Army officers to be trained on wildlife conservation

CHITWAN, July 14: For the first time in Nepal, an institution completely dedicated to educate army officials about the importance of wildlife conservation has been established at Kharsar area of Chitwan National Park (CNP). The training facility was inaugurated by the Chief of Army Staff, Gaurav Shamsher JB Rana on Monday.

An old building used by late King Birendra during his regular visit to the park was renovated to serve as the training facility. The building was built in 1987.According to Sanjay Deuja, chief of the army battalion stationed inside CNP, the building has the capacity to accommodate at least 50 army officers at a time.

"Not only the national park, the army has been taking care of Chure Conservation Areas as well. We felt it is better to educate the soldiers about wildlife and their conservation to help them carry out their work better," said the Army Chief Rana.

"Along with education army officials on conservation, we will also install new technologies to improve the security of the national park," he added.

According to Baburam Karki, director of National Park and Conservation Directive, until this day a total of 106 army officers have been deployed for the security of CNP.

"Nepal has shown improvement in conserving wildlife for the past few years. We have already celebrated three zero rhino poaching years and we believe much more can be improved in this field," said Karki.

Related story

The wildlife lesson