Author: Arun Sharma Poudyal
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Thesis no.RD-00-9
Year: 2000
Academic Program: Regional and Rural Development Planning (RRDP)
Type: Thesis (M.Sc.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2000
Examination Committee: Edward L. Webb (Chairperson); Ganesh P. Shivakoti, Robert Mather, Uday Raj Sharma(Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: The major issues in the management of wildlife corridor and biological linkage in Barandabhar forest have been addressed in this research: fuelwood and fodder extraction, and crop depredation by wildlife. Nearly two months of field survey in and around Barandabhar forest was conducted. Data has been collected along the specific transect lines by a means of random sampling of ninety households in the study area. Analysis of data was done with descriptive as well as multivariate statistics. The dependency of local people on Barandabhar forest for fuelwood and fodder has been found to be 48 and 29% respectively. The monthly fuelwood consumption was 232 kg per household and the fodder was 208 kg per household. Merely small amounts of fuelwood and fodder were collected from the Royal Chitwan National Park and other national forests. This shows there is a tremendous pressure in Barandabhar forest from neighborhood communities. A relationship was found between the frequency of visits for the extraction of fuelwood and fodder and the distance, family size and landholdings. The crop depredation by wildlife was investigated through interviews of households in the study area in three levels of proximity – close (0-1 km), medium (1.1- 2 km) and far (2.1 km and above) – from Barandabhar forest. The intensity of crop depredation was found higher in close proximity than in medium and far proximity. The Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) was found to be most destructive (136 kg/hh/year) followed by Chital (Axis axis) (60.3 kg/hh/year) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) (56.8 kg/hh/year). Other wildlife such as porcupine and parakeet also caused substantial damage to crops. There was a significant difference in crop loss among the three proximity classes. People were not really interested in hunting wildlife raiding their crops. However, there was a relationship between willingness to hunt and hunting to reduce the crop damage. The corridor conservation and maintenance of biological connectivity through Barandabhar forest implies that protect
Scholarship Donor(s): Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA)
Note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science
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