Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, located on the Koshi river floodplain in the eastern Terai of Nepal, has a vegetation that comprises both riverine forests and a large tract of grasslands, most of which become flooded during the monsoon and remain wet for several months of the year. These seasonally flooded wet grasslands, together with the swamps formed in depressions on the floodplain, are the ideal habitat for the last remaining population of wild buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis ) in Nepal. These grasslands are viewed in different ways by different people. Livestock herders who practice their traditional profession of livestock grazing in that area see Koshi Tappu as a treasure that will never be exhausted. Landless people in the adjoining villages and those who have lost their land to the reserve or as a result of the shifting of the Koshi river, more than a quarter of the population, want to convert the grasslands into agricultural fields. Conservationists see the wet grasslands andassociated swamps and marshes, both within and outside the reserve, as a place of international importance in terms of staging and wintering sites for various trans-Himalayan migrating birds; the area has been listed as a Ramsar site (Wetlands of International Importance). The conflicting views of these different stakeholders are the root cause of the problems involved in the proper management of the reserve. An integrated management plan using a participatory approach is needed.