Class

Overview

24% of Nepal is covered by a network of Protected Areas. This includes 12 National Parks, 2 Reserves, 6 Conservation Areas and 13 Buffer Zones, extending from lowland terai to high mountains. While each Protected Area will experience its unique challenges, most experience similar challenges, including ecosystems under pressure due to climate and human impact, environmental degradation translating into increased human-wildlife conflict (HWC), buffer zone communities experiencing multi-dimensional poverty, and economic opportunities from well-managed eco-tourism and conservation interventions not yet reaching full potential.

Banke National Park is home to rich biodiversity. Baijnath Rural Municipality, within the park’s buffer zone, is also home to communities of Mughali and Tharu people, forcibly relocated here following waves of construction and the establishment of national parks. Loss of cultural heritage, traditional practices and livelihoods has marginalised this mixed population. Strict buffer zone rules determine the livelihoods of these communities, and they eke out a living by drawing on forest resources, whilst trying to grow crops and rear livestock in the face of wildlife attacks and crop raids.

CLASS was a one-year pilot project in Baijnath to address challenges facing the interconnected ecosystem comprising the core protected area of the national park, the inner ring of community forest, and the outer ring of the populated settlement area. Our solution recognised that, as a single system facing the impacts of climate change and increasing human and wildlife pressure for the same limited resources, the response required mutually reinforcing conservation, livelihoods, and human-wildlife conflict (HWC) mitigation interventions.

Results Framework

Immediate impact:

• Regeneration of Lions Park as a newly reforested area, serving as a clean and welcoming environment for students and visitors to appreciate and learn about their natural environment.
• Increased access for 1,650 buffer zone community members to clean energy solutions, human wildlife mitigation, and to capacity building on sustainable income generation.
• 1,650 community members and 1,050 students are empowered to interact positively with their natural environment through increased conservation and HWC mitigation understanding.
• Improved quality of life for 1,650 buffer zone community members, through increased income and decreased outgoings, a cleaner environment, and improved personal and livelihood safety from wildlife.
• A better future for the community members and wildlife in the targeted area through decreased competition for scarce resources

Platform for scale-up and replication: this pilot was designed to build a platform for future scale-up of interconnected conservation, poverty alleviation and HWC interventions, underpinned by clean energy solutions.