Zoological Society of London

This project aims to reverse the current rate of decline in the gharial population through: robust monitoring of the river ecosystem and gharial population; providing knowledge for the formulation of a river ecosystem management plan; increasing river protection through forming community-based protection units; and enhancing the effectiveness of the Gharial Conservation Breeding Centre (GCBC).

Stewardship and Rural Development for poor and marginalised frontier communities living alongside protected areas and high conservation value species.

Championing change: Living in harmony with wildlife in lowland Nepal

This project aims to strengthen the capacity of frontline staff to gather reliable intelligence and respond to poaching threats. ZSL, partnering with government and NGOs, is leading the recovery of tiger populations in the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), with strengthening law enforcement to combat poaching as a key component.

This project aims to address these challenges by: 1) strengthening capacity and improving transboundary LE coordination, and 2) building capacity of newly established provincial LE agencies by enabling data sharing and intra-agency enforcement efforts to disrupt priority IWT trafficking routes and international wildlife crime through Nepal. 3) by securing community stewardship at key pangolin source sites outside the PA network, through proven Community Management Pangolin Conservation Areas (CMPCAs) which empower communities to manage their community forests, protect pangolins and participate with LE agencies 4) improving well-being through community-led sustainable livelihood schemes, promoting gender equity and social inclusion, increasing local economic and ecological resilience, further “future-proofing” community engagement.

Strengthening Partnerships and Promoting Resiliency of Local Communities

This project will strengthen the EDGE network of early career conservationists in biodiversity hotspots in Asia, Africa and Latin America and build their capacity to integrate livelihoods, health, poverty and wellbeing considerations into their work. By building in-country capacity to deliver effective biodiversity-poverty reduction programming, we can contribute towards ensuring future conservation projects understand, respect and respond appropriately to the needs and interests of local communities, and contribute to the dual aims of poverty reduction and conservation. The project will result in the conservation of EDGE species and increase the conservation capacity of conservationists across the globe.

The project will strengthen the status of tigers and tiger prey in Banke National Park (BaNP), (Nepal’s newestNP) while improving the socio-economic wellbeing of residents in two buffer zone communities, strengtheningthe relationship between park and people. These aims will be achieved by better management of the park’swildlife and habitats to improve tiger prey density, reducing human-wildlife conflict (HWC)developingconservation awareness and facilitating stewardship among communities, and the promotion of alternativeincome streams including tourism.

Protected areas in Nepal’s Terai Arc Landscape are fragmented, meaning recovering wildlife populations (like tiger and rhino) in Parsa National Park are pushed towards human settlements in surrounding buffer zones, increasing human-wildlife conflict, with particularly negative impacts for women and Indigenous communities disproportionately reliant on forest resources. This project will secure connectivity between protected areas and northern Shivalik hills using a corridor of community-managed forests; mitigate human-wildlife conflict; and reduce communities’ dependence on resources through diversified livelihoods and enhanced agroforestry.

Ghodaghodi Lake Area’s (GLA’s) globally-significant wetland-biodiversity and its critical connectivity in the Western Terai Complex (WTC) constitutes local communities’ natural capital.This project will develop and implement community-led natural capital-based management plans, which benefit livelihoods; secure and prioritise GLA’s upstream watershed and conservation; implement sustainable tourism management; and conduct biological monitoring. This will protect GLA and provide a model for expansion.