Kathmandu, September 23
Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment Geeta Chaudhary has said wildlife conservation should not be confined solely to the administrative boundaries of protected areas but should be broadened.
Speaking on the occasion of the 20th National Conservation Day held in Lalitpur on Wednesday, Minister Chaudhary said that a strong partnership among all three tiers of government, local communities, and stakeholder bodies is essential for nature conservation and human-wildlife coexistence.
Chaudhary pointed to the need to move beyond simply prioritising human-wildlife conflict management and instead advance the concept of “coexistence.”
She said the Nepal government has, from this fiscal year, incorporated a “Human-Wildlife Coexistence Program” into the national budget system, and that a strategic plan is being implemented based on the report of the conflict-reduction task force.
Nature and wildlife do not recognise administrative boundaries, she said, adding that nature’s contribution, through clean air and water, climate regulation, and agricultural production, is indispensable to the national economy.
Noting that the government has declared the current year as the “Year of Legal Reform,” Minister Chaudhary stressed that conservation and development must be complementary rather than opposed to each other.
“Alongside wildlife conservation, cooperation among all stakeholders is essential to ensure the life, livelihood, and safety of local communities,” Chaudhary said. “Our goal should be to focus not just on managing human-wildlife conflict but on programs that establish sustainable coexistence.”
She also said that policies on zoo management, wildlife rescue standards, and animal welfare are being updated to keep pace with the times.
