A recent article by Joel T. Heinen and Suresh K. Shrestha on Journal of Environmental Planning and Management documents the sequence of events leading to policy changes in protected areas management in Nepal. The authors also explore the underlying causes of these changes based on reviews of published works, government and project documents, authors' site visits over the past 20 years to most of the parks and reserves in the country, and recent interviews with key personnel working both for governmental and non-governmental organization sectors (NGOs).

The paper considers the expansion of the protected areas network in light of historical, cultural and economic factors and concludes that Nepal has been reactive in adopting conservation programmes and points out several areas in which more work needs to be done.

Although the protected area system of Nepal has expanded to over 18% of the land area of the country, it is still highly skewed toward less productive, high altitude habitats that are not under major current threats. Habitats in the Terai are underrepresented, and habitats throughout the middle elevations of the country are virtually unrepresented currently. As the country moves towards landscape level conservation planning, there is a need to codify into national law the status of forest areas within these larger landscapes, but outside the protected area system. Most integrated conservation and development programmes in Nepal have become decidedly weighted more heavily toward development, and therefore by necessity less toward conservation, over time. There is also a need for implementing both national and international conservation law and adopting social and biological monitoring programmes in and around protected areas.

In addition, the paper points out factors outside the control of conservation officials (i.e. a Maoist insurgency) that have indirectly hindered conservation programmes in recent years and have greatly complicated prospects for further success. Impact of Maoist conflict in conservation was also explored by a recent IISD report.

Joel T. Heinen and Suresh K. Shrestha. Evolving policies for conservation: An Historical Profile of the Protected Area System of Nepal. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. Volume 49, Number 1 / January 2006. Pages 41 - 58