The Terai is a stretch of lowlands in the southernmost part of Nepal (WWF, 2021). The region, often described as the rice bowl of the country, is home to one of the most spectacular assemblages of large mammals in Asia such as the Bengal Tiger, the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros, the common leopard, Asian elephant, and more (WWF, 2021).
The ecosystem services provided by the area plays a major role in supporting the socioeconomic well-being and development of people in the Terai and extended Churia regions of Nepal (WWF, 2021).
The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) program was initiated in 2004. The first 10-year TAL Strategy and Implementation Plan (2004-2014) provided a touchstone to guide and address urgent conservation management issues and to tackle priority threats to make the TAL an ecologically functional landscape. The second strategy and action plan prepared by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (2015) has provided a pioneering framework for conservation and sustainable management of the TAL over the next 10 years and beyond.
The WWF/GEF supported the “Integrated Landscape Management to Secure Nepal’s Protected Areas and Critical Corridors (ILaM)” Project. The project seeks to promote integrated landscape management to conserve globally significant forests and wildlife. SETIN is responsible for the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the WWF/GEF project. Further information on the project will be shared in the next posts.
References:
Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation 2015. Strategy and Action Plan 2015-2025, Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal. Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal.
WWF (2021). Terai Arc Landscape. URL: https://www.wwfnepal.org/our_working_areas/tal2/ [Accessed on August 2023]