Buffer zone resources and community conservation: a case study of Piple buffer zone Village Development Committee, Chitwan National Park

Abstract

The twin objectives of buffer zone are to ensure the ecological integrity of protected areas, and enabling of local communities to sustain their livelihood through active management of natural resources outside the park. To understand ecology, economy and social strata in buffer zone, Piple buffer zone Village Development Committee (VDC) of Chitwan National Park, was examined as a case study. Methods included were stratified random sampling of household economics, analysis of vegetation and landuse change. Forest patches are central to buffer zone communities. The forests (ha) in Piple VDC decreased by 33% between 1978 - 1992. The buffer zone community forest only fulfils 14.88 % and 24.57 % of annual household fodder and fuelwood demand. The deficit was primarily extracted from Chitwan National Park and other community forest outside buffer zone. Several households suggested a combination of alternatives to minimize their impact on the Park, which included more plantation, transparency in managing resource, collection of driftwood from the Rapti River, and allocation of more river bank for grazing and fodder management. All these suggest that buffer zone communities have on- going impact on the park resources and it will take time for them to be self-reliant.