A new article on Journal of Forest Economics examines a holistic (landscape) land-use model for protected area-buffer zone management, developed on the basis of a case study at the Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP) in Nepal.

The model illustrates the opportunities that arise from addressing conflicts through a holistic protected area-buffer zone management approach instead of focusing only on maintaining the integrity of protected areas.

The findings indicate that in RCNP the problem of fuelwood and livestock fodder supply can be substantially reduced through changed community forest management in the buffer zone. Furthermore, the consequences of introducing biogas plants are analysed. The livestock fodder supply proved the most difficult problem. Additional fodder from community forest management does not suffice – only through the introduction of improved breeds can the fodder deficiency be efficiently addressed.

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Carsten Nico Hjortsø, Steffen Stræde and Finn Helles. Applying multi-criteria decision-making to protected areas and buffer zone management: A case study in the Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Journal of Forest Economics, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 6 May 2006