Countries, Communities and Conservation

Building Cooperation in Khangchendzonga

Overview I Goal and Objectives I Project Area and Maps
2007-2010 Priority Activities

Overview

Introduction

The Himalayas present a formidable physical and political boundary between neighboring countries. For centuries, the deep gorges, high passes, and open skies have provided corridors through which rivers flow, people trade, cultures mingle, and wildlife migrate. Until recently, with the emerging concept of regional based conservation, some of these international borders have served as a significant barrier to cooperative actions which would allow these inter-dependent ecosystems to be managed in coordination with each other.

Key Threats

The primary threats to the area’s unique biodiversity and at the project site are land conversion, degradation and landscape fragmentation.  Direct threats are grazing (local and transboundary activities across the border between India and Nepal), poaching, unsustainable harvesting of medicinal plants, associated with fuel wood removal, and unmanaged tourism.

The Project

The Mountain Institute has been implementing this project since 2002 to promote improved communication and better management of the contiguous areas in Nepal and India around Khangchendzonga and the Singalilla range.

The project has three major components:

• Promoting regular information exchange at a government to government level
• Providing specific technical exchanges and training for conservation professionals
• Implementing complimentary community based conservation programs at the grassroot level on each side of the shared boundaries

Goal and Objectives

Goal

“Building Cooperation in Khangchendzonga" promotes effective conservation management of the area in and around Khangchendzonga using TMI’s well-tried and proven community-based conservation approach.

Objectives

• Promote community-based conservation in areas outside each of the protected area boundaries
• Diversify livelihood options, with a pronounced shift from unsustainable to more sustainable activities
• Establish trans-boundary cooperation mechanisms and promote conservation between Nepal’s Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, along with surrounding areas and the adjacent Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (KBR) in Sikkim, working with authorities and communities within protected area boundaries

Project Area

Singalilla National Park located at a very high altitude of more than 7000ft from sea level (between 2400m to 3650m) is the highest National Park in West Bengal. It is situated in the extreme northwestern boundary of Darjeeling District and extends on an area of 7860 sq km.

The Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve encompasses more than 35% of Sikkim’s total geographical area and includes all five of the state’s major vegetative zones. Combining this area with the contiguous border areas of Nepal expands the number of species being conserved while adding valuable ecosystem services and ecological functions.

Cooperation and coordination are essential with both SNP and KBR for this magnitude of regional transboundary conservation. So far, the project has been able to maintain smooth cooperation with both these protected areas across the border.

Key areas of the Khangchendzonga landscape in the Eastern Himalaya, specifically in areas administered by 17 Village Development Committees outside the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area in Nepal. In Sikkim, the project is focused on those communities located in the areas designated as buffer zones within the existing Biosphere Reserve.

2007 - 2010 Priority Activities

Looking Ahead

Through this project, TMI has attempted to mitigate negative conservation impacts and to help create and train sustainable local organizations that can address these issues over time. However, work still needs to be done to promote conservation practices, while helping communities gain economic benefit and improve their livelihoods. We still need to explore, expand and reach more communities throughout the transboundary region for a greater impact.

Future Plans

• Conservation of alpine and pasture regions of the Khangchendzonga region by promoting sustainable livestock management practices and increasing local livelihoods for herders
• Conservation of wild stocks of over harvested medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) by promoting sustainable cultivation and marketing as an alternative source of income
• Mitigate negative tourism impacts through improved tourism
• Strengthen management capacity of local organizations to sustain project interventions
• Scale up and expand the program to more areas in both Sikkim and Nepal

Brochure

For achievements and success stories, download the brochure (pdf).