Kathmandu, March 17:

The government is trying to hand over protected areas to a palace-governed institution through the amendment of National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973, legal eagles and conservationists said today.

Clause 16(b) of the Ordinance to amend National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973, implemented from January 1, states: Regardless of whatever is written elsewhere, proposals could be called from “institutions that are established by Act” and “possess management capacity” to handover management of the national parks and conservation areas.

This provision has made it clear, among others, that only the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC) is could be eligible to apply for management of national parks and conservation areas. The KMTNC was established tin 1982 and King Gyanendra is its Patron and Crown Prince Paras is the Chairman.

Addressing an interaction on Ordinance to Amend the NPWC Act 1973, jointly organised by the Nepalese Federation of Forest Resource Users’ Groups and the Wildlife Watch Group, former attorney general Badri Bahadur Karki said new ordinance is short and only touches three clauses in general - 3(c), 16(b) and 25(a) - but is “very meaningful”.

“In the name of privatisation, the government is encouraging monopolisation of national resources - this is going to confine the whole development of wildlife conservation to a limited circumference,” he said.

“If anyone finds ones rights breached by this Ordinance, one can challenge it at the Supreme Court and nullify such provisions,” he said.

Conservationist Ukesh Raj Bhuju said the protected areas could be managed either by the state, para-state authority, community, non-profit organisation or profit organisation, but the recent ordinance, as it has come, can bring several problems in the long run.

Krishna Prasad Bhurtel, the chairman of the Buffer Zone Management Committee of Royal Chitwan National Park, stated that the committee members are suspicious that the ordinance mentions a group and ignores the committee elected by the people. Environment journalist Shiva Gaule said the ordinance has left sufficient room for suspicion.

On the other hand, conservationist at Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, Shyam Bajimaya, said the ordinance follows the government’s policy of handing over the national parks to NGOs, adding, “Still, the government would not hand over all the 16 parks and conserved areas and even after handing over the conserved areas, the government will not retreat from its responsibilities.”