Nepal's nature threatened by new development push: conservationists 11/05/2024
- Ana Cunha-Busch
- May 10, 2024
- 2 min read
From Agence France Presse
Nepal's nature threatened by new development push: conservationists
Nepalese conservationists on Thursday condemned new regulations allowing hydropower and hotel projects in wildlife sanctuaries, saying they threaten to destroy the habitat of tigers and other endangered animals.
A fifth of the Himalayan Republic's entire territory has been designated as protected areas to prevent infrastructure projects that could damage the environment.
Nepal has been praised worldwide for its fight against poachers and wildlife conservation, saving several species from extinction.
Nevertheless, last month the government issued an ordinance allowing it to approve infrastructure projects in national parks, forests, and other protected areas.
“The endangered tigers and one-horned rhinos have thrived thanks to these sanctuaries as they found a favorable environment there,” Rampreet Yadav, a wildlife conservationist, told AFP.
“The decision to allow infrastructure construction will affect their habitat.”
Yadav, who is also the former head of Chitwan National Park, Nepal's most important wildlife sanctuary, said the decision was driven by the “interests of the political leadership”.
“We will have nothing to show and give to our next generation,” he said.
Nepal's habitat protection laws have led to the local tiger population tripling to 355 since 2010, while the number of one-horned rhinos has increased from around a hundred in the 1960s to 752 in 2021.
In addition, the forest area almost doubled between 1992 and 2016 after deforestation got out of hand.
Nepal is keen to develop its hydropower industry, having built several dams since the turn of the century that have an installed capacity of more than 2,600 megawatts.
In January, the country signed an agreement with India to export 10,000 megawatts of hydropower to its energy-hungry neighbor over the next ten years.
Tourism is also an important source of income for Nepal, which recorded one million foreign visitors last year following a pandemic.
Environment Ministry spokesman Badri Raj Dhungana said the new regulations had been introduced to strike a balance between environmental protection and development.
“They will not be built in very sensitive areas. We need a working plan with proper mapping,” he said.
However, Padma Bahadur Shrestha, a lawyer specializing in conservation lawsuits, said the decision showed that the government wanted to sideline environmental concerns in its pursuit of development.
“It wants to destroy Nepal's biodiversity to create new infrastructure,” he said.
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