{"id":20074990,"date":"2021-06-25T01:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=74990"},"modified":"2022-01-12T20:33:12","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T15:03:12","slug":"wildlife-farming-stirs-controversy-in-nepal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/wildlife-farming-stirs-controversy-in-nepal\/","title":{"rendered":"Nepal\u2019s controversial move to cash in on wildlife farming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As soon I sat down with Hari Bhadra Acharya, spokesperson at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation<\/a> (DNPWC), at his office in Kathmandu in April 2021, he received a call. He was kind enough to put his mobile on speaker mode. \u201cI want to apply for wildlife farming licence and get Himalayan musk deer as seed animal. When should I come to the department and what are the requirements?\u201d a male voice said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get the whole picture<\/p>

This is one in a series of articles exploring some of the ways communities and governments in Asia are responding to the biodiversity crisis. You can view the whole series\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Acharya threw me a smile and answered the caller softly. \u201cWe are yet to finalise criteria for wildlife farming so I am not sure by when that would happen,\u201d he said. The caller insisted: \u201cLast year, we were told we would be able to apply for the licence in a couple of months.\u201d Acharya blamed Covid-19 for the delay and ended the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Nepal is set to embark upon a new venture: farming wild animals for commercial purposes. Ever since the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act<\/a> was adopted in 1973, the country\u2019s wildlife policy has been based on a philosophy that seeks to protect terrestrial wild animals from commercial exploitation, including strict bans on buying or selling wild animals and their body parts. These protections apply to non-domesticated mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects, but not to other invertebrates or fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Nepal is on the verge of a shift to commercialisation of wild animals. While some are enthusiastic, others are fearful for the future of wildlife conservation in Nepal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new law for wildlife farming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fifteen minutes after the first call, Acharya\u2019s mobile rang again. \u201cWe are planning to apply for a snake farming licence so what are the criteria?\u201d the caller asked. Acharya again blamed the pandemic for delays. \u201cEvery day, I get about 10-12 calls like this from people seeking information on wildlife farming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a reason for these frequent calls. In 2017, Nepal\u2019s parliament passed an amendment<\/a> to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, with a new provision to allow farming of wild animals for commercial purposes \u2013 the first of its kind in the country\u2019s history. The Ministry of Forests and Environment has since had work to do to make the law implementable. Two years later in 2019, the ministry published a list of wild animals that could be farmed under the amended act, along with regulations laying out details around licensing of commercial wildlife farms. The list<\/a> named 10 mammals \u2013 including several endangered deer species \u2013 12 birds, and all reptiles except pythons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n