Suman Bhattarai

Conservation Based Networking and Library Establishment Project to Strengthen Rhino Conservation Program

Rhino in Chitwan National Park.

Rhino Conservation Poster.

Conservation Based Observation Tour.

Grantee with orphan rhino calves during field visit.

Rhino is the most sensitive fauna of Chitwan National Park (CNP) whose population status is still in critical stage all over the world. Besides rhino, CNP including its buffer zone have been supporting many endangered and vulnerable wildlife (IUCN/CITES).

Different organization and people use to conduct conservation based researches and programs including rhino by specifying some locations in order to minimize conservation threats of CNP. Some of them achieve good results but their achievements are not shared to neighbour communities which are suffering from same kind of problem. Organization and people feel easy to share their results and findings with donor, head quarter and centre level because there are platforms of communication i.e. internet, television, library and radio.

But target people or local people are deprived from these information and ideas. Many student oriented activities are conducted but limited only with them. If these ideas are shared with other schools, buffer zone communities or forest user groups that can impact to large community with minimum expenses.
Yearly, numerous organization and people use to produce kit, booklet, leaflets, documentary, CDs, reports and other stuffs about conservation issue of park. But these productions are not reaching at local level because there is gap of information sharing mechanism. Most of conservation related publications are published to distribute local level as free subscription but concerned schools, students, buffer zone user groups are not getting them. They want to get knowledge and adopt success stories of other areas but they don’t have ideas how to set relationship to gain other’s reports and results and learning. Due to insufficient information sharing system at local level, conservation message and achievements are not shared community to community, community to conservationist and organization to organizations which has been leading conservation program behind.

Therefore this project is planed to establish conservation network within community level and related institutions in order to share and explore conservation issue and run conservation activities effectively. From this project, organizations, researchers and conservationists will get opportunity to disseminate their achievement and learning at grass root level and community will get regular information which ensure long last contribution in conservation. Similarly, student empowering training for conservation article writing will explore local conservation issues which help decision maker and planner to prepare effective plan.

Read about Suman's previous work with Rhino's http://www.ruffordsmallgrants.org/rsg/projects/suman_bhattarai_0 or for further information contact sumancha004@yahoo.com or visit www.rhinonepal.org/past.php