Is Nepal at risk of ‘environmental crimes’ over new policy to allow big projects in protected areas?
- A new procedural document could give businesses a ‘free pass’ to exploit Nepal’s land and natural resources in protected areas
- Mega projects in these areas could undo Nepal’s conservation gains such as population expansion of certain endangered species
Nepal’s government approved the legally binding document under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act in early January, which many perceive as a move to facilitate mega projects that would likely exploit land and natural resources in the country’s protected areas.
While the law already has provisions for the building of infrastructure in protected areas, such as highways and transmission lines cutting through national parks, conservationists said the new policy gives a “free pass” for larger projects.
Kumar Paudel, director of environmental non-profit organisation Greenhood Nepal, said the new document raises the risks of commercial exploitation of ecologically sensitive areas, which would render demarcations and protections under current rules meaningless.
“This policy eases the [expansion of] commercial interests within protected areas,” Paudel said. “If the government facilitates the commercial exploitation of these sensitive areas, it shows that they are ready to reverse the sacrifices of the generations of conservationists who have worked in Nepal’s conservation and habitat protection sector.”
Nepal is home to a diverse natural ecosystem that ranges from the plains of the Terai region to the Himalayas. The country’s protected areas, accounting for about 23 per cent of its total landmass, include 12 national parks, one wildlife and hunting reserve each, six conservation areas and 13 buffer zones, according to the government-run Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
