GS Paper III

News Excerpt:

Nepal’s TAL initiative, aimed at restoring ecosystems and creating space for tigers, receives global recognition from the U.N. as one of seven World Restoration Flagships.

About the news:

• TAL initiative has been honoured as one of seven U.N. World Restoration Flagships by the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-30) program (jointly led by the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization).
• Significance of the recognition:
• The whole of the Terai Arc Landscape will now be eligible for technical and financial support to further restore an area of almost 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) in both Nepal and India.

TAL Initiative:

• The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is an 810 km stretch between the river Yamuna in the west and the river Bhagmati in the east, comprising the Shivalik hills, the adjoining bhabhar areas and the Terai flood plains.
• It is spread across the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the low lying hills of Nepal.
• In total, the landscape has 13 Protected Areas, nine in India and four in Nepal, covering a total area of 49,500 square km, of which 30,000 square km lies in India.
• It is a landscape conservation approach that facilitates wildlife dispersal between transboundary protected areas while also engaging local communities in forest restoration and management.
• TAL initiative was launched in 2004, and it led to the restoration of 66,800 hectares (165,000 acres) of forest and nearly tripling the endangered Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) population.
• It is based on the tiger dispersal model and the realization that conservation interventions within protected areas alone would not be enough to increase the persistence of tigers in the long run.
• The landscape has some of India’s most well-known Tiger Reserves and Protected Areas such as Corbett Tiger Reserve, Rajaji National Park, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Valmiki Tiger Reserve and Nepal’s Bardia Wildlife Sanctuary, Chitwan National Park, and Sukhla Phanta Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It is home to three flagship species, the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris), the greater one horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).

Importance of the TAL initiative:

• The landscape connects different ecologically critical protected areas, not just in Nepal but also in India.
• It helped in restoring important transboundary corridors between India and Nepal through community-based forest conservation for the movement of wild animals such as tigers and rhinos.
• It allows space for the movement of tigers over a larger landscape beyond source populations within protected areas. 
• It also represented a shift from a protected-area-based conservation approach to a landscape conservation approach transcending the boundaries of not just protected areas but also the two countries. 
• The socioeconomic well-being of the native people, linked to tourism and access to resources, became a priority.

Major challenges in the initiative:

• Infrastructure development:
  • Linear infrastructure such as roads, canals, railways, canals, and transmission lines pose a major threat to biodiversity, as they increase the chances of vehicular collision and electrocution.
  • It also leads to habitat loss and fragmentation.
• Negative human-wildlife interactions:
  • Poaching of tigers and prey species for illegal wildlife trade and subsistence.
  • According to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal, more than half of the compensation claims disbursed for damages by wildlife go to communities living near protected areas in the TAL.
    • The compensation process is too bureaucratic and time-consuming, and the amount is too miniscule.

• Inadequate political will to support wildlife conservation:

• Habitat degradation due to overexploitation of forest resources.
• The recent legal changes allow hydropower developers to build plants entirely inside protected areas. 
• The government’s announcement to provide forest land to squatters and landless people also raises concerns.

Way Forward:

• The TAL initiative should focus on enhancing transboundary connectivity, addressing infrastructure challenges with wildlife-friendly solutions, and streamlining compensation processes for affected communities.
• Continued collaboration between Nepal and India and adherence to wildlife-friendly infrastructure guidelines will be key to ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of the initiative.