The BNP along with Bardiya National Park (968 sq km) will now have the longest tiger habitat stretch in Asia. "The stretch will be longest tiger habitat in Asia," Shiva Raj Bhatta, spokesperson for the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) told myrepublica.com. He added that DNPWC first formed a task force in 2052 BS to establish BNP. [break]
The BNP Buffer Zone will fall in Banke (7 VDCs), Bardiya (1 VDC), Dang (3 VDCs) and Salyan (3 VDCs) districts with total 344 sq. km and over 43,000 beneficiaries. It has Babai river in the North and Rapti in the South. The plan has come into being after an extended home-work.
In 2053 BS Bardiya National Park Buffer Zone was declared following which a five-year operational plan was prepared by a task force of regional forest directorate. In 2057 BS, the Finance Ministry and Ministry of General Administration agreed to transfer 44 staff to Banke. In 2058 BS, Nepal Army had requested Rs 270 million for creation of one battalion in Banke.
The area also forms one of the three bottlenecks identified in the Tarai-Arc Landscape Project (TAL). It is also an extended habitat and important biological corridor of the Asiatic wild elephants. It contains mostly fragile Churiya whose representation in protection area system is low.
Moreover, it is home to 32 species of mammals, 300 birds, 22 reptiles, 7 amphibians and 55 fish. It includes 8 eco-systems, 124 plant species and 6 types of forest.
"The eco-tourism potential of this region is vast. The people of this region who have long been denied the benefit from the natural resources can now benefit immensely from the project," Dr Santa Raj Jnawali, Director Tarai/Environment, National Trust for Nature Conservation, said.
The Department of Forest has said that the conservation challenge of this area include illegal collection of timber and other forest products, poaching, over-grazing, depredation, forest fire and encroachment, which the department expects to drastically reduce once Banke is brought under protected system.
"This has trans-boundary linkage and the corridor can be joined with India as a long-term plan," Gopal Prasad Upadhyay, Director General of DNPWC said. He added, "Also, 30-40% revenue benefit will go back to the communities."
As per the plan, the headquarters will be located at Mahadevpuri and two sector office at Kusum and Chepang. There will be six range posts and 12 guard posts.
akanshya@myrepublica.com
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