<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=nepal&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/nepal/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 08:45:18 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Nepal environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/nepal/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>Nepal pushes for hydropower in protected areas through legal grey area</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-pushes-for-hydropower-in-protected-areas-through-legal-grey-area/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-pushes-for-hydropower-in-protected-areas-through-legal-grey-area/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Aug 2026 05:16:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rudra Pangeni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/23104302/%C2%A9-Rocky-Prajapati-DNPWC-WWF-Nepal-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326743</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Cats, Conservation, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Mammals, National Parks, Pandas, Pangolins, Protected Areas, Snow Leopards, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU – Nepal’s government has allowed several private hydropower producers to develop projects inside protected areas and the buffer zones surrounding them, contravening a Supreme Court order, a Mongabay investigation reveals. In January 2025, the Supreme Court declared that a 2024 amendment to a key conservation law opening up protected areas to commercial projects was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU – Nepal’s government has allowed several private hydropower producers to develop projects inside protected areas and the buffer zones surrounding them, contravening a Supreme Court order, a Mongabay investigation reveals. In January 2025, the Supreme Court declared that a 2024 amendment to a key conservation law opening up protected areas to commercial projects was “invalid” as it was against the constitutionally defined state policy of environment-friendly development and the principle of intergenerational equity. As the court is yet to publish the full text of the verdict, the government has interpreted the law and issued permits for development, the investigation aided by a right to information request finds. “To issue permits [for hydropower projects] inside protected areas is a misinterpretation of the court verdict,” said senior lawyer Prakash Mani Sharma Bhusal, one of the petitioners who took the government to court on July 28, 2024, over its decision to open protected areas to infrastructure such as hydropower plants and hotels. Kaligandaki hydropower dam in Nepal. Image by Krish Dulal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). The court’s 2025 verdict came in response to a petition filed by lawyers led by Dil Raj Khanal, who argued that the 2024 amendment to the parks and conservation act, which came into effect on July 8, 2024, violated Article 30 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to a clean and healthy environment, and contradicted Nepal’s obligations under international treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity. Yet the Supreme Court has still not&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-pushes-for-hydropower-in-protected-areas-through-legal-grey-area/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-pushes-for-hydropower-in-protected-areas-through-legal-grey-area/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326743</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Delays, biosecurity failures worsened flu outbreak at Nepal zoo, probe finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:57:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12111006/sarus-crane-nepal-zoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325997</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Wildlife, Zoonotic Diseases, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Delayed reporting, poor communication and weak biosecurity allowed bird flu to spread through Nepal’s Central Zoo in June and July killing or prompting the culling of at least 65 birds and animals, according to an internal inquiry report obtained by Mongabay. The investigation by the nonprofit National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Delayed reporting, poor communication and weak biosecurity allowed bird flu to spread through Nepal’s Central Zoo in June and July killing or prompting the culling of at least 65 birds and animals, according to an internal inquiry report obtained by Mongabay. The investigation by the nonprofit National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), the autonomous body that manages the zoo and frequently partners with the government, found that officials failed to act adequately on a warning about avian influenza among crows (Corvus splendens) in Kathmandu. The facility also remained open for five days after a rapid test indicated the virus was present. “The investigation found serious negligence and weaknesses at the management level,” according to the report, a copy of which was provided to Mongabay following a right to information application. The inquiry was led by Rachana Shah, the NTNC’s spokesperson and programs manager, raising questions about a conflict of interest. Shah rejected concerns about a potential conflict of interest, saying the goal was to identify institutional failures and draw lessons from the outbreak. “We treated it as an opportunity to draw lessons from the incident, rather than as a formal investigation into the bird flu outbreak at the zoo,” she told Mongabay. “If a similar incident occurs in the future, we will bring in an external expert.” According to the report, bird flu killed 27 birds and 14 mammals between June 12 and July 2, 2026. Authorities also culled 21 birds on suspicion of bird flu to contain&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325997</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal zoo bird flu outbreak raises alarm for national parks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-zoo-bird-flu-outbreak-raises-alarm-for-national-parks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-zoo-bird-flu-outbreak-raises-alarm-for-national-parks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Aug 2026 16:04:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj JoshiMukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/06135517/vulture-in-kathmandu-zoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325467</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Food, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In the village of Pithauli, on the edge of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, a safe feeding site for critically endangered vultures has long been hailed as a success story by conservationists. For visitors, the feeding site, also known as a “vulture restaurant”, provides a rare photo op for tourists: As white-rumped vultures (Gyps [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In the village of Pithauli, on the edge of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, a safe feeding site for critically endangered vultures has long been hailed as a success story by conservationists. For visitors, the feeding site, also known as a “vulture restaurant”, provides a rare photo op for tourists: As white-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) and slender-billed vultures (Gyps tenuirostris) feed on carcasses laid out by locals, greater one-horned rhinos, jackals, wild boars and crows watch and, sometimes, participate. For ornithologist Rajendra Suwal, however, this ensemble is an eyesore, he told Mongabay, &#8220;If an infected bird comes to the site, the disease could spread to other birds or even animals.”. Suwal’s concern stems from a recent outbreak of bird flu or avian influenza in the country’s capital. An outbreak that started in mid-June at Kathmandu’s Central Zoo is believed to have cost the lives of at least 65 animals and birds across more than 20 species. The dead included barn owls, Himalayan griffons, greylag geese, jungle cats, leopard cats, a sarus crane and two common leopards. An investigation by the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), which manages the zoo, says the origin of the outbreak could likely be traced to two sources: Among birds, it likely started through feral crows roosting in open-topped aviary enclosures, while for carnivores, it spread through chicken meat fed to them by the zoo. A sarus crane (Antigone antigone) at the Central Zoo in Kathmandu. Image by Shadow Ayush via Wikimedia Commons (CC&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-zoo-bird-flu-outbreak-raises-alarm-for-national-parks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-zoo-bird-flu-outbreak-raises-alarm-for-national-parks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325467</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s newest national parks drive tiger recovery, but new concerns arise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepals-newest-national-parks-drive-tiger-recovery-but-new-concerns-arise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepals-newest-national-parks-drive-tiger-recovery-but-new-concerns-arise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2026 05:19:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/05050531/2-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325363</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Camera Trapping, Habitat Loss, Invasive Species, Leopards, Mammals, National Parks, Parks, Population, Tigers, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is now home to an estimated 429 wild tigers, up from 355 four years ago and nearly four-fold from 16 years ago, the country&#8217;s conservation officials reported on the occasion of World Tiger Day. As the country celebrates this historic achievement, a closer look at the latest numbers reveals an uneven recovery. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is now home to an estimated 429 wild tigers, up from 355 four years ago and nearly four-fold from 16 years ago, the country&#8217;s conservation officials reported on the occasion of World Tiger Day. As the country celebrates this historic achievement, a closer look at the latest numbers reveals an uneven recovery. Nepal&#8217;s youngest national parks are driving nearly all the growth, while Bardiya, the country&#8217;s second-oldest park, has fewer tigers. This could lead to more conflict between not just people and tigers, but people and leopards as well in and around the new national parks, according to recent studies. Three factors appear to be behind this split: water availability, animal movement both within and outside the country, and spread of invasive species. &#8220;The results from the survey reflect the positive outcomes of ongoing efforts in the field of tiger conservation in Nepal, such as habitat conservation and management, poaching control, conservation of prey species, and biological corridor conservation,&#8221; said Bed Kumar Dhakal, spokesperson for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Chitwan, the country&#8217;s oldest national park, still leads by far in raw numbers. But the newer parks (Banke, Parsa and Shuklaphanta) are where growth is concentrated, while the country&#8217;s two oldest parks, Chitwan and Bardiya, are showing the slowest growth or an outright decline. &nbsp; This graph shows changes in tiger population in different national parks in Nepal. Image courtesy of DNPWC/Nepal. The numbers are rooted in a global pledge made in November 2010.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepals-newest-national-parks-drive-tiger-recovery-but-new-concerns-arise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepals-newest-national-parks-drive-tiger-recovery-but-new-concerns-arise/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325363</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A shy bird found only in Nepal is waiting for the world to notice</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 11:01:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04104809/Spiny_babbler_the_only_endemic_bird_of_Nepal-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325290</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Habitat, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s shrubby hillsides are home to a medium-sized bird with brownish upperparts, distinctive black streaks from the shafts of its feathers and, sometimes, a chalky white facial patch. It’s the spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis), a mysterious bird, recorded only in Nepal. In June, the bird made headlines with a sighting for the first time in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s shrubby hillsides are home to a medium-sized bird with brownish upperparts, distinctive black streaks from the shafts of its feathers and, sometimes, a chalky white facial patch. It’s the spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis), a mysterious bird, recorded only in Nepal. In June, the bird made headlines with a sighting for the first time in the forests of Madhesh province, in Nepal’s southern lowlands. With this recording, the bird has now been spotted in all of Nepal’s seven provinces. In Kathmandu, sightings of the bird have been recorded from the fringes of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park to the foothills of Phulchowki, as well as at various locations in and around Pokhara, usually at an elevation ranging from 915 to 2,135 meters (3,000 to 7,000 feet) above sea level depending on the season. But in June, ornithologists Hathan Chaudhary and Suraj Baral identified the bird in Madhesh for the first time, at an elevation of around 443 m (1,450 ft). This sighting means the spiny babbler has now been documented across all of Nepal’s seven provinces. Despite its limited known habitat, the spiny babbler remains poorly understood and researchers and ornithologists are calling for greater global attention to study and protect it. Despite its limited known habitat, the spiny babbler remains poorly understood. Image by Aardwolf6886 via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0). “We still don’t know a lot about the bird and have no scientific data to back its population, movements, exact breeding season/months and the effects of increasing human settlements,” said Kamal Raj&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325290</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientific &#038; traditional knowledge are key for effective &#038; community-centered conservation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2026 15:52:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charudutt Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20151938/Tsetsen-Collared-Snow-Leopard-Tost-Mongolia-by-Lkhagvasumberei-Tomorsukh-Snow-Leopard-Trust-SLCF-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324063</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bhutan, Central Asia, China, Global, Himalayas, India, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Commentary, Mammals, Snow Leopards, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A group of women often climbs steep cliffs to set up camera traps for snow leopards around Kibber in Spiti Valley, India. The senior women know the landscape intimately, like what areas the animals use and where cameras are likely to capture movement. They have walked these mountains all their lives and know how to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A group of women often climbs steep cliffs to set up camera traps for snow leopards around Kibber in Spiti Valley, India. The senior women know the landscape intimately, like what areas the animals use and where cameras are likely to capture movement. They have walked these mountains all their lives and know how to navigate the most rugged and inaccessible terrain safely, even in snow and ice. This is a kind of access that visiting researchers simply cannot replicate.  Back at the village, they gather around two computer screens. The younger women, who are typically more adept at handling technology, organize and sort the photographic data. Together, they identify individual snow leopards from their coat patterns, building scientific monitoring skills over time. Their work contributes directly to regional and global assessment and monitoring of snow leopard populations. Women hold up their camera traps after completing training. Image courtesy of Kibber women/NCF/HPFD. Who are these scientists conducting camera-trap monitoring of snow leopards? They are not trained researchers. They are women from the Indigenous community of Kibber in Spiti Valley. This work is done alongside their other chores: Livestock rearing, farming, household responsibilities, and community work. They do this, because they are interested in knowing how many snow leopards they are helping protect on their community lands; they take pride in learning research techniques; and they see themselves as part of the global effort to study and protect them.  Lobzang Yangchen, the coordinator of the Kibber team of 11 women, says,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324063</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Monkey vs machine: Nepal tests AI to fight crop-raiding macaques</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/monkey-vs-machine-nepal-tests-ai-to-fight-crop-raiding-macaques/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/monkey-vs-machine-nepal-tests-ai-to-fight-crop-raiding-macaques/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 13:19:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Praveen Kumar Yadav]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13115519/rhesus-macaque-in-nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323193</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Crops, Environment, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, Software, Solutions, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — At dawn in Birta Deurali village of Kavrepalanchok in central Nepal, maize fields aren&#8217;t quiet. Farmers stand guard, scanning the trees for movement, but they aren&#8217;t the only ones there. &#8220;If you leave even for a short time, the monkeys do considerable damage,&#8221; said 46-year-old Sagar Tamang, a resident of Birta Deurali. Villagers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — At dawn in Birta Deurali village of Kavrepalanchok in central Nepal, maize fields aren&#8217;t quiet. Farmers stand guard, scanning the trees for movement, but they aren&#8217;t the only ones there. &#8220;If you leave even for a short time, the monkeys do considerable damage,&#8221; said 46-year-old Sagar Tamang, a resident of Birta Deurali. Villagers take turns guarding fields every two hours, beating drums and sending dogs to chase them away. Nepal&#8217;s macaque crop raids are making national headlines, and the country’s researchers are testing artificial intelligence-based detection and deterrence systems, though even the scientists building them admit the technology isn&#8217;t yet a reliable fix. &#8220;We even hide food indoors, but they still find their way in,&#8221; Tamang said. &#8220;Only fire scares them now,&#8221; he added, referring to the burning sticks villagers’ wave to keep the monkeys at bay. For farmers such as Sunmaya Lama, 32, of the same village, the losses are adding up. &#8220;We lost maize worth 30,000 rupees (about $230) this year,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Over the past three years, it has reached around 90,000 rupees (about $670).&#8221; When she approached the local government, she said she was told there was no provision for compensation. &#8220;So we just bear the loss ourselves,&#8221; she said. A troop of rhesus macaques forage for food in Nepal. Image by Sunuwargr via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). A brewing crisis across the country The scale of the problem extends beyond the village. A 2022 nationwide analysis published in the Journal of Environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/monkey-vs-machine-nepal-tests-ai-to-fight-crop-raiding-macaques/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/monkey-vs-machine-nepal-tests-ai-to-fight-crop-raiding-macaques/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323193</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Himalayan pangolin emerges as distinct species, 189 years after first described</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/himalayan-pangolin-emerges-as-distinct-species-189-years-after-first-described/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/himalayan-pangolin-emerges-as-distinct-species-189-years-after-first-described/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2026 01:16:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/07004345/1.-Pangolin-from-Nepal-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322689</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Global, Myanmar, Nepal, South Asia, and Tibetan Plateau]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Mammals, Pangolins, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The animal Brian Houghton Hodgson saw looked almost like a pangolin, but it didn&#8217;t tick all the boxes. It had amor-like scales from head to tail, just as the French zoologist Georges Cuvier had earlier described. But it also had ears and far more scales across its trunk than any recorded species. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The animal Brian Houghton Hodgson saw looked almost like a pangolin, but it didn&#8217;t tick all the boxes. It had amor-like scales from head to tail, just as the French zoologist Georges Cuvier had earlier described. But it also had ears and far more scales across its trunk than any recorded species. The year was 1836. For the 35-year-old British diplomat and pioneering naturalist, who was confined to Nepal&#8217;s Kathmandu Valley, this demanded an investigation: Was it a new species, or just an outlier? Convinced he had come across an undescribed species, he gave the animal a name built entirely on those ears, Manis auritus: The Latin auritus translates to “with large ears.” But he hedged it with a backup name, Plurisquamis, &#8220;the many-scaled,&#8221; in case the ears turned out later to be an unremarkable feature. Nearly two centuries later, his question finally has a plausible answer. A team of scientists spanning Asia, the Americas and Europe has spent five years building the case that the pangolin Hodgson described in 1836 is in fact a separate species, distinct from the Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) it had long been lumped together with and the seven other recorded species. Two-week-old Chinese pangolin clinging to mother at Taipei Zoo. Image courtesy of Suzi Eszterhas/New On Earth: Baby Animals in the Wild/Earth Aware Editions. Their recently published findings also establish its name, now called the Himalayan pangolin, and carry immediate consequences for conservation. Across their Africana and Asian ranges, they&#8217;re all endangered,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/himalayan-pangolin-emerges-as-distinct-species-189-years-after-first-described/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/himalayan-pangolin-emerges-as-distinct-species-189-years-after-first-described/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322689</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s birdwatchers help monitor wildlife and promote tourism</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-help-monitor-wildlife-and-promote-tourism/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-help-monitor-wildlife-and-promote-tourism/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2026 15:09:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/06123303/Spiny-Babbler-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322563</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Citizen Science, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, data, Ecotourism, Environment, Research, Science, Tourism, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As a child, Shankar Tiwari and his friends killed birds for fun around Chitwan National Park in central Nepal, where they grew up. Years later, a foreign guest at the hotel where Tiwari worked took him birdwatching and turned the hunter into a bird lover. The striking yellow and black plumage and red [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As a child, Shankar Tiwari and his friends killed birds for fun around Chitwan National Park in central Nepal, where they grew up. Years later, a foreign guest at the hotel where Tiwari worked took him birdwatching and turned the hunter into a bird lover. The striking yellow and black plumage and red eyes of the black-hooded oriole (Oriolus xanthornus), which he saw magnified through binoculars for the first time, sparked Tiwari&#8217;s lifelong passion for birds, he said. Today, the 57-year-old is one of Nepal&#8217;s leading birdwatching guides and a prominent member of the country&#8217;s growing birdwatching community that is contributing to bird conservation while promoting it as a tourism attraction. Enthusiasts look for birds in Suryabinayak, Kathmandu. Image courtesy of Prasan Shrestha. &#8220;The birdwatching community has grown significantly today,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This has helped not just in raising awareness of the birds, but the community also helps in keeping tabs on the birds — how their habitat and population have changed over the years.&#8221; A new study suggests that birdwatching is becoming increasingly popular in Nepal, particularly among the young, and that this trend &#8220;contributes to biodiversity conservation through public engagement and ecological data collection.&#8221; In Nepal&#8217;s capital, Kathmandu, nonprofits like Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and Friends of Birds organize events on weekends, drawing a diverse group of birdwatchers. Despite the increasing popularity of birdwatching, the study notes, public participation and data sharing remain limited. A black-hooded oriole, the bird that sparked Tiwari’s lifelong passion for birds.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-help-monitor-wildlife-and-promote-tourism/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-help-monitor-wildlife-and-promote-tourism/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322563</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s new government bets on tax revenue over clean energy push</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-new-government-bets-on-tax-revenue-over-clean-energy-push/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-new-government-bets-on-tax-revenue-over-clean-energy-push/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2026 11:37:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rudra Pangeni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/01093941/road-in-nepal-traffic-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322164</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Development, Electric Cars, Energy, Environment, Governance, and Transportation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — When Balendra Shah took office as Nepal’s new prime minister in March following a landslide victory for his party, he inherited a fuel crisis triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. His government faced a choice between speeding up the clean energy transition or shoring up the public finances needed to sustain it. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — When Balendra Shah took office as Nepal’s new prime minister in March following a landslide victory for his party, he inherited a fuel crisis triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. His government faced a choice between speeding up the clean energy transition or shoring up the public finances needed to sustain it. In its May 29 fiscal policy, it chose the latter. Nepal imports fossil fuels at a cost of 300 billion rupees ($2 billion) a year, including cooking gas that it subsidizes about 9 billion rupees ($59.5 million) annually. On the “clean” side of that equation, nearly all its grid electricity comes from hydropower — so much so that it exports the surplus to India and Bangladesh during the wet season. And on sales of electric vehicles, Nepal ranks second globally, with EVs estimated to account for 73% of new car sales in 2025, thanks to lower import taxes compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. But the new government argues for a shift to raise revenue to fund grid upgrades that would make a clean energy transition possible in the first place. A former bureaucrat and a sitting official both told Mongabay that this logic is backward: that the tax revenue raised will be less than the savings in gas subsidies if it instead encouraged households to switch to electric stoves. In his maiden budget speech, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle announced a 5% value-added tax on high-consuming electricity users, and fresh new taxes on EV&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-new-government-bets-on-tax-revenue-over-clean-energy-push/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-new-government-bets-on-tax-revenue-over-clean-energy-push/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322164</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What’s jimbu? The herb that bolsters an iconic Nepali dish could also help save snow leopards</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2026 10:48:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/30091143/jimbu-Allium-przewalskianum-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322085</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Food, Habitat, Human-wildlife Conflict, Indigenous Peoples, Medicinal Plants, Natural Resources, Plants, Snow Leopards, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In Nepal, there&#8217;s a popular saying: “dal bhat power, 24 hour.” It refers to a humble plateful of rice and soupy lentils that Nepalis swear by, both at home and across the diaspora. It&#8217;s fuel for the body and a taste of home where it’s a staple meal for lunch and dinner. Now, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In Nepal, there&#8217;s a popular saying: “dal bhat power, 24 hour.” It refers to a humble plateful of rice and soupy lentils that Nepalis swear by, both at home and across the diaspora. It&#8217;s fuel for the body and a taste of home where it’s a staple meal for lunch and dinner. Now, an aromatic herb from the Himalayas that gives the Nepali staple its distinctive flavor offers Indigenous communities a potential promise: An alternative source of income and fewer conflicts with the iconic snow leopards that live in these mountain peaks. How so? The residents of Phu Valley who cultivate jimbu (Allium przewalskianum) in this high-altitude settlement, located in the trans-Himalayan region of Manang that borders China’s Tibet region will tell you. They grow this herb, also known as Himalayan chive, as a cash crop — and as a way to help save “the big cat of the mountains.” Dried jimbu is usually fried in ghee, or clarified butter, and poured over simmering dal for an earthy flavor. “Whenever we talk about dal bhat, the most famous of them all is the Thakali version prepared by the Thakali communities of the mountains,” said Shailendra Thakali, an expert in environmental conservation, tourism and livelihoods, referring to a version of the dish made by Indigenous people known for their traditional cuisines. “And the Thakali dal bhat owes its unique taste and aroma to jimbu,” Thakali added. Until recently, residents foraged this herb from steep, risky slopes. They used some&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322085</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How snow leopards, wolves and leopards share the same Himalayan valley, study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-snow-leopards-wolves-and-leopards-share-the-same-himalayan-valley-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-snow-leopards-wolves-and-leopards-share-the-same-himalayan-valley-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2026 15:54:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/10052813/himalayan-wolf-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321933</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Nepal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Camera Trapping, Cats, Cattle, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Leopards, Livestock, Mammals, Snow Leopards, Threatened species, Ungulates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three of Asia’s most formidable predators share territory in a remote Nepal valley by eating different prey, according to a new study. Researchers found that diet, not time or space, is what keeps snow leopards (Panthera uncia), common leopards (Panthera pardus), and Himalayan wolves (Canis lupus chanco) from coming into direct conflict. The study, published [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Three of Asia’s most formidable predators share territory in a remote Nepal valley by eating different prey, according to a new study. Researchers found that diet, not time or space, is what keeps snow leopards (Panthera uncia), common leopards (Panthera pardus), and Himalayan wolves (Canis lupus chanco) from coming into direct conflict. The study, published in PLOS One, drew on more than six years of camera-trapping and scat analysis in the Lapchi Valley of the Gaurishankar Conservation Area in Nepal’ s central Himalayas. Researchers set 26 cameras across the landscape over three survey periods between 2018 and 2025 and identified each predator&#8217;s diet by analyzing fecal DNA and examining prey hair under a microscope. Blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) are an important food source for the snow leopards in Nepal. Photo courtesy of Narayan Koju. Snow leopards, they found, fed mainly on wild ungulates, including blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), musk deer (Moschus leucogaster), Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), and Himalayan serow (Capricornis sumatraensis). Blue sheep alone made up nearly half their diet. Himalayan wolves ate a mix of wild prey like blue sheep and musk deer as well as livestock such as goats, horses, and yaks (Bos grunniens). Leopards relied heavily on livestock and animals associated with human settlements, including dogs, though barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak) and goral (Naemorhedus goral) also appeared in their scats. Snow leopards and wolves shared roughly three-quarters of their prey, far more than either shared with leopards. Of the three, snow leopards had the narrowest diet, concentrating&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-snow-leopards-wolves-and-leopards-share-the-same-himalayan-valley-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-snow-leopards-wolves-and-leopards-share-the-same-himalayan-valley-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321933</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s Central Zoo faces questions over its bird flu response</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-central-zoo-faces-questions-over-its-bird-flu-response/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-central-zoo-faces-questions-over-its-bird-flu-response/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 16:55:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/25161349/Sarus_Crane_Central_Zoo_Nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321835</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Diseases, Ex-situ Conservation, Health, Leopards, Owls, Wildlife, Zoonotic Diseases, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A dead crow was found inside Nepal’s Central Zoo around “mid-June,” the exact date remains unknown. Then birds including a barn owl (Tyto alba) tested positive for avian influenza (bird flu) in a rapid test. Zoo authorities then sent samples to the Central Veterinary Laboratory on June 15. The zoo and officials from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A dead crow was found inside Nepal’s Central Zoo around “mid-June,” the exact date remains unknown. Then birds including a barn owl (Tyto alba) tested positive for avian influenza (bird flu) in a rapid test. Zoo authorities then sent samples to the Central Veterinary Laboratory on June 15. The zoo and officials from the semi-government body running it have given conflicting accounts of when the first deaths were detected and when bird flu was suspected. The facility remained open for several days, raising questions over its disease response during a major outbreak in Kathmandu Valley, where infected crows and fowl had already been reported in nearby Kirtipur. Ganesh Koirala, spokesperson for the Central Zoo, said officials found a dead crow inside the zoo on June 13. “Although the rapid test had already indicated infection, laboratory confirmation was necessary,” Koirala said. “It took 72 hours for the lab to send the results.” That account differs from Rachana Shah, spokesperson for the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), the semi-government body that manages the zoo. She said a crow and a pigeon were found dead on June 12, a date also confirmed by a veterinary official. House crows make a nest on a tree in Kathmandu. Image courtesy of Dinesh Bhusal. “During summer, pigeons and crows can also die because of heat stress, so at that point we could not immediately conclude that it was bird flu,” she said. But Koirala’s timeline indicated the zoo had an early warning by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-central-zoo-faces-questions-over-its-bird-flu-response/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-central-zoo-faces-questions-over-its-bird-flu-response/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321835</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community more crucial than snow leopard counting: Interview with Rodney Jackson</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/community-more-crucial-than-snow-leopard-counting-interview-with-rodney-jackson/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/community-more-crucial-than-snow-leopard-counting-interview-with-rodney-jackson/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jun 2026 07:54:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/19100316/Snow_leopard_-_Uncia_uncia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321499</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mammals, Mountains, Snow Leopards, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Rodney Jackson pioneered the radio-tracking study of snow leopards in Nepal&#8217;s Langu Valley in the early 1980s and has, since then, worked across the species&#8217; range from Ladakh to Mongolia to the Pakistani Karakoram ranges. In 2000, he founded the nonprofit Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC), which focuses on community-based conservation approaches in high [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Rodney Jackson pioneered the radio-tracking study of snow leopards in Nepal&#8217;s Langu Valley in the early 1980s and has, since then, worked across the species&#8217; range from Ladakh to Mongolia to the Pakistani Karakoram ranges. In 2000, he founded the nonprofit Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC), which focuses on community-based conservation approaches in high mountain landscapes of Asia. Jackson, who holds a doctorate from the University of London, was featured on the cover of National Geographic in 1986 and remains one of the most cited researchers in snow leopard (Panthera uncia) science. After retiring in 2022, Jackson serves as the president of the conservancy’s board of directors, where he works in refining strategic approach and impact, mentoring the next generation of conservationists, and special projects. Jackson spoke with Mongabay — the third time, following interviews in 2008 and 2015 — on the sidelines of Society of Conservation Biologists Congress in Kathmandu, Nepal. Talking to Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi, Jackson discusses the state of population monitoring technology, the persistent challenge of human-wildlife conflict in mountain communities, and what he describes as a long-standing failure to center the needs of herding families who bear the direct costs of living alongside the species. He also reflects on the lack of collaboration between the two main international snow leopard organizations, and on what he sees as the field&#8217;s continued overinvestment in science at the expense of practical community support. Jackson holds up awareness material. Image courtesy of Anil Adhikari. This interview has been&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/community-more-crucial-than-snow-leopard-counting-interview-with-rodney-jackson/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/community-more-crucial-than-snow-leopard-counting-interview-with-rodney-jackson/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321499</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s rhino translocation looks good in numbers, but not so much in habitat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-rhino-translocation-looks-good-in-numbers-but-not-so-much-in-habitat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-rhino-translocation-looks-good-in-numbers-but-not-so-much-in-habitat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 10:32:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/18095407/AP17099508379387-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321422</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, Rewilding, Rhinos, Ungulates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal’s ambitious efforts to establish a viable population of the vulnerable greater one-horned rhinoceros in western Nepal’s Bardiya National Park 40 years ago has been seen as a conservation success. The park, which didn’t have a surviving population until the 1980s, is now home to 38 individuals, as per recent census. But a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal’s ambitious efforts to establish a viable population of the vulnerable greater one-horned rhinoceros in western Nepal’s Bardiya National Park 40 years ago has been seen as a conservation success. The park, which didn’t have a surviving population until the 1980s, is now home to 38 individuals, as per recent census. But a new study shows that the translocated animals are wandering far outside their release zones in search of food and water, suggesting the habitat may not be healthy enough to keep them there. Researchers, who GPS collared five of the eight animals translocated from Chitwan in central Nepal in 2016-17, found that the larger home range of the reintroduced rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Babai Valley (one of the two habitats, the other one being the banks of Karnali River) of Bardiya National Park was primarily due to limited grassland, fragmented riverine forests and seasonal scarcity of water and forage. “Habitat degradation from floods further reduced suitability, forcing rhinos to range widely,” the study said. “Given the small population size and fragmented habitat, Babai Valley may not support a viable rhino population without significant habitat restoration, addition of individuals, or relocation to more suitable sites.” Greater one-horned rhinos in Chitwan, Nepal. Image by Aditya Pal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Once confined to Chitwan National Park — the heartland of Nepal’s rhino population — a smaller number of animals were relocated to Bardiya and Shuklaphanta national parks in the late 1980s to expand their range. But&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-rhino-translocation-looks-good-in-numbers-but-not-so-much-in-habitat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-rhino-translocation-looks-good-in-numbers-but-not-so-much-in-habitat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321422</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal farmers struggle to access relief for wildlife crop damage</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepal-farmers-struggle-to-access-relief-for-wildlife-crop-damage/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepal-farmers-struggle-to-access-relief-for-wildlife-crop-damage/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 12:50:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suresh Bidari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05121940/The_Rose_Ringed_Parakeet_in_flight-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320629</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crops, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Human-wildlife Conflict, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SARLAHI, Nepal — Dhruba Prasai, a farmer from Sarlahi district in Nepal’s southern plains, says he’s exhausted from lack of sleep. Every year, nilgai antelopes, wild boars, deer and Asian elephants raid his fields, and if left unguarded at night, they not only feed on standing crops, but also stored harvest. &#8220;There is a forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SARLAHI, Nepal — Dhruba Prasai, a farmer from Sarlahi district in Nepal’s southern plains, says he’s exhausted from lack of sleep. Every year, nilgai antelopes, wild boars, deer and Asian elephants raid his fields, and if left unguarded at night, they not only feed on standing crops, but also stored harvest. &#8220;There is a forest to the west, and our fields are right next to it,” Prasai tells Mongabay. “The nilgai eat the maize, and the deer can’t even stand the sight of wheat and oat grass, they eat it all. If people stay up at night to guard the fields, they run away; otherwise, they come and destroy everything.&#8221; Farmers such as Prasai across Madhesh province, considered the country’s breadbasket because of its fertile land, are struggling with growing crop losses from wildlife, but complex procedures and policy gaps make access to relief, which is already limited, difficult. From mid-July 2024 to mid-July 2025, 14,821 cases of ‘human wildlife conflict’ were reported in Madhesh, according to government figures. A total of 134 people and 457 animals lost their lives. Last year, a wild boar ate three tand (storage racks) of maize stored in Prasai’s house. Although forest authorities told him to get a recommendation letter from the local municipal ward office to apply for relief, he didn&#8217;t do it. “I haven&#8217;t done it; we simply don’t have the time,&#8221; he says. Even those who did fill out the forms around the same time have yet to receive relief, he&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepal-farmers-struggle-to-access-relief-for-wildlife-crop-damage/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepal-farmers-struggle-to-access-relief-for-wildlife-crop-damage/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320629</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s infrastructure risks wildlife habitats beyond protected areas, study warns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-infrastructure-risks-wildlife-habitats-beyond-protected-areas-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-infrastructure-risks-wildlife-habitats-beyond-protected-areas-study-warns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 13:25:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/27132222/Ultramarine_flycatcher_in_Nepal_2019_in_Nepal_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320178</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Development, Environment, Forests, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Protected Areas, Roads, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As Nepal expands highways, railways and power lines across the country, a new nationwide study warns the infrastructure boom is cutting through habitats and movement routes used by threatened species. The mapping study, published by WWF Nepal, identifies 515 “biodiversity important areas” (BIAs) and finds extensive overlap between those landscapes and the sites [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As Nepal expands highways, railways and power lines across the country, a new nationwide study warns the infrastructure boom is cutting through habitats and movement routes used by threatened species. The mapping study, published by WWF Nepal, identifies 515 “biodiversity important areas” (BIAs) and finds extensive overlap between those landscapes and the sites of existing or planned infrastructure projects. A total of 6,529 kilometers (4,057 miles) of roads and 4,862 km (3,021 mi) of power lines already pass through these areas. Nearly a quarter of Nepal’s proposed railway network could also cut across them once completed. The findings sharpen a growing policy dilemma for Nepal: how to build the transportation and power networks needed for economic growth without fragmenting the forests, wetlands and rivers that wildlife depend on, especially outside the country’s protected areas. The BIAs identified in the report fall under 11 categories, including key biodiversity areas, important bird areas, Ramsar wetlands, forest conservation areas, and ecological corridors. Together, they form habitats and ecological zones that allow wildlife to move, breed and survive. Jhamak Bahadur Karki, a former chief warden at Chitwan National Park and faculty member at the Kathmandu Forestry College, who wasn’t involved in the study, said its significance lies in the fact that it highlights biodiversity important areas outside of Nepal’s national parks and wildlife reserves. “The study is eye-opening,” Karki said. “It clearly shows why Nepal needs to pay attention to biodiversity important areas that lie outside protected areas.” Distribution of all infrastructure&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-infrastructure-risks-wildlife-habitats-beyond-protected-areas-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-infrastructure-risks-wildlife-habitats-beyond-protected-areas-study-warns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320178</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s rhododendron tourism sparks unchecked liquor trade concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-rhododendron-tourism-sparks-unchecked-liquor-trade-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-rhododendron-tourism-sparks-unchecked-liquor-trade-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 08:59:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26085236/Dhaulagiri_and_Rhododendron-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320077</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Consumption, Environment, Environmental Law, Flowers, Forests, Natural Resources, Overconsumption, Regulations, Tourism, Trees, Wildlife, and Wildlife consumption]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TINJURE-MILKE-JALJALE, Nepal — Every April, Nima Sherpa’s family used to picnic in a rhododendron (lali guras in Nepali) forest about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from her home at Basantapur Bazaar in Tehrathum in the Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale (TMJ) region, which stretched across the eastern districts of Tehrathum, Taplejung and Sankhuwasabha. It has been five years since her [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TINJURE-MILKE-JALJALE, Nepal — Every April, Nima Sherpa’s family used to picnic in a rhododendron (lali guras in Nepali) forest about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from her home at Basantapur Bazaar in Tehrathum in the Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale (TMJ) region, which stretched across the eastern districts of Tehrathum, Taplejung and Sankhuwasabha. It has been five years since her family has done so as they no longer have the time. Instead of enjoying their time in the forest, they said, they are busy running their hotel in Basantapur Bazaar, which sees a big surge in tourism for only a few weeks. This is when the hillsides get covered in crimson, pink and white blooms of at least 26 species of rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.), the national flower. All family members get busy welcoming guests with smiles and souvenirs. This year alone, local officials estimate that around 500,000 visitors entered the TMJ area between April 1-15. One of the “souvenirs” growing in popularity among visitors is the flower-based alcohol, bottled in reused containers with handwritten labels and openly displayed in shops across. But authorities remain unaware of where the flowers are harvested, whether extraction levels are sustainable, and of the safety of the unlabeled products. Rhododendron trees in Tinjure. Image by Nirmal Dulal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). A trade hiding in plain sight In April this year, Mongabay found bottles of rhododendron liquor displayed openly in shops catering to tourists in Basantapur Bazaar and nearby Gufa Pokhari, in Chainpur municipality, Sankhuwasabha district. Several shopkeepers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-rhododendron-tourism-sparks-unchecked-liquor-trade-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-rhododendron-tourism-sparks-unchecked-liquor-trade-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320077</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal prepares to hand over mega zoo project to conservation body</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepal-prepares-to-hand-over-mega-zoo-project-to-conservation-body/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepal-prepares-to-hand-over-mega-zoo-project-to-conservation-body/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 May 2026 14:47:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rajendra Pokherel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/22143045/525526832_1203197115179532_493804333274095580_n_processed-scaled-e1779460279216-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320002</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Education, Ex-situ Conservation, Mammals, Megafauna, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepali officials are preparing to hand over the government’s ambitious new zoo to the country&#8217;s leading wildlife conservation body. Whether that body is up to the task is up for debate. Discussions around the proposed zoo in Suryabinayak municipality in central Nepal, which would span 259 hectares (640 acres) of community-managed forests on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepali officials are preparing to hand over the government’s ambitious new zoo to the country&#8217;s leading wildlife conservation body. Whether that body is up to the task is up for debate. Discussions around the proposed zoo in Suryabinayak municipality in central Nepal, which would span 259 hectares (640 acres) of community-managed forests on the outskirts of Kathmandu, began in 2015. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in June 2016, attended by the then prime minister, K.P. Sharma Oli. After that, only limited preparatory work such as fencing and planning documents moved forward. The reason: lack of funds. Constructing and bringing it into operation is estimated to cost around 10 billion Nepali rupees($65.8 million). But the government has been allocating only around 15 million Nepali rupees ($98,700) a year towards it, mainly to pay for the staff’s salaries. A one-horned rhinoceros at the Central Zoo in Kathmandu. Image courtesy of NTNC. After the formation of the new government in March 2026, the then Ministry of Forests and Environment (now Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment) assigned a committee to look for ways to start work on the new zoo. The committee recently recommended that the project be handed over to the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), a semi-governmental body that already oversees the management of Nepal&#8217;s Central Zoo, in Kathmandu. &#8220;The committee analyzed what would happen if the government ran it versus handing it to NTNC,&#8221; said Maheshwar Dhakal, joint secretary at Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment who&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepal-prepares-to-hand-over-mega-zoo-project-to-conservation-body/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepal-prepares-to-hand-over-mega-zoo-project-to-conservation-body/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320002</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s plan to release blackbucks into tiger country raises red flags</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-plan-to-release-blackbucks-into-tiger-country-raises-red-flags/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-plan-to-release-blackbucks-into-tiger-country-raises-red-flags/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 May 2026 12:58:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18120817/Blackbuck_in_Tal_Chhapar_Sanctuary_November_2025_by_Tisha_Mukherjee_07-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319637</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Antelope, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Predators, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is preparing to relocate blackbucks from protected areas in the country’s west to the south-central lowlands, in an effort to expand the species’ population beyond its current range. But conservationists have raised questions about the suitability of the new site, including the increased risk of predation. Under the plan, the Department of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is preparing to relocate blackbucks from protected areas in the country’s west to the south-central lowlands, in an effort to expand the species’ population beyond its current range. But conservationists have raised questions about the suitability of the new site, including the increased risk of predation. Under the plan, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) will release 18 blackbucks (Antilope cervicapra) in Tikauli, a corridor forest area near Chitwan National Park. The animals, six males and 12 females, will be translocated from Shuklaphanta National Park and Blackbuck Conservation Area, located in Nepal’s far-western and southwestern regions, respectively. “We will be translocating them as soon as possible,” said Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at DNPWC who has planned the translocation for nearly five years now. “It will be a mix of young and subadult individuals. The main objective of this translocation is to revive the blackbuck population in a different geographic location and habitat area, so if they’re impacted by disease or disaster in one area, there will be an alternate secure population.” Blackbucks are an antelope species native to the Indian subcontinent, and were once widely distributed across the region. Today, India has the largest population of blackbucks, while the species occurs in small, fragmented pockets in Nepal, considered the northernmost extent of its range. Although the species as a whole isn’t considered in danger of extinction on the IUCN Red List, within Nepal it’s classified as critically endangered, and in Bangladesh and Pakistan has&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-plan-to-release-blackbucks-into-tiger-country-raises-red-flags/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-plan-to-release-blackbucks-into-tiger-country-raises-red-flags/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319637</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal’s plains, traditional bins help keep food safe from heat, floods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 17:22:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tanka Dhakal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04115851/02_Dehari-kitchen-2--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318664</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Conservation, Culture, Extreme Weather, Food, food security, Indigenous Peoples, Temperatures, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DANG, Nepal — With the start of the summer season in Nepal, farmers are worried about keeping their grain safe from extreme heat and insect infestation. But at Chattrapati Yadav’s home in Dang in western Nepal, that is not a concern thanks to handmade earthen pots passed down from previous generations. The 70‑year‑old learned the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DANG, Nepal — With the start of the summer season in Nepal, farmers are worried about keeping their grain safe from extreme heat and insect infestation. But at Chattrapati Yadav’s home in Dang in western Nepal, that is not a concern thanks to handmade earthen pots passed down from previous generations. The 70‑year‑old learned the craft of making the pots from her mother. She eventually taught it to her daughters and granddaughters. “My granddaughter made this one, and that one was made by my mother‑in‑law,” Yadav said, pointing to the cylindrical and rectangular storage vessels. Across Nepal’s Terai, members of Indigenous communities, including the Tharu and Yadav, keep their grains safe using the dehari (traditional seed storage bins) secured by ancestral craftsmanship and Indigenous knowledge honed over centuries. These continue to stand the test of time even amid climatic stresses. “We use locally available mud and husk with some dung; we don’t use anything that isn’t available here,” Yadav said. “It takes around a week to make and a month to dry them.” If protected from water, a dehari can even outlast its maker. Dehari, traditional food grain and seed storage earthen pots made out of clay soil and husk inside Chattrapati Yadav’s family home in Dang, Nepal. These pots have been used to store grains for generations by Indigenous and local communities, including Tharu and Yadav. Image by Tanka Dhakal. A Tharu village in Chitwan, Nepal. Image by tearsxintherain via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Climate-resilient storage In the Terai,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318664</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Experts caution Nepal’s plan to open doors to private zoos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/experts-caution-nepals-plan-to-open-doors-to-private-zoos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/experts-caution-nepals-plan-to-open-doors-to-private-zoos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 15:17:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/30145802/481768235_1086437106855534_3058871533111109011_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318492</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Controversial, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Wildlife, Wildlife Rescues, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal has proposed legalizing private zoos, wildlife rescue centers and hospitals, but experts warn weak safeguards could fuel wildlife capture and undermine conservation efforts. Officials say the move could improve infrastructure and raise awareness, but critics warn it lacks clarity on oversight, enforcement and animal welfare standards. “There are so-called mini zoos in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal has proposed legalizing private zoos, wildlife rescue centers and hospitals, but experts warn weak safeguards could fuel wildlife capture and undermine conservation efforts. Officials say the move could improve infrastructure and raise awareness, but critics warn it lacks clarity on oversight, enforcement and animal welfare standards. “There are so-called mini zoos in Nepal, but many function more like killing centers,” said Dibya Raj Dahal, president of Kathmandu-based NGO Small Mammals Conservation and Research Foundation (SMCRF). “Small wild animals are captured from the wild and sold to these facilities under the guise of rescue. In reality, it is extraction,” he said, adding that many animals die in captivity. Nepal’s only federal government-recognized and functional zoo, the Central Zoo in Kathmandu, was established in 1932 as a private collection. The zoo, which opened its doors to the public in 1956, was managed by the government until 1995 when it was handed over to the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), a semi-governmental nonprofit. Although different “mini zoos” have been set up in different parts of the country, their legal status has been dubious and their treatment of animals criticized by conservationists. In response, the government had been saying it plans to introduce new guidelines for the establishment and running of different categories of zoos across the country. Dahal said that despite its gaps, the draft was an improvement on the current regulatory vacuum. “It is a positive step, but the draft remains incomplete.” The guidelines also come as the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/experts-caution-nepals-plan-to-open-doors-to-private-zoos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/experts-caution-nepals-plan-to-open-doors-to-private-zoos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318492</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal plans park for ‘problem’ tigers as attacks raise concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nepal-plans-park-for-problem-tigers-as-attacks-raise-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nepal-plans-park-for-problem-tigers-as-attacks-raise-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2026 01:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj JoshiMukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23161619/tiger-in-bardiya-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318052</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conflict, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, National Parks, Tigers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BARDIYA, Nepal — The Nepali government recently proposed establishing a tiger park for the big cats that come into conflict with humans, as the country continues to grapple with an unintended consequence of its hugely successful conservation efforts. Authorities say the proposed 50-hectare (124-acre) park in the Durganar–Tikauli forest near Chitwan National Park will take [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BARDIYA, Nepal — The Nepali government recently proposed establishing a tiger park for the big cats that come into conflict with humans, as the country continues to grapple with an unintended consequence of its hugely successful conservation efforts. Authorities say the proposed 50-hectare (124-acre) park in the Durganar–Tikauli forest near Chitwan National Park will take in “problem” tigers (involved in killing and eating one or more humans) from overcrowded holding centers, though several questions related to the plan remain unanswered. “Currently, we need to spend around 1.5 million rupees [about $10,000] annually for each captive tiger even if we feed it minimally,” said Hari Bhadra Acharya, a senior ecologist with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation under the Ministry of Forests and Environment, who chairs the committee that’s exploring the plan. “Similarly, many tourists visit national parks to see tigers, but only a few are lucky to do so.” According to Acharya, the park would feature a fenced habitat designed to hold tigers that have attacked humans. Instead of living in tiny, cramped cages in holding centers, each tiger would get outdoor space to roam, hide in tall grass, and live more naturally. The park would sell tickets for viewing the tigers, and the revenue generated would cover the costs of the tigers&#8217; food and veterinary care. Nepal, which had 121 tigers (Panthera tigris) in 2009, is now home to 355 of the endangered big cats, spread across major habitats such as Chitwan, Bardiya and Shuklaphanta national parks,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nepal-plans-park-for-problem-tigers-as-attacks-raise-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nepal-plans-park-for-problem-tigers-as-attacks-raise-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318052</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, controversial dam threatens endangered pangolins: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-nepal-controversial-dam-threatens-endangered-pangolins-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-nepal-controversial-dam-threatens-endangered-pangolins-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2026 08:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/23090420/29054818144_90d7ea0d1c_o-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317904</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Dams, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Pangolins, Pollution, Rivers, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A proposed dam in Kathmandu’s northeastern ridge promises to revive the sewage-choked sacred Bagmati River that runs past revered Hindu temples and ease the valley’s chronic water shortage. But conservationists warn that the project could exact a high ecological cost, even potentially impacting critically endangered wildlife within the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, where [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A proposed dam in Kathmandu’s northeastern ridge promises to revive the sewage-choked sacred Bagmati River that runs past revered Hindu temples and ease the valley’s chronic water shortage. But conservationists warn that the project could exact a high ecological cost, even potentially impacting critically endangered wildlife within the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, where the dam is set to rise. A new study in Ecology and Evolution journal states that the Nagmati Dam will inundate large parts of potential prime pangolin habitat and foraging areas, noting that the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) “overlooks this threat” and fails to recognize the impacts on the species. The national park is home to the critically endangered Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), protected under Nepal’s conservation law. “Pangolins have a small home range and specific habitat needs, so the impact on almost 100 hectares [247 acres] of area because of the dam will have big consequences for them,” said Kumar Paudel, a pangolin specialist from the nonprofit Greenhood Nepal and co-author of the study. “We need to be extremely careful about the impacts on biodiversity while developing infrastructure projects. This is not just about pangolins but other species, too,” he said. The proposed site of the Nagmati Dam is said to be on the base of the hills that surround Mulkharka. Image by Bibek Bhandari. The planned Nagmati Dam — a 95-meter (311-foot) barrier with a capacity to store more than 8 billion liters (2.1 billion gallons) of water — aims to capture monsoon&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-nepal-controversial-dam-threatens-endangered-pangolins-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-nepal-controversial-dam-threatens-endangered-pangolins-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317904</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Invasives take over native plant spaces in Nepal’s cities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/invasives-take-over-native-plant-spaces-in-nepals-cities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/invasives-take-over-native-plant-spaces-in-nepals-cities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2026 13:25:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/09131111/Ageratum_houstonianum_-_Humber_Arboretum-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317276</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Degradation, Invasive Species, Plants, Research, urban ecology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Until a few decades ago, botanist Bharat Babu Shrestha observed abundant growth of Indian pennywort (Centella asiatica) across large areas of Kathmandu. But the low-growing herb, distinguished by its kidney-shaped leaves and medicinal properties in the traditional Ayurveda, is now gradually vanishing from Nepal’s capital. Its disappearance has been attributed to shrinking open [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Until a few decades ago, botanist Bharat Babu Shrestha observed abundant growth of Indian pennywort (Centella asiatica) across large areas of Kathmandu. But the low-growing herb, distinguished by its kidney-shaped leaves and medicinal properties in the traditional Ayurveda, is now gradually vanishing from Nepal’s capital. Its disappearance has been attributed to shrinking open spaces, and largely due to the spread of another plant species creeping across Kathmandu: Crofton weed (Ageratina adenophora), locally known as kaalo banmara. The various species within the family of banmara — meaning “forest destroyer” in Nepali — the dense shrub with multi-colored flowers, with roots in Central and South America, is displacing many native species. “There has been no qualitative assessment in Kathmandu, but our observations show that our native vegetation has been dominated and displaced by many invasive species,” said Shrestha, a botany professor at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. “Our research in Nepal’s Parsa and Shuklaphanta national parks have concluded that invasive species have reduced almost half of the native species in those regions, indicating similar impacts in Kathmandu.” In Kathmandu, Crofton weed; the common lantana (Lantana camara), locally called kaade banmara; Santa Maria feverfew (parthenium weed, Parthenium hysterophorus), known as pati jhaar in Nepali; and blue billy goat weed (Ageratum houstonianum), locally called neelo gandhe, are said to be the dominant invasive species, according to experts. Shrestha said that species such as the common lantana or the polka dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya), which is native to Madagascar, have become popular ornamental plants in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/invasives-take-over-native-plant-spaces-in-nepals-cities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/invasives-take-over-native-plant-spaces-in-nepals-cities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317276</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change tests Nepal’s wild and domesticated yaks </title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-change-tests-nepals-wild-and-domesticated-yaks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-change-tests-nepals-wild-and-domesticated-yaks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2026 09:11:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/27070859/IMG_9939-e1774595484405-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316414</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cattle, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Habitat Degradation, Indigenous Peoples, Pasture, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In the rugged mountains of the Dolpo region in western Nepal, Youngdung Jhama Lama spent her childhood herding nagton (domesticated yaks) across the vast alpine pastures. Two decades on, mobile herding has greatly changed. “We only have four yaks left now,” said the 24-year-old resident of Vijer (Tra) village in Nepal’s largest and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In the rugged mountains of the Dolpo region in western Nepal, Youngdung Jhama Lama spent her childhood herding nagton (domesticated yaks) across the vast alpine pastures. Two decades on, mobile herding has greatly changed. “We only have four yaks left now,” said the 24-year-old resident of Vijer (Tra) village in Nepal’s largest and remotest district, Dolpa. For traditional herders such as Lama, rearing yaks (Bos grunniens), valued for transport, meat and wool, is becoming challenging due to rising costs, climate change, lack of local markets for yak produce, frequent spread of diseases and other socioeconomic pressures. This has not only increased challenges for domesticated yaks, but also for their wild cousins (Bos mutus). “My family sold dozens of them in the neighboring Mustang district last fall because it was more labor-intensive and costly to rear them, and we had limited kharka (pastureland/rangeland) to graze them,” Lama said. Many young people across the Himalayan rangelands are leaving for better opportunities in big cities or abroad, creating a shortage of labor. According to the National Population and Housing Census 2021 Internal Migration in Nepal report, in the country’s mountains, in-migration increased from 9,698 (2.2%) in 1971 to 75,542 (2.4%) in 2021, but excess out-migration resulted in a negative net migration of -543,966 by 2021. According to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), climate change is affecting Himalayan high-altitude ecosystems used for grazing. It is altering how water circulates in these landscapes, changing the timing and availability of moisture.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-change-tests-nepals-wild-and-domesticated-yaks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-change-tests-nepals-wild-and-domesticated-yaks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316414</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, calls for reform grow louder in buffer zones</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-nepal-calls-for-reform-grow-louder-in-buffer-zones/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-nepal-calls-for-reform-grow-louder-in-buffer-zones/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2026 08:51:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/27083832/collecting-firewood-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316416</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Community Forests, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Human-wildlife Conflict, National Parks, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BARDIYA, Nepal — Mewa Lal Pulami, along with  other residents from his village on the fringes of Banke National Park in western Nepal, abstained from voting in the recent parliamentary elections held on March 5, 2026. “How can we vote when no one is paying attention to our suffering from wild animals such as tigers?” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BARDIYA, Nepal — Mewa Lal Pulami, along with  other residents from his village on the fringes of Banke National Park in western Nepal, abstained from voting in the recent parliamentary elections held on March 5, 2026. “How can we vote when no one is paying attention to our suffering from wild animals such as tigers?” Pulami said to Mongabay over the phone as the mass abstention made headlines across the country. Nepalis such as Pulami live in the ‘buffer zone’ — a designated ‘protective layer’ for national parks where local people’s collection and use of natural resources are governed by separate laws and regulations. The villagers are demanding an urgent overhaul of the program to address human-wildlife conflict, access to resources, excessive bureaucratic power of park wardens, chronic infrastructure deprivation, and growing economic injustice. When it was rolled out in 1996, the buffer zone program aimed to increase community participation and ownership in conservation of iconic species such as tigers (Panthera tigris) and rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in the plains and snow leopards (Panther uncia) in the mountains. However, 30 years on, the buffer zones, covering 5,602 square kilometers (2,163 square miles) and 1.2 million people, aren’t as popular among some residents in the plains who say it’s time to revisit or even scrap the whole program. Around 380 kilometers (236 miles) east of Bardiya, for 52-year-old Laxmi Dhakal from one of the communities living around Nepal’s oldest national park, Chitwan, the iconic one-horned rhinoceros has become a symbol of suffering.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-nepal-calls-for-reform-grow-louder-in-buffer-zones/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-nepal-calls-for-reform-grow-louder-in-buffer-zones/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316416</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s rural women at increasing risk of human-wildlife conflict</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nepals-rural-women-at-increasing-risk-of-human-wildlife-conflict/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nepals-rural-women-at-increasing-risk-of-human-wildlife-conflict/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Mar 2026 15:16:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tulsi Rauniyar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/18143556/woman-with-goat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315860</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Cats, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Elephants, Environment, Gender, Human Rights, Human-wildlife Conflict, Solutions, Tigers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BARDIYA, Nepal — On the morning of Feb. 6, the road leading to the Bardiya District Administration Office in western Nepal was filled with people moving as one. Dust rose from their footsteps. Voices layered over each other, murmurs turned into chants and anger hardened into demands that echoed off the building&#8217;s walls. Dozens pushed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BARDIYA, Nepal — On the morning of Feb. 6, the road leading to the Bardiya District Administration Office in western Nepal was filled with people moving as one. Dust rose from their footsteps. Voices layered over each other, murmurs turned into chants and anger hardened into demands that echoed off the building&#8217;s walls. Dozens pushed through the main gate, some carrying hastily painted banners, others empty-handed but resolute. Their three demands: fair compensation for families, death to leopards that attacked villagers and protection for people who should have been there all along. As Nepal celebrates major conservation gains, rural women in forest-edge communities like Bardiya are increasingly exposed to human–wildlife conflict because migration-driven labor shifts and daily subsistence work push them into the same forest corridors where wildlife movement and deadly encounters are most likely. The previous day, in the span of a few hours, a man and a woman had been killed by leopards, one while cutting grass in the community forest, the other while working in her own field. Women in the buffer zone in Bardiya head home after collecting grass. Image by Tulsi Rauniyar for Mongabay. A winter of fatal encounters The protest marked the breaking point of a winter shaped by repeated wildlife attacks — a pattern many residents trace to December 2025, in Madhuwan, a settlement along the outer edge of Bardiya National Park, home to 125 of Nepal’s 355 tigers. Weeks before the protest reached Bardiya’s administrative offices, mornings in Madhuwan began much the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nepals-rural-women-at-increasing-risk-of-human-wildlife-conflict/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nepals-rural-women-at-increasing-risk-of-human-wildlife-conflict/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315860</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal signs major carbon deal but community access remains challenging</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/nepal-signs-major-carbon-deal-but-community-access-remains-challenging/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/nepal-signs-major-carbon-deal-but-community-access-remains-challenging/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Feb 2026 02:01:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/05094237/B54E1753-A43D-4A54-905D-88D38E384200-e1772009616560-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314741</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Market, climate finance, Community Forests, Forest Carbon, Indigenous Peoples, and Redd]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal signed an agreement with the LEAF Coalition on Jan. 23, becoming the first country in Asia to secure a deal expected to potentially deliver $55 million in carbon finance to support forest-dependent communities. However, carbon trade experts and forest group members say that ensuring the money reaches communities remains a challenge, as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal signed an agreement with the LEAF Coalition on Jan. 23, becoming the first country in Asia to secure a deal expected to potentially deliver $55 million in carbon finance to support forest-dependent communities. However, carbon trade experts and forest group members say that ensuring the money reaches communities remains a challenge, as this is relatively uncharted territory for Nepal. Also, the agreement’s impact will depend on how transparently the funding is utilized, how strong the safeguards are and how meaningful the inclusion of Indigenous and forest-dependent communities is in decision-making and benefits sharing. “The achievement truly demands a transparent process for communities to access the money and participation of forest communities at the decision-making level,” Buddha Gharti Bhujel, senior vice chair and REDD focal person at the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), told Mongabay. As part of the agreement with LEAF — a public-private initiative involving the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Republic of Korea, along with more than 30 companies — Nepal aims to reduce emissions from potential deforestation across Gandaki, Bagmati and Lumbini provinces. “Through the agreement, we are working to ensure forest-dependent communities are paid for their significant roles in forest protection ensured for the period of 2022-2026,” said Nabaraj Pudasaini, joint secretary and chief of the REDD Implementation Center (REDD IC), the agency leading Nepal’s jurisdictional REDD+ program. Forest cover now accounts for more than 44% of Nepal’s land area. Pudasaini said his office is planning&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/nepal-signs-major-carbon-deal-but-community-access-remains-challenging/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/nepal-signs-major-carbon-deal-but-community-access-remains-challenging/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314741</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal polls, political parties root for mega infrastructure</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/in-nepal-polls-political-parties-root-for-mega-infrastructure/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/in-nepal-polls-political-parties-root-for-mega-infrastructure/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Feb 2026 01:56:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rajendra Pokherel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/25181613/nepal-election-prep-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314806</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Bigger hydropower plants, wider roads and more transmission lines: These are the promises major political parties in Nepal are presenting to win votes in the country’s general elections, scheduled for March 5, a quick scan of the cover illustrations used in their manifestos suggest. The images show that despite rising climate risks across [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Bigger hydropower plants, wider roads and more transmission lines: These are the promises major political parties in Nepal are presenting to win votes in the country’s general elections, scheduled for March 5, a quick scan of the cover illustrations used in their manifestos suggest. The images show that despite rising climate risks across the country, major political parties continue to prioritize economic growth and mega infrastructure expansion, with climate and environmental issues receiving limited space even in their imagination, experts say. “The manifestos seem to reflect a dominant view that Nepal needs to focus on roads, bridges, industries, hospitals and educational institutions,” said researcher Ambarish Pokhrel of the Chubu Institute for Advanced Studies, Japan. “They also view environmental and climate issues as not urgent,” even as impacts are already affecting communities at the grassroots level “and they only slow down development,” he added. The manisfestos of the major parties. Globally, Nepal is one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It ranked sixth on the list of countries most impacted by climate change in 2024, according to the Germanwatch Climate Risk Index. Rising global temperatures have changed monsoon characteristics and prolonged winter droughts. In the Himalayan areas, glacial melting and glacial lake outburst risks are rising; in the hill regions, landslides are becoming more frequent and in the Tarai-Madhesh, floods and inundation are intensifying. These changes are already affecting agricultural productivity, energy production, tourism and daily life. Mega infrastructure projects also have borne the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/in-nepal-polls-political-parties-root-for-mega-infrastructure/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/in-nepal-polls-political-parties-root-for-mega-infrastructure/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314806</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Nepal votes, climate change is an elephant in the room for Sherpa community</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/as-nepal-votes-climate-change-is-an-elephant-in-the-room-for-sherpa-community/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/as-nepal-votes-climate-change-is-an-elephant-in-the-room-for-sherpa-community/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Feb 2026 14:13:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shashwat Pant]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/24134520/sherpa-nepal-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314676</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Mountains, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As Nepal gears up for parliamentary elections on March 5, 2026, the remote high-altitude villages of Khumbu, home to the Indigenous Sherpa people, Sagarmatha (Everest) and some of the world’s most iconic trekking trails remain largely untouched by the political frenzy sweeping towns and cities across the country. While posters, rallies and door-to-door [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As Nepal gears up for parliamentary elections on March 5, 2026, the remote high-altitude villages of Khumbu, home to the Indigenous Sherpa people, Sagarmatha (Everest) and some of the world’s most iconic trekking trails remain largely untouched by the political frenzy sweeping towns and cities across the country. While posters, rallies and door-to-door campaigns dominate the lowlands, harsh winter conditions coupled with mass seasonal migration have left villages such as Namche Bazaar, Lukla and Pangboche in the Sagarmatha region eerily quiet. “With most residents having moved to Kathmandu [Nepal’s capital], the candidates will arrive here only at the last minute as campaigning [for the Khumbu constituency] goes on in Kathmandu itself,” Sonam Sherpa, a resident of Lukla, told Mongabay by phone. In high-altitude communities beneath Sagarmatha, worsening climate impacts such as retreating Himalayan glaciers and frequent avalanches are growing risks, yet election debates still focus mainly on immediate infrastructure needs such as roads, electricity and drinking water rather than long-term environmental resilience, residents say. “We only talk about climate change among ourselves,” Sonam Sherpa said. The candidates, meanwhile, talk about issues related to infrastructure such as roads and electricity, he adds. Villages wear a deserted look in the Khumbu region in Nepal. Image by Shashwat Pant. Since the first ascent of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953, the Sherpa people, known for their ability to thrive at high altitudes, gained global visibility and mobility. Second-generation Sherpas often pursue higher education and professional careers abroad. Third-generation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/as-nepal-votes-climate-change-is-an-elephant-in-the-room-for-sherpa-community/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/as-nepal-votes-climate-change-is-an-elephant-in-the-room-for-sherpa-community/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314676</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s community forests sit on unsold timber</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/nepals-community-forests-sit-on-unsold-timber/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/nepals-community-forests-sit-on-unsold-timber/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2026 11:28:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/10111217/Dolakha-central-Nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314009</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Governance, Logging, Protected Areas, Sustainable Forest Management, and Timber]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The Khorthali Community Forest User Group in Dolakha, central Nepal, produced 1,189 cubic meters (42,000 cubic feet) of timber in 2025 — roughly 18 standard 40-foot shipping containers in volume. However, the group could not sell all of it. About 340 m3 (12,000 ft3) of wood still lies on the roadside. “Community members [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The Khorthali Community Forest User Group in Dolakha, central Nepal, produced 1,189 cubic meters (42,000 cubic feet) of timber in 2025 — roughly 18 standard 40-foot shipping containers in volume. However, the group could not sell all of it. About 340 m3 (12,000 ft3) of wood still lies on the roadside. “Community members have asked us to help sell the timber, but potential buyers are not interested,” said Anil Regmi, an official at the district forest office in Dolakha. Across Nepal, other districts face similar challenges. In Bara, the district forest office has 2,605 m3 (92,000 ft3) of unsold timber, while in Nawalpur, the figure reaches 1,100 m3 (40,000 ft3), despite repeated attempts to sell it. According to ForestAction Nepal, 60,000 m3 (2.1 million ft3) of timber remains unsold in Lumbini province alone. The estimate represents timber accumulated across multiple storage locations and years, rather than unsold stock from a single harvesting season. Nepal’s community forests are producing large volumes of timber that remain unsold due to high government taxes and competition from private and imported wood, leaving local user groups without funds to implement sustainable forest management while politicians blame strict conservation laws for not facilitating large-scale infrastructure development. “The government set tax rate for timber is very high compared to the prevailing market rate,” said Nabaraj Pudasaini, joint secretary at the Ministry of Forests and Environment. “When you add collection costs and other charges, the prices get further inflated,” he told Mongabay. Nepal is considered a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/nepals-community-forests-sit-on-unsold-timber/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/nepals-community-forests-sit-on-unsold-timber/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314009</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>