Nepal Minister calls for expanded wildlife conservation beyond administrative borders

Nepal’s Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment, Geeta Chaudhary, has called for wildlife conservation efforts to expand beyond the administrative boundaries of protected areas. Speaking at the 20th National Conservation Day in Lalitpur, Chaudhary emphasized that nature does not recognize human-defined borders and highlighted the necessity of cooperation between all three tiers of government, local communities, and stakeholders.

Chaudhary stated that the government is shifting its focus from merely managing human-wildlife conflict toward fostering sustainable coexistence. To support this, the Nepal government has integrated a ‘Human-Wildlife Coexistence Program’ into the national budget for the current fiscal year. This initiative follows a strategic plan based on reports from a conflict-reduction task force.

Additionally, the Minister noted that the current year has been declared the ‘Year of Legal Reform.’ The government aims to update policies regarding zoo management, wildlife rescue standards, and animal welfare to ensure that conservation and development efforts are complementary rather than contradictory.