KATHMANDU, Sept 1: The Legislature-Parliament today endorsed the proposal tabled seeking deliberations on National Park and Wildlife Conservation (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2071.
The bill was presented by Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Shanker Bhandari.
Minister Bhandari responded to the questions over the proposal and stated that the effort on conservation of wildlife in Nepal – which is rich in terms of biodiversity – has spiked the wildlife population. He said the issues raised on biodiversity would be embedded in the amendment bill.
The wildlife lesson
The Minister also took the opportunity to share his belief that the amendment would increase the people's participation in conservation effort and enhance people's income generation.
Lawmaker, Janak Raj Joshi, pointed out that the proposed bill did not envision any change where forest area covered 40 per cent of the total land of Nepal.
Lawmaker, Prem Suwal, said the national park areas were diminishing with continuing deforestation and slammed the government of not giving enough attention to conservation effort. He called for eliminating the provision on privatization of parks.
Lawmaker, Tuk Raj Sigdel, said the bill would help mitigate the conflict between wildlife and humans and demanded compensation for the people of mid region who have died in animal attacks.
Lawmaker, Rajaram Syangtan, emphasized that the rights of the communities of the mid region cannot be cut down.
Janak Raj Chaundary, Chairman of Environment Conservation Committee, said it was a matter of joy that the amendment of the law on wildlife conservation with aim to make it time-bound was tabled, albeit late. The House will meet again at 13:00 pm on September 5. RSS
