Contribution of Buffer Zone Programs to Reduce Human-Wildlife Impacts: the Case of the Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Lamichhane, Babu Ram; Persoon, Gerard A.; Leirs, Herwig; Poudel, Shashank; Subedi, Naresh; Pokheral, Chiranjibi Prasad; Bhattarai, Santosh; Gotame, Pabitra; Mishra, Roshan Kumar; Iongh, Hans H. de

doi:10.1007/s10745-019-0054-y

Cited by 51 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In a Ugandan human‐carnivore conflict context further investigations are required into how the communities affected by carnivore depredation could be more involved in the mitigation process. Models such as those in Kenya (e.g., Okello et al, 2014) and Nepal (e.g., Lamichhane et al, 2019) where community members are directly involved in the management and enforcement of financial compensation and intervention scheme rules should be investigated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for increasing human‐wildlife conflict despite a financial compensation scheme on the edge of a Ugandan National Park

Braczkowski

Fattebert

Schenk³

et al. 2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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The conflict of large carnivores and agro-pastoral communities is a key driver of carnivore decline globally. The East African state of Uganda relies heavily on tourism as a GDP contributor and large carnivores are important for generating visitor revenue in its national parks. African leopards, spotted hyenas and African lions are three species that draw significant tourist attention but also cause damage to the livestock of human communities living on Ugandan national park edges. A private safari lodge in the Lake Mburo National Park has been using a financial compensation scheme in an attempt to stem conflict between these species and human communities living in the region since 2009. Financial compensations have produced mixed results with some studies reporting successes in reducing carnivore deaths, while others warn against their use, citing moral hazard, financial unsustainability and weakened protection of livestock by farmers. We sought to assess the characteristics of this compensation scheme and the patterns of conflict between Bahima pastoralist communities and carnivores that the scheme aims to mitigate. Using a dataset of 1,102 leopard and hyena depredation events (January 2009-December 2018) we found that spotted hyenas were responsible for the overwhelming majority of livestock depredation (69%) around Lake Mburo. Depredations occurred mostly at night (97% and 89% of all depredation for spotted hyenas and leopards respectively) and inside livestock protective pens (bomas). Depredation was more likely to occur in rugged areas, closer to human settlements, and the national park border, and further away from water. We could find no evidence of seasonality in depredation events. Our most important, albeit worrying result was that conflict had increased dramatically over time and the number of depredation claims had tripled in the period from 2014-2018 when compared to 2009-2013, risking financial unsustainability of the scheme. Our results are important for future conservation stakeholders attempting to implement financial compensation in the broader Ugandan landscape. They suggest

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for increasing human‐wildlife conflict despite a financial compensation scheme on the edge of a Ugandan National Park

Braczkowski

Fattebert

Schenk³

et al. 2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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“…There is evidence that these activities have helped to improve the livelihoods of some of the pastoral communities in the study area, in addition to improving rangeland management to some extent. Other studies in Nepal have also reported enhanced livelihoods of buffer zone communities due to: Income diversification, capacity enhancement, resource conservation, ecotourism promotion, increased farm production, and reduced conflict between Park authorities and communities through revenue distribution schemes [43][44][45].…”

Section: National Policy and Institutional Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 92%

Vulnerability of Pastoralism: A Case Study from the High Mountainsof Nepal

et al. 2020

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Pastoralism in the Himalayan region of Nepal has undergone significant socio-economic and ecological changes. While there are numerous contributing factors behind these changes, the effect of a changing climate has not been thoroughly studied. This paper adds a significant contribution to the knowledge base through analysis from a survey of 186 herder households, interviews with 38 key participants, and four focus group discussions with individuals from three National Parks and Conservation areas in the high-mountain region of Nepal. Additionally, a review of the existing policies and programs on pastoralism was carried out. Results demonstrate several reasons behind the decline of transhumance pastoralism: Policy focus on the establishment of conservation areas, increasing vulnerability to extreme events (avalanches, snowfall, storms, and disappearing water sources), and ineffective government policies and programs. Hardships involved in herding combined with changing social values and the degradation of pasture quality were identified as contributing factors to the growing challenges facing mountain pastoralism. Similarly, the declining interest among herders to continue their profession can be traced to vulnerability associated with escalating climate change impacts. Considerable knowledge gaps regarding threats to high-altitude pastoralism remain, and continued research on pastureland conservation, capacity development, facilitation for climate change adaptation, and coping strategies for herders in the high mountains is urgently needed. Our analysis suggests that non-climatic variables such as policy and globalization were more influential in eroding pastoralism as compared to climate change.

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“…For a multiple decades, tigers and leopards have co-occurred with a large overlap of home range and diet (Seidensticker 1976). Factors facilitating the high density of these two large cats in Chitwan may be a combination of high density of ungulates (73 prey per km 2 , Dhakal et al 2014), mosaics of the habitats (Bhattarai and Kindlmann 2012a), control of hunting with enhanced protection, habitat restoration in the buffer zone (Gurung et al 2008) and support from local communities (Nepal and Spiteri 2011;Lamichhane et al 2019).…”

Section: Tiger-leopard Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with co-occurrence of large carnivores in a human-dominated landscape

et al. 2019

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We investigated the factors facilitating co-occurrence of two large carnivores, tigers (Panthera tigris) and common leopards (Panthera pardus), within a human-dominated landscape. We estimated their density and population size using camera-trap photographs and examined spatial segregation of habitats, temporal activity pattern, and diets in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. A Bayesian spatially-explicit capture-recapture model estimated densities of 3.2-4.6 (3.94 ± 0.37) tigers and 2.6-4.1 (3.31 ± 0.4) leopards per 100 km 2 with abundance of 70-102 tigers and 66-105 leopards. Tigers occupied the prime habitats (grasslands and riverine forests) in alluvial floodplains of the Park whereas leopards appeared in Sal forests and marginal areas where livestock are present. Both tigers and leopards showed crepuscular activity patterns with a high overlap but tigers were less active during the day compared to leopards. Leopards' activity in the day increased in the presence of tigers. Tiger and leopard diet overlapped considerably (90%). Compared to leopards, tigers consumed a higher proportion of the large prey and a smaller proportion of livestock. Our study demonstrates that sympatric large carnivores can coexist in high densities in prey rich areas that contain a mosaics of habitats. To increase the resilience and size of the Chitwan carnivore population, strategies are needed to increase prey biomass and prevent livestock depredation in adjacent forests. Long-term monitoring is also required to obtain a detailed understanding of the interaction between the large carnivores and their effects on local communities living in forest fringes within the landscape.

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Contribution of Buffer Zone Programs to Reduce Human-Wildlife Impacts: the Case of the Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Cited by 51 publications

References 31 publications

Evidence for increasing human‐wildlife conflict despite a financial compensation scheme on the edge of a Ugandan National Park

Evidence for increasing human‐wildlife conflict despite a financial compensation scheme on the edge of a Ugandan National Park

Vulnerability of Pastoralism: A Case Study from the High Mountainsof Nepal

Factors associated with co-occurrence of large carnivores in a human-dominated landscape

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