KATHMANDU, Aug 11: An urgent public importance motion has been registered in the House of Representatives, demanding an integrated national action plan for a long-term solution to the growing damage caused by monkeys and wild boars to agricultural crops.
The motion was proposed by Nepali Congress lawmaker Narendra Kumar Kerung and supported by UML chief whip Nita Ghatani, Nepali Communist Party lawmaker Parbati BK and Shram Sanskriti Party lawmaker Aren Rai.
Registered on Monday, the motion states that crop damage caused by monkeys and wild boars has affected farmers’ production, income, food security and rural livelihoods. It says the issue can no longer be seen merely as a case of human wildlife conflict.
According to proposer Kerung, the government should prepare a national action plan for managing monkeys and wild boars, with a clear timeline, adequate budget and defined responsibilities for the federal, provincial and local governments.
Wild boar menace in Salyan
The motion cites a study conducted with technical support from the National Trust for Nature Conservation and the Central Department of Zoology at Tribhuvan University, which found that the scale of damage caused by monkeys has become serious.
According to the study, 20,395 rhesus macaques were directly counted in 44 of the most affected local governments. The population in the mid hill region is estimated at no fewer than 104,137 monkeys. The study found monkey groups with as many as 198 animals.
Bagmati, Gandaki and Sudurpaschim provinces have reported greater crop damage from monkeys, wild boars and porcupines. Farmers in Koshi Province are facing problems caused by monkeys and elephants, while monkeys and nilgai are affecting farmers in several districts of Lumbini and Madhesh provinces.
Kerung said the situation is also alarming at the provincial level. Crop losses are estimated to reach up to 90 percent of maize in Gandaki, 88 percent of maize in Karnali, and up to 85 percent of paddy and 90 percent of wheat in Sudurpaschim.
The motion also demands that the government present a consolidated report to Parliament on the decisions, studies, spending, programmes and achievements since the parliamentary discussion held in Falgun 2081.
It further calls for progress reports on the proposed national action plan to be submitted to the relevant parliamentary committee every three months.
The motion argues that human wildlife conflict should not be treated as a problem limited to a particular village, local government or the ruling and opposition parties, but addressed as a national social, economic and political issue.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Federal Affairs and General Administration, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, and the Department of Forest and Soil Conservation have been identified as the concerned agencies.
