Department of the Interior

This project was developed in close collaboration with local communities and District Forest Officials in Jhapa, Nepal, the easternmost district in the Terai landscape, in order to strengthen elephant conservation efforts. Project objectives include: 1) support local communities in the management and maintenance of electric fences to prevent elephants from entering villages; 2) form, train, and equip community-based Elephant Response Teams (ERT) and strengthen their capacity to deal with HEC; 3) create a database for long-term tracking of human-elephant conflict (HEC) data; and 4) conduct community awareness workshops to encourage behavior change towards elephants. These interventions are expected to reduce community resentment towards elephants and lead to behavior change which reduces both human and elephant fatalities from HEC in this priority landscape of eastern Nepal.

The purpose of this project is to support the Government of Nepal in monitoring its tiger population and science-based conservation interventions, to assist in Nepals tiger population recovery efforts. The project will support the following objectives: (1) Enhance the Government of Nepals capacity to conduct tiger and prey base monitoring including the analysis of scientific data; (2) Conduct annual camera trapping and line transect surveys to estimate tiger and prey base density within the newly extended Parsa Wildlife Reserve; (3) Strengthen existing law enforcement interventions by providing park authorities with key data on tiger and prey base presence as well as threats based on monitoring results.

The purpose of this project is to reduce tiger poaching and wildlife crime in the Banke National Park by improving on-site law enforcement. The project has the following objectives: (1) Build capacity for adaptive law enforcement through Spatial Monitoring And Reporting Tool (SMART) patrols; and (2) Detection of illegal activity strengthened with technological support.

This project, developed in collaboration with local communities and the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) located in the eastern Terai landscape of Nepal, aims to initiate conservation activities to ensure the long-term survival of wild Asian elephants and their coexistence with humans in this region. Project objectives include monitoring of Asian elephants, reduction of human-elephant conflict (HEC), outreach and education centered on elephant conservation and HEC, and promotion of alternative livelihoods in HEC-prone areas. Specific project activities include: 1) collection and analysis of dung DNA to estimate the elephant population size in KTWR; 2) formation and training of a community-based HEC response team (CBHEC) including two members from each of 14 Buffer Zone Community Forest (BZCF) groups; 3) CBHEC team monitoring wild elephants and collection of HEC data; 4) promotion of alternative livelihoods such as fish farming to HEC-affected and marginalized groups; 5) development of awareness and education materials and conducting an awareness program via local media including FM radio, street dramas, and sign boards; and 6) human-elephant coexistence (HECx) training delivery to 14 BZCF groups with 35 participants per training; 7) HECx training for 10 local journalists, 40 army personnel, local grade 9-10 school students; and 8) an exposure visit for the CBHEC response team and KTWR staff to Chitwan and Bardia National Parks to observe successful HEC mitigation measures employed in these parks. This project will contribute to the long-term survival and conservation of wild Asian elephants in Nepal by addressing the relatively new and increasing problem of HEC in the Eastern Nepal landscape. This award is provisionally approved for two phases or years of funding, with each phase or years funding dependent upon performance and financial management of the previous phase or year, meeting technical and financial reporting requirements, and availability of A

The purpose of this project is to mitigate tiger human conflict through provision of predator proof corral houses; providing skills training to families that have suffered from tiger human conflict; and raising awareness among communities located adjacent to the park so they may live in greater harmony with big cats. This will be done by: (1) carrying out human wildlife conflict assessments in the buffer zone of the park and maintaining a database for use in identifying communities to be addressed by the project; (2) selecting farmers who have lost livestock due to leopard/tiger conflict and assisting them in replacing their corral houses with predator proof houses (175 such houses to be constructed); (3) providing cooking skills training to family members of families that have lost members due to tiger attacks and assisting them in obtaining employment in local hotels; and (4) carrying out a conservation education program for local school children, youth groups and community members to increase their knowledge and understanding and engagement in tiger conservation.

The purpose of this project is to translocate rhinos from Chitwan National Park to Bardia National Park to strengthen the rhino population in Bardia and reduce the density of rhinos in Chitwan. This will be done by translocating at least two rhinos from Chitwan to the Babai Valley of Bardia in early 2015 and establishing a post-translocation monitoring program to protect the translocated rhinos in the Babai Valley and monitor the success of the translocation. Specifically, this will be done by: 1. holding stakeholder consultation meetings with advisory and technical committees; 2. conducting pre-translocation studies in Chitwan and Bardia; 3. identifying the rhinos that will be translocated and identifying the locations for their release in Bardia; 3. making pre-capture logistical arrangements; 4.capturing and transporting two rhinos from Chitwan to Bardia; 5. monitoring the translocated rhino population in Bardia; 6. maintaining a database to ensure the translocated rhinos are adapting to the new habitat; and 7. supporting the use of SMART for effective patrolling and anti-poaching operations in Bardia.