National Park critically with regard to different approaches to protected areas. The first section deals with general introduction of the park, its key flora and fauna and has a GIS map of the park. Second section is about issues, challenges the park is facing. The third section deals with conservation trials, trends, policies implemented. Fourth section has tried to analyze protected areas critically on the basis of Groom’s book. The last section is about conclusion, recommendation and references.

Introduction
Bardia National Park is located in the Far-Western Region, Nepal, about 400 km west of Kathmandu. It is the largest park in the lowland Terai covering an area of 968 km2 and is the most undisturbed wilderness area, adjoining the eastern bank of the Karnali River in the Bardia District.
When we look back to its history, an area of 368 km2 was set aside as Royal Hunting Reserve in 1969 and gazetted as Royal Karnali Wildlife Reserve in 1976. In 1982, it was renamed as Bardia Wildlife Reserve and in 1984 it was extended to its current size. Finally in 1988, the protected area was gazetted as national park. The park was established to protect representative ecosystems and to conserve tiger and its prey species. (Brochure, Bardia National Park, 2009)

Source: (Bhuju, June 2007)
Vegetation, flora and fauna
About 70% of the park is covered with forest with the balance a mixture of grassland, savannah and riverine forest. It harbours 53 different faunal species of mammals, over 400 birds, 42 herpeto, 124 fish species, and many snakes, lizards and fish have been recorded in the park's forest, grassland and river habitats. A good number of resident and migratory birds are found in the park. It is also the home of two of the last known herds of wild Asian elephants. Recorded number of vascular plants from the area is 173.

Issues Problems and Challenges
Protected areas are vulnerable to hunting, encroachment, timber harvesting and vegetation clearing. Effective management of these areas is correlated with management activities like enforcement of laws and policies, boundary demarcation, direct compensation to local communities and density of guards. Lack of these creates unwanted problems to the park, threats to species and also cause problems to the locals. Bardia National Park is not an exception in the case. The park, though, was established with the vision to protect representative ecosystems and to conserve Royal Bengal tiger and its prey species together with many other endangered species like wild elephant, great one-horned rhino, blackbuck, gangetic dolphin…, the park is vulnerable to hunting, encroachment, timber logging which is one of the topmost challenges of the park. (Budhathoki, 2003)
Buffer zone was declared in Bardia National Park to meet the people's basic needs so that resource use pressures on parks/reserves decrease (S., 2006). But these are being helpful only for certain resourceful persons only; for poor there is not good park-people relationship. Participation of poor is at zero level whose livelihood depends on forest products. This leads them to enter the park to gather resources which is also causing their death (We get to hear news like people being shot down; women are being victimized by the army…). So another challenge is to establish harmonious relationship between the park and the people.
Wild animals come out of the park, enter villages and harm people’s property and life. To get control over these incidents is also another challenge for both the park and the people. Political crisis is another big challenge for the park for eg., Maoist insurgency. In 2000 the population of the rhinoceros stood 72 in Bardia NP. In 2008 their number came down 22 in BNP (The Rising Nepal, www.nepalnews.com).
The park is isolated like one single source habitats for rhinos, elephants and tigers. It’s not being able to connect different protected areas so that the movements of such animals from one place to another can be made safer for both animals and for human.
In short, the challenges and issues are:
- Political crisis - topography
- illegal trade of species - lack of park-people good relationship
- security situation - top-down approach, exclusion of locals in decision
Conservation trials, trends, policies implemented
Nepal has put different conservation-friendly laws, plans, policies and programs forward to conserve biodiversity. There had been many initiatives taken by the government. Some of the major initiatives include Master Pla n for the Forestry Sector 1989, Forest Act, 1993 with community forestry provisions, amendment in National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 in 1993 with provision of benefit sharing between the park and local community and endorsement of Nepal biodiversity. Elephant Management Regulations 1966, Wildlife Reserves Regulations 1978, Buffer Zone Regulations 1996, Bardia National Park Regulations 1997, Conservation Area Regulations 1997 and Conservation Area Government Regulations 1997 (HMG/MFSC, May 2004).
To protect tiger, Nepalese government has made three major commitments towards saving the wild tigers during the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop held in October last year. With the commitment of expansion of the Bardia National Park, to increase the tiger habitat in west Nepal and institution of a National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau to control poaching. As a result together with the neighboring Banke National Park, the coherent protected area of 1,518 km2 represents the Tiger Conservation Unit (TCU) Bardia-Banke.
For the better protection and management of the park, HMG has developed 132 park staff, 2 companies of Nepal Army and 10 elephants and their drivers (35 persons). Similarly, a wide range of interventions has also been made to manage park’s bio-diversity. Habitat management is among the major initiatives taken to improve the foraging grounds for large and medium sized mammals (Forestry Nepal, 2010).
Ministry of Forestry and Soil Conservation has initiated development of TAL-Nepal Strategic Plan to address threats and capitalize opportunities for conservation and sustainable development. The Terai Arc Landscape is a vast conservation that extends from Nepal’s Bagmati River in the East to India’s Yamuna River in the west and comprises 11 protected areas and forest corridor checking environmental degradation and conserving the biodiversity. The TAL-Nepal encompasses 23, 199 km2 and covers 14 districts.
Restriction in the traditional use of nature resources inside the park, damage to agricultural crops, local harassment and livestock depredation by the park animals have created conflict between the park and people residing in the buffer zone. To overcome these problems, a wide range of initiatives has been instigated for the past few years. Allowing local communities to collect thatch grass inside the park and declaration of buffer zone regulation are among the major steps taken in this regard. Beside, a Rahat Kosh (relief fund) has also been created to compensate injuries and loss of life, livestock depredation and property (mainly house) damages caused by wild animals.
Furthermore, RBNP in direct collaboration with four major projects has been launching a number integrated conservation and development programs targeted to build up harmonious relationship between park and people as well as to motivate buffer zone communities towards the conservation of the park bio-diversity. There is an active buffer zone project, with KMT, Parks and People Project, WWF and Bardia Integrated Conservation Project (BICP) being actively involved. (www.citesnepal.org)

Conservation Critiques
For conservation purpose the government has covered more than 25000 sq km. land in last 30 yrs. With the establishment of national parks, conservation centres…government tries to conserve species, resources and ecosystems. The government brings different laws, policies, programmes in practice; be a part of different treaties; takes helps and supports form donor countries for the purpose. Are these steps taken enough for the for conservation purpose? Will these be sufficient to protect those endangered species and their habitats?
Setting aside protected areas are one of the most effective tools available for conserving biodiversity. Though protected areas are established with the objectives of protect species and ecosystems. There are always challenges and issues to be solved. Protected areas are always in the threats: threats of illegal trade of species, land encroachment, conflicts between locals and the park for resource use… so only establishment of protected areas does not give any solutions. Threats to protected areas must be eliminated if the protected areas are to meet their objectives and to contribute to biodiversity conservation (Groom, 2006).
Bardia National Park is also facing the same challenges. Establishment of the park made the people of that region deprive from resource use in one hand and on the other hand facility provided form buffer zone are entertained by some power holder people. These make the poor whose entire life depend on natural resources enter the prohibited areas; inside the national park. Land encroachment, illegal trade of animals and other species are other problems of the park. These all are the result of poor coordination; education for biological conservation should be provided to the locals; laws and policies should be followed strictly equally to maintain park-people relationship.
Landscape models for conservation approach should be applied so that it will be easier for the organisms to move, settle and reproduce. Suitable sites for species are often distributed as isolated patches. For our country, this approach is a new one. There is another project of this approach; TAL project which has started to work since strategic plan 2004-2014 came into existence. Since Bardia lies in Terai, TAL project also encompasses the park in it together with all 11 national parks. Though the approach came into practice late, if it works as proposed, we will be able to conserve our biodiversity and all those endangered species.

Conclusion and Recommendation
In-situ conservation program does not end with establishment of some protected areas having some table talks, but must be broadly combined with legal protection, habitat protection and management, education, community participation, and other components. All of these should contribute to a balanced program: sustain of the species and the community people. Conservation measures should work across national, cultural and boundaries. Conservation measures should involve local people in species recovery and, ecosystem management program must continue seeking to address local community development.
Three perspectives of ecosystem management shold go tgogethr: Ecological perspective, Socioeconomic Perspective and Institutional perspective. For participation of local stakeholders bottom up approach should be followed. Negotiation mechanisms will be backbone for long term resolution of conflicts of resource use. For conservation of species, Landscape-scale conservation approach efforts should be practiced because this approach recognizes the interconnectedness of population and incorporates this concept into models and management. The TAL-Nepal Landscape strategy is a good measure taken for the conservation of the species, biodiversity and all those endangered species. The conservation researchers should work; investigate further in detail to apply best suit measures in collaboration with NGOs and INGOs to meet the hidden objectives of conservation.

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