The long-term goal of the project is to conserve the biodiversity and preserve globally important habitats and species of upper Mustang. The project is designed to restore upper Mustang's ecology and economy, thereby preserving the high altitude biodiversity characteristic of the Trans-Himalayan plateau. The main threats to the biodiversity of upper Mustang are: i) Excessive livestock rearing which deteriorates the rangeland productivity, ii) Tourist flow lead to demand for fuel thereby degrading forest and shrub lands, iii) Over-exploitation of native medicinal plants, iv) Weakening of indigenous cultural and religious organizations and the authority of local institutions, and v) Impact of inadequately planned commercial activities. In addition, lack of a comprehensive and progressive biodiversity conservation strategy, and conservation-oriented management plan have also contributed to threatening biodiversity situation of Upper Mustang.
The Upper Mustang Biodiversity Conservation Project (UMBCP) is a community based biodiversity conservation project executed by the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), a national NGO devoted to the conservation of nature and culture for sustainable development. The NTNC's Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), mandated by the government to support and manage natural and cultural heritages in upper Mustang has been active in the region since the advent of controlled tourism in 1992 through it's Lo Manthang Unit Conservation Office (LMUCO) stationed at Lo-Manthang.
The project covers an area of 2,567 sq. km. having 1,168 households scattered over 7 Village Development Committees (VDCs). This project is unique as it aims to link biodiversity and cultural heritage conservation with tourism management. The project has three objectives: i) Institutional capacity building, ii) developing biodiversity database for community based planning, management and monitoring system, and iii) demonstration of replicable income generating activities based on nature and heritage based tourism and pasture and livestock management.
The incremental funding for the project is provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as well as the UNDP. The American Himalayan Foundation (AHF), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and NTNC have provided wider baseline costs.The AHF funding is to support cultural heritage conservation for arresting the deterioration cultural monuments and maintaining the traditional cultural link to nature conservation. Likewise, ICIMOD's contribution is towards improving the productivity of rangelands and overall rangeland management in the project area.
Mr. Madhu Chetri
King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation
Tel: 061-521102, 528202
Fax: 061-528203
Email: [email protected]