September 22, 2009
Army can shield wildlife: Ministry
The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC), mindful of unabated rhino poaching in the Chitwan National Park and wildlife trade, has proposed mobilising Nepal Army (NA) personnel in buffer zones of protected areas. At Monday's inter-ministerial meeting at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Deepak Bohara requested Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari to make arrangements for the deployment of the Army personnel in the buffer zones. Home Minister Bhim Rawal and Chiefs of the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force were present at the meeting.
Currently, 5,929 Nepal Army personnel are guarding conservation areas. With the establishment of buffer zones 13 years ago, the national army is confined inside conservation areas. The Comprehensive Peace Accord allows the NA to engage in security of conservation areas and national parks, but bars the presence of armed soldiers in civil gatherings, political meetings or other public programmes.
During Monday's meeting, Minister Bohara and officials from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation urged the government to provide the NA with nightvision choppers, vehicles and communication equipment for effective patrolling.On her part, Minister Bhandari pledged to provide all possible support for the protection of wildlife in conservation areas. She expressed hope that peace agreements between the government and the Maoists would not come in the way of efforts to conserve endangered species.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
September 21, 2009
One held with rhino horn in Dolakha
Police arrested Rajkumar Basnet of Bhimeshwar Municipality-6 in Dolakha district in possession of a rhino horn on Sunday.Basnet was arrested from Satdobato Chowk in Charikot on Sunday night on the basis of a tip-off, police inspector Tirtharaj Sigdel said.Police have handed him over to the District Forest Office on Monday.
Source:Republica
September 20, 2009
CITES meeting in Doha
The 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP 15) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora will be held in Doha from March 13-25, 2010, said an official on Saturday. According to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) under the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, the meeting schedule for June, 2009 was delayed due to financial constraints. The 14th CoP meeting of International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) was held at the Hague from June 3 to 15, 2007.
The upcoming meeting will dwell on the illegal trade of the endangered species and work to formulate appropriate strategies to curb the increasing trade of these species in the international trade.
Currently, 175 countries are associated with Convention on CITES, an international agreement to ensure that global trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
September 18, 2009
Two rhinos killed in ten days
Poachers have killed two rhinos and robbed them off their precious horns in a span of ten days in Chitwan National Park (CNP), Nagarik daily reported.A male rhino was found in Temple Tiger area on September 2, while a female rhino was found in Krishnasar Community Forest of Nawalparasi on September 12. Both rhinos were without their horns.
CPN management has detained four persons for investigation following the incident.CNP has become a hub of poaching. Poachers have killed at least nine rhinos since January this year.Till then, there were 408 rhinos in CNP.
Although there are 47 police posts and an army brigade in the CNP premises, which covers and area of 932 sq. km, they have not been able to stop poaching.
Source: www.nepalnews.com
September 15, 2009
Maoist held with tiger hide jailed
Min Bahadur Gurung, a Maoist combatant from the Krishnasen brigade´s Sainamaina camp has been jailed by District Forest Office (DFO) Kapilvastu after he was arrested in possession of tiger hide.
The DFO has slapped a fine of Rs 100,000 on him, apart from a six months jail sentence. Gurung was arrested two weeks ago from Shivapur, Kapilvastu, while he was heading for Kathmandu in a bus (Na 2 Kha 4503) from Dang. Kapilvastu´s DFO Prakash Nath Pyakurel said the punishments given to him are in accordance with the laws of the land.
Source: Republica
