Minister Sudi pledges to construct wildlife-friendly structures

Kathmandu- Minister for Forests and Environment, Nawal Kishor Shah Sudi, has said the government is positive about building wildlife-friendly structures in national parks and wildlife reserves.

In his replies to concerns delivered during the discussions on the ‘Study report about the status of human-wildlife conflict in national parks, wildlife reserves and buffer zones, 2080 BS’ in a session of the National Assembly today, the Minister pledged to make arrangements for appropriate environmental protection measures near national parks and wildlife reserves except the highly sensitive ones so as to support the livelihood of locals.

The proposed regulations relating to the national parks and wildlife conservation has included the provision for facilitating those indigenous nationalities and landless squatters dependent on forests for their livelihood to continue with their ancestral occupations. Similarly, the government is committed to providing skills and entrepreneurship opportunities for those wishing to shift to a new means of livelihood from the ancestral profession, according to him.

Stating the Ministry is totally agreed with the provision allowing the local levels to spend 50 percent of the total revenue collections from the wildlife reserves, he said the Ministry is also positive about the submission for carrying out management of quarry products of buffer zones by the local levels in presence of representatives from national parks. “This will be included in new regulations concerning the buffer zone management.”

Prior to this, Rajendra Laxmi Gaire, Padam Bahadur Pariyar, Gopal Bhattarai, Bhuwan Bahadur Sunar, Ganga Kumari Belbase, Durga Kumari Gurung, Narayana Datta Mishra, Kamala Devi Panta, Nar Bahadur Bista, Uday Bahadur Bohara, Sumitra BC, Tulasha Kumari Dahal , Jayanti Devi Rai, and Bishnu Devi Pudasaini urged the government to take a special initiation to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. President of Federalism Strengthening and National Concerns Committee, Sonam Geljen Sherpa, proposed the meeting to hold discussions on the report which was endorsed by the meeting unanimously.