The World Bank/WBI’s CBNRM Initiative

Case Received: February 7, 1998

Author: Top B Khatri

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Baghmara is located in the Bachauli Village Development Committee of Chitwan District of Nepal ( 27º 34' 78"- 27º 35' 53" N and 84º 28' 43"- 84º 29' 40" E). It borders on the south the famous Royal Chitwan National Park, a world heritage site declared in the year 1984.

Royal Chitwan National Park is Nepal'spremier tourist destination. Sauraha is the main entry point for visitors coming to Royal Chitwan National Park. Blessed by the tourism boom, the Sauraha residents in the early eighties were slowing moving towards tourism industry, developing basic infrastructure to cater to the needs of their visitors. Although development of basic infrastructure for visiting tourists were a prime necessity at that time and yet the tourism industry was totally dependent on the natural resources for all it's needs ranging from cooking to hot showers to campfire and construction. This situation created a lot of pressure on the existing forest resources . The local people on the other hand had no other alternatives rather than sneaking into the park for their daily fodder and fuelwood needs.

The Baghmara area contains a 400 ha of naturally regenerated forest. This area was on the verge of being grabbed by a group of people when the political situation was very volatile during the year 1988. This was a period of political transition, during which the law and order situation became weak and the forest area fell an easy prey to land hungry people.

During this period the author was working with the local arm of a national NGO, the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation which was primarily working in the field of biodiversity conservation and had recently broadened it's area of work from pure wildlife to community development could not stand being a mere spectator when the forest was being ripped off on an alarming rate and part of it's area was almost eaten off by rich businessmen working hand in glove with the local politicians.

The initial situation The Baghmara area which used to be a very good forest until the early 1980's got under tremendous pressure both from the locals need for fodder and fuelwood and also to the growing need of the tourism industry in terms of fuelwood and construction needs. The situation got so worse that during the politically turmoil year of 1988, the law and order situation worsened and some portion of the forest got registered as private land and land certificates were distributed. This was a kind of daylight robbery and the local people were highly upset of the developments. The majority of the local people, especially the indigenous tharu community were vehemently opposed to the land distribution. They formed a committee and wanted the area to be reforested again.

Realizing the situation, the KMTNC joined hands with the local communities and went for the reforestation process. If this initiative were not taken then the local communities would have been completely deprived of their grazing rights for their cattle and the only source for fodder and fuelwood collection. The indigenous tharu community and the lately arrived hill migrants would greatly suffer if this reforestation project had not been initiated.

It was basically a joint effort between local initiative and backed by institutional agencies. The problem emerged onto the public mainly due to one important reason that their forest was being grabbed by some outsiders and it would turn into a private agricultural land. The main key actors were the local pressure group which inturn pressurized the district forest office and the lead role was taken by the KMTNC. The main interest of the locals were that their traditional rights for cattle grazing, fodder and fuelwood collection would be gone and the social attachment of their forest would no more exist. The forest department which was virtually helpless due to political instability also got benefitted by not losing it's forest area. The third party and the lead agency was the KMTNC, whose main goal is nature conservation soliciting people's participation. The KMTNC took the initiative from the early start ran from pillar to post to each nook and corner to make sure that the forest was not lost at the hand of greedy land owners. The Department of National Parks also joined hands in this noble mission and did all it's best to make the program a success.

Realizing this pertinent need an intervention was inevitable. The King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation(KMTNC), in the year 1989 embarked on a community forest project for the first time in the lowland terai adjacent to Royal Chitwan National Park, with financial support provided by WWF, US. KMTNC which was primarily working in the field of wildlife research in Chitwan also broadened it's focus more on the community needs and aspirations with twin objectives. Firstly, to motivate local people towards conservation by providing alternative areas for collecting fodder and fuelwood needs through the community forestry thereby offsetting the existing pressure on the national park and secondly help create a positive attitude towards biodiversity conservation.

Baghmara, a severely degraded area within Bachauli Village Development Committee was chosen for the first phase plantation. Necessary fencing poles were provided by the Department of National Parks. A 32 ha area was replanted with fast growing tree species. In the initial stage of operation, there was a mixed feeling from the local residents, some of them being suspicious of our activities as the fenced area would deprive them of their grazing rights. However, forty five days after plantation, the local people were allowed to harvest the understorey grasses. Which then helped to dispel their suspicion. By the end of the first year a User Group was formed to oversee and manage the plantation area. In the second year, an extra twenty ha was again reforested with total local participation. KMTNC provided them with the fencing supplies and the local communities contributed by clearing, pitting and digging and by constructing of the trenches all around the plantation area. Within this two block of plantations, the 32 ha plot was set aside for grass production and the 20 ha was allowed for fodder collection. From the 32 ha plot they made a net income of Nrs 45 thousand rupees from grass sale. From the money earned, the user group first built a check dam on the Budi-Rapti and gravelled a 1km stretch of their main access road from malpur to Baghmara. Having seen the monetary and local benefits, the locals were highly motivated towards conservation.

In the year 1994, Biodiversity Conservation Network, an USAID funded consortium of World wildlife fund, the Nature Conservancy and World Resources Institute funded for a three year phase to study and test the BCN hypothesis about the viability of enterprise-oriented approaches in community based conservation of diverse biological resources. The project aims at promoting local guardianship of bio-diversity interlinked with income generating enterprises, taking into account local needs by ensuring participation at the grassroots level.

With all necessary preparation, Nepal Conservation Research and Training Center (NCRTC) facilitated with the District Forest Office, Chitwan for the necessary hand over process.

Baghmara, whose total area now stands to 400 ha, comprising of total, mixed and naturally regenerated forests was officially handed over to the User Group on 15th June, 1995. The User Group is solely responsible for the management of the forest area. The UG comprises individual from every household. The UG elects an UGC, which has the mandate of administering the forest.

Based on the operational plan, the user group with technical help from NCRTC has made various management prescriptions. Certain areas of the forest have been opened up for grassland, water bodies have been developed with the creation of earth filled dam, nature walk trails and the construction of a Machan for overnight stay. In November 1995, the total plantation area were subjected to silvicultural operation. With all this necessary development, the area was opened for tourism in October, 1995. With effective management and protection of the forest, wildlife soon began to colonize and once the deserted area started to boom with wildlife.

With the creation of 400 ha area, the project has now been able to restore one of the potential site of high biological value. This forest is now home to twenty rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis ) including three babies, leopard (Panthera pardus), tiger (Panthera tigris), sambar deer (Cervus unicolor), spotted deer (Axis axis), barking deer (Muntiacus muntjack), wildboar (Sus scrofa), marsh mugger (Crocodylus palustris) crocodiles. NCRTC's biological monitoring has recorded a total of 104 plant species, over 20 species of mammals and 125 species of Avian fauna.

This community forest is open for local users to collect fodder(understorey grasses) throughout the year. Similarly, twice in a year, during the period of dashain and maggi the users are also allowed to collect firewood. Apart from this regular collection of fuelwood and fodder, silvicultural practices also provide additional fuelwood to local communities.

In the year 1993 a total of 30,000 kg of fuelwood was extracted by local communities through pruning and shrub clearance. Similarly, in November 1995 a total bio-mass amounting to 474,134.24 kg was extracted through silvicultural operation.

Eco-tourism activities: Major activities include, bird watching, elephant safari, nature walk, canoeing and overnight stay at the machan. Within two years of operation (November 1995 to December 1997) Baghmara community user group has been able to generate a total income of NRs 22,56,451.00 Rupees. These benefits accruing to the local people from the project has brought about the realization that they have a stake in maintaining it's sustainability.

Sn.      Activities           Income in NRS.

1      Machan      1,11,510.00

2      Canoeing      3,30,650.00

3      Elephant Entry      11,59,645.00

4      Jungle Walk      1,12,985.00

5      Silvicultural operation      4,17,236.00

6      Elephant Deposit      1,12,500.00

7      Miscellaneous      11,925.00

     Total:      22,56,451.00

Major impacts: With the operation of community forestry along the fringes of the park, the illegal entry into the park from local villagers has been reduced to a significant level. With the availability of grasses and fodder next door, the amount of time spent for fodder and fuelwood collection is far less than it used to be a few years ago. Therefore, the amount of drudgery is significantly reduced for women, who now spend more time on household leisure. Likewise, crop raiding from park animals bordering Baghmara has been drastically reduced. The local encroachment on Government land has been virtually halted.

Based on the experience of Baghmara project, KMTNC/NCRTC has replicated this model in Kumrose community forest adjacent to Royal Chitwan National Park. Therefore , a great potential exists to replicate this approach in other buffer zone areas of different protected areas. By doing so, the stress on a particular area through tourism can be minimized and a larger section of local communities will benefit from tourism activities.

• Community managed project interventions have clearly shown that if severely degraded forest are well protected and managed natural forest can be easily revived.

• Regeneration forest adjacent to protected areas have a high level of biodiversity value.

• Local communities turn out to be good conservationist if they have the stake in ownership and benefits.

• Second tier leadership development is a must for any UGC.

• Educational and study tours although expensive has a tremendous impact in awareness building.

• A greater level of coordination isnecessary between VDCs and local

• UGCs Women's involvement in community based conservation programs is highly crucial since they are the main players in household affairs.