Background Information

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The project is focused on the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), which ranges from 1,000m to 8,091m altitude and is the largest protected area in Nepal, covering 7,629 km2. It contains 1,140 species of plants, 101 species of mammals and 485 species of birds. As well as its biological diversity ACA is home to more than 120,000 people from five major ethnic and tribal groups. Most of them are subsistence farmers, depending on depleted natural resources for fuel, food, timber and medicine. ACA is also one of the most popular trekking locations in Nepal, with over 70,000 tourists in 2000.

An increasing human population and the impacts of tourism led to the ACA being initiated in 1986, to deal with the problems of deforestation, pollution, soil erosion, poverty and loss of cultural values. ACA is managed by the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC), whose staff have worked with the 55 villages to form a range of village committees and groups. These committees manage issues such as natural resource conservation, electricity, mothers groups, tourism , etc.

The ACA has been very successful in addressing many of the development needs of the local people and involving them in the management of the protected area. However, there has been no attempt to monitor the effectiveness of the ACA in delivering biodiversity conservation benefits. There is very little information on even basic subjects such as changes in forest cover, or the populations of key wildlife species. This lack of both information and skills to assess and monitor biodiversity limited the effectiveness of management of the protected area.

The KMTNC requested the assistance of UNEP-WCMC in building their capacity to gather and use biodiversity-related information in the management of ACA, including assessment of the impact of its conservation activities.