Under the conservation program, the DNPWC will work to enhance the adaptation capacity of the endangered snow leopard and red panda to climate change. Likewise, the authority will also protect the natural habitat of the endangered animals and manage food for the wildlife. [break]
The conservation park and hunting reserve house many endangered species including the snow leopard, grey wolf, musk deer and blue sheep.
According to the DNPWC, the campaign will be launched in the hilly areas of Baglung, Myagdi and Rukum districts within Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve and the hilly areas of Dolpa district inside Shey Phokshundo National Park, the largest and only trans-Himalayan national park in the country. The conservation program is being launched with financial support from the World Bank.
Apart from enhancing the endangered animals´ adaptability to new environment, the program also aims to conserve medicinal herbs, improve economic condition of the locals by promoting tourisms and developing physical infrastructures in the regions.
Maheshswor Dhakal, chief of the DNPWC´s ecology branch, said the department will involve locals residing in the vicinity of the park and the reserve for the conservation of the endangered animals.
Along with the conservation of the animals, we will also preserve medicinal herbs like Yarsha Gumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) and Panch Aule (Datylorhiza hatageria), he informed.
He also said the DNPWC will also educate the locals about food and habitat of the wildlife and the need to protect them from poachers.
Chief of Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Bishwo Babu Shrestha said the World Bank has already provided Rs 50 million for the climate resilience program. “From a long time, the government had not launched any kind of conservation project in the Phokshunda National Park and Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve,” Shrestha said, welcoming the DNPWC´s program.
The Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve spans an area of 1,325 square kilometers in Baglung, Myagdi and Rukum districts, while the Shey Phokshundo National Park covers an area of 3,555 square kilometers in Dolpa district.
The DNPWC believes that the conservation program will be boon for tourism development in the national park and the hunting reserve.
“Due to the lack of physical infrastructure and advertisement, fewer tourists visit the areas. Now, the conservation program is likely to bring positive changes,” said Shrestha.
He also said the program will also help curb the illegal poaching of the wildlife.
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