Transboundary biodiversity conservation initiative: an example from Nepal

Transboundary biodiversity conservation (TBC) is one of the most important components of emerging large-scale conservation approaches. Nepal could provide a good example of an effective TBC implementation. Most of the protected areas and biodiversity hotspots of Nepal lie along the international boundaries with China and India and represent mainly two ecoregions - alpine shrubs and meadows in the mountains and Tarai-Duar savannas and grassland in the lowland tarai. Key management issues within these TBC sites include illegal hunting or poaching, illegal trade of wildlife species and their products, commercial logging, illegal harvesting and smuggling of forest products, and transboundary migration and/or movement of wildlife species. The main objective of this paper is to explore the issues, options and initiatives relating to TBC in Nepal. Specifically, the paper will address: (a) potential TBC sites, (b) major existing and emerging issues that demand TBC, and (c) possible mechanisms to address the issues and current initiatives. Several factors indicate that Nepal will be a leading player in TBC in the eastern Himalayas. These include: (1) recent progress in transboundary negotiations between government representatives from Nepal, China, and India; (2) the growing number of protected areas in Nepal; and (3) the international enthusiasm for two proposed transboundary conservation initiatives.