Sharda Sapkota, a resident of Gaidakot Municipality-11 in Nawalpur district, had planted bamboo and lilac trees on her private land. About two years ago, she cut the trees to prepare the land for farming. However, Nepali Army personnel deployed for the security of Chitwan National Park arrested her, accusing her of cutting trees illegally. Her house and land fall within the buffer zone area.
According to Govinda Subedi, ward chair of Gaidakot-11, many people living in the buffer zone had settled there even before the buffer zone was declared. “They live on private land, but their ownership rights are not fully recognized,” he said.
In another incident, Govinda Paudel of Gaidakot-11 was arrested while thatching the roof of his cowshed. Subedi said restrictions in the buffer zone have severely affected local livelihoods. “Bote and Majhi communities are not allowed to go fishing. People are not allowed to cut grass growing on their own land.
They cannot dig for soil in their fields, and even for registering animal husbandry, they are forced to go to Kasara for approval,” he said. “So much so, marginalized communities living near the forest cannot even collect firewood washed away by rivers.”
Nepal has 13 national parks and seven conservation areas, including the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Sanctuary. The government introduced the buffer zone program in 1996 to increase community participation in conservation. “Buffer zones around parks and reserves are designed to maintain ecological integrity and ensure community participation in biodiversity conservation,” said conservation biologist Babu Ram Lamichhane.
Under the Buffer Zone Management Regulations, 1996, the government can declare areas surrounding national parks and wildlife reserves as buffer zones. Nepal has about 5,602 square kilometer in 13 buffer zone areas, where nearly 1.2 million people live.
‘Remove buffer zones’
Although the concept of buffer zone was introduced to balance conservation and local livelihoods, residents in some areas have been demanding delisting of their respective areas as buffer zones over the past five years.
Hemanta Acharya, chairman of the Bardiya National Park Buffer Zone Area Management Committee, said people are angry because restrictions have become as strict as inside national parks. “People’s daily needs have been increasingly restricted,” he said.
Residents of Gaidakot Municipality have submitted signatures to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, demanding that their area be removed from the list of butter zones.
Deputy Mayor Shanti Koirala said opposition to the buffer zone has grown because people are being punished for felling trees they planted themselves, which they see as an obstacle to development.
Tara Kaji Mahato, mayor of Madi Municipality in Chitwan district, stated that local communities had hoped that the declaration of their area as a buffer zone would make lives easier for them, to little avail. “But the reality is quite far from the promises made during the buffer zone declaration,” she said, “Floods enter the villages and create serious problems, but we are not allowed to do anything to protect ourselves. The buffer zone has made our lives far more difficult.”
Earlier, people’s protests were limited to areas around national parks. Now, the protests have formally reached Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
On Jan 14, people from Bardiya district, who are living in Kathmandu, staged a protest, demanding a solution to buffer zone-related problems. “Our demand is not to kill tigers, but the buffer zone has created many problems at the local level,” said Roshan Pandey, a resident of Bardiya. “We want to exercise our basic rights, but nobody listens to our problems.”
Affected communities have also submitted a memorandum to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, the Ministry of Forests and Environment, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), demanding a concrete solution to the issue.
Conflict over natural resources
Another dispute has emerged between national parks and local governments over the use of natural resources in buffer zone areas. Tara Kaji Mahato said local governments are not allowed to extract river materials such as gravel and sand without permission from national parks.
“We should be allowed to use natural resources from rivers and streams in the buffer zone as per the Local Government Operation Act, 2017,” she said. “The Act gives local governments the authority to collect and sell stones, gravel, sand, soil, timber and other natural and mineral resources, and to collect export fees.”
However, Ganesh Raj Panta, warden of Chitwan National Park, said the park administration must follow the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 2029. “We have to follow the law,” he said. “Sometimes, without understanding the legal process, national parks are blamed for populism and unrealistic demands. Good governance should involve communities and all concerned authorities, not only national parks.”
The National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 2029, prohibits the extraction of gravel and sand from rivers and streams flowing through buffer zones without permission. Such materials can be extracted only after approval from the park administration and the payment of prescribed fees.The Chitwan National Park Regulations, 2030, state that no one can dig, search for, or remove soil, stones, sand or other mineral materials within the park area without prior approval.
Consumers and stakeholders from buffer zone areas have demanded changes to existing laws, policies and regulations that contradict each other. A common agenda was endorsed during the “Shared Voice for Equality” program, Community Practices for Strengthening Equitable Governance in the Buffer Zones of Nepal’s Protected Areas-organized by RECOFTC Nepal in Sauraha, Chitwan.
The existing policy requires that 30–50 percent of national park revenue be allocated to buffer zone committees. However, they have not received this share since last year. As a result, consumers and stakeholders have demanded that the funds be provided in accordance with the law.
Bed Kumar Dhakal, deputy director general of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), said the department agrees that local governments should be given rights to use natural resources such as gravel and sand from rivers near settlements in buffer zones by amending existing laws and regulations.
“Since 1990, the buffer zone regulations have not been amended, which is regrettable,” he said. “It is time to revise the regulations. Issues related to settlements should be handled by local governments, while national parks focus on forest and conservation areas. Our main conflict is over resource use, but we are not saying these resources should be completely restricted.”
Marginalized communities left out
Marginalized groups such as indigenous peoples, Dalit communities and other disadvantaged groups have a direct relationship with natural resources. They depend on forests to meet their daily needs, yet they remain excluded from the mainstream, especially from leadership positions in various consumer committees.
Because these communities are kept out of decision-making, real, ground-level problems often go unheard. Bikram Chaudhary, a member from Kohalpur, said that people who are directly dependent on natural resources have so far been unable to reach leadership positions. “Those who understand the forest best are not in decision-making roles,” he said.
The Chitwan Declaration has emphasized the need to ensure the participation of Dalit, women, Indigenous peoples, marginalized and affected communities in benefit-sharing mechanisms. It calls for amendments to existing policies and laws to guarantee their meaningful participation.
However, representation of women, Dalit, indigenous and marginalized communities in buffer zone consumer committees remains very weak. Consumers and stakeholders have demanded that participation be ensured as envisioned in the Forest Policy 2076.
Pradeep Budhathoky, deputy director of RECOFTC Nepal, said that meaningful participation of women, Dalit, indigenous, and marginalized communities strengthens biodiversity conservation. “When those most connected to natural resources are involved, conservation becomes more effective and sustainable,” he said.
RECOFTC Nepal has been implementing the Shared Voice for Equality program—Community Practices for Strengthening Equitable Governance in the Intermediary Areas of Nepal’s Protected Areas. The program aims to strengthen equitable governance by enabling indigenous peoples and local communities to actively and meaningfully participate in conservation management.
Bed Kumar Dhakal of DNPWC acknowledged that women, Dalit, Indigenous, and marginalized communities have not been adequately represented at committee levels.
“We agree that participation of target groups must be ensured,” Dhakal said. “We have drafted a new Act to better represent community forests, indigenous peoples living along park boundaries and communities such as the Bote and Majhi. The issue of resource distribution will also be addressed. We plan to hold consultations with stakeholders within the next two to four months.”
Govinda Prasad Subedi, ward chair of Gaidakot Municipality–11, said laws and regulations should be people-centred. “Our concern is how to provide relief to people,” he said. “But the state often focuses on making strict laws and controlling resources. This is where conflict begins.”
“Conservation cannot succeed without people’s participation,” Subedi added. “No matter how strict the rules are, people will continue to extract resources to meet basic needs. That is why participatory conservation is essential.”
