Nepal’s protected area comes either under the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation or the National Trust For Nature Conservation. These government and quasi-government bodies have been tasked with monitoring any illegal activities in the regions. But lack of oversight has meant structures continue to be built around the protected areas in the country.
Take the Annapurna region which falls under the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) for example. The region is home to some of the most popular trekking destinations in the country. This rise in tourism, however, has meant many many illegal hotels and restaurants have been illegally built in the region. These businesses remain unregistered and are also not subject to taxes.
It is not just the businesses; there has been ongoing confusion between the local authorities and ACAP regarding the terms of the project. The ACAP was supposed to expire in 2017 but it has had its term extended time and again. On December 21, 2023, the government extended the Project’s term until 2028 raising eyebrows.
With the ACAP not doing enough, stakeholders feel the renewal will mean structures will continue to be built in the Annapurna region. Take the Mardi and Khumai Danda trail for example. These two areas have seen the most damage due to a rise in tourists with numerous tea houses and shops being set up around the trail.
People and businesses building these structures have resorted to cutting down trees. Some even say a syndicate has been formed so everyone gets a slice of the pie.
Syndicated businesses in the protected areas
According to a hotel owner in Khumai, to open a restaurant in the area, they must be a permanent resident of ward no 1 in Machhapuchchhre Rural Municipality. Operating a hotel in the area will also require the business to employ local youth. This, however, needs approval from local leaders and not the local government or the ACAP.
Local businesspersons say this rule is in place to protect Khumai and its cultural heritage.
“If we don’t do this, all of this will disappear as anyone will come with their big bags of cash and open a loge here,” he said.
But that said, almost all hotels, shops and lodges along the Machhapuchhre Model Trail and Great Machhapuchhre Trail are illegal. These businesses are not registered at the local level and do not come under taxation.
The rural municipality asked these businesses to register. But all outrightly refused as they understood they had to pay a yearly tax on their income.
“Even if they had registered provisionally, it would have addressed potential legal issues in the future. Additionally, such registration would have facilitated regulation by the municipality,” said a member of the rural municipality on condition of anonymity.
What that has resulted in is unregulated prices with tourists, both domestic and foreign being charged exorbitant fees for charging their phones and warm water.
In this situation, numerous structures have popped up within the protected area. The local representatives, having invested in these projects, are not too keen on putting a stop to it. On top of that, the regulatory body like the ACAP does not seem to be doing much.
Sources say that the ongoing conflict between the rural municipality and ACAP is actually helping these businesses grow. Plus, trying to tax these businesses is a headache, thanks to their tricky spots within the protected area.
Deforestation everywhere
The construction of structures following deforestation in the Khumai-Korchang trail, which only gained attention around two years ago, has not stopped. There are 76 small and large hotels, small tea shops and restaurants along the trail, with over 100 structures built in total.
As these structures continue to be built around the protected areas, conflict continues between the local businesses and authorities who accuse each other of trying to destroy each other. ACAP argues it is illegal to build structures haphazardly in protected areas, the locals say ACAP is trying to take away their means of earning a livelihood with such rules.
This tussle between the two has meant the search operation for Michael Liu Blomberg from Sweden, who went missing on Mardi Himal on December 30, 2023, has not seen significant progress. ACAP argues the locals have not helped in the rescue operation with the local entrepreneurs pointing the finger at ACAP.
Raj Kumar Tamang, the chair of the Mardi Tourism Management Committee is pointing fingers at the rural municipality for not helping in the search and rescue mission.
“They collect fees regularly but when it comes to investment, they turn the other way,” says Tamang.
A critical concern
The rural municipality feels its hands are tied due to ACAP. It says it has been unable to utilise local resources due to the Project and its jurisdiction in the area.
Not too long ago, Machhapuchhre rural municipality devised a plan to construct an information centre in Mardi and Khumai to levy an entry fee on hikers.
“Our objective was to establish a tourist information centre containing essential services, from primary health facilities to tourism policing. However, ACAP intervened and obstructed our efforts, which were aimed at enhancing tourism in this region,” says Ganesh Acharya, spokesperson of the rural municipality.
Acharya argues that although ACAP did not permit the rural municipality to construct the information centre, it granted concessions to the businessmen. He even went on to point the finger at ACAP for being unable to tax these businesses.
On December 30, 2023, the businessmen damaged the municipality’s information centre, arguing that, despite their objections, the rural municipality has started the collection of entry fees from tourists. They say they will not allow this to happen and have demanded that the rural municipality retract its decision.
“We will try to find legal measures. They are using public land to operate their businesses and are choosing not to pay taxes. The government needs to do something about this because the ACAP has not done anything,” says Acharya.
Since the establishment of the centre in November 2023, the rural municipality has collected Rs 1.2 million in entry fees from tourists. Foreign trekkers have to pay Rs 500 while domestic trekkers need to pay Rs 100 to enter the Mardi trail.
Rabin Kadaria, the head of the ACAP, said the Project is currently developing a plan to stop encroachment within the protected areas. He further said that once the plan is finalised, the illegally constructed structures within the ACAP area will be removed, with the consent of the local community, local government, and business owners.
“Let’s refrain from using force at the moment; let’s proceed based on consensus,” Kadaria said, adding, “All the structures constructed there will be confiscated eventually. Since they have been conducting business there for an extended period, they have shown flexibility to avoid inconvenience.”
Only 10 tea houses are officially registered on the Mardi trail. ACAP’s Pokhara beach had ordered the seizure of illegal structures on the trail which was upheld by the District Court Kaski in February 2023.
But these businesses continue to operate as the state has been able to do nothing about it.
