CONNECTING CORRIDORS TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE NEPAL

The report details the restoration of biological corridors in Nepal's Terai Arc Landscape from 2001 to 2021. It highlights the transition from fragmented habitats to functional corridors through community-based conservation, forest restoration, and transboundary cooperation with India. Key successes include the doubling of tiger numbers and the identification of high-altitude climate refugia. However, the report warns that linear infrastructure development, such as highways and irrigation canals, poses a significant emerging threat to connectivity.

• The Terai Arc Landscape approach has contributed to a significant recovery of tiger populations; while the region saw a sharp decline after 2001, the transboundary landscape now has over 880 tigers, with Nepal and India nearly doubling their respective numbers.
• Community-based conservation models have been central to restoration, utilizing Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) and Community Forest Coordination Committees (CFCCs) to manage resources and reduce dependence on forests through alternative energy and livelihood programs.
• The Khata Corridor is cited as one of the most successful community initiatives, growing from just 1.15 sq. km of forest in 2001 to 96.57 sq. km, facilitating the movement of 46 individual tigers over a four-year period.
• The Brahmadev Corridor has revealed the potential for tiger range expansion into high-altitude climate refugia, evidenced by a tiger camera-trapped at approximately 2,500m in Dadeldhura in 2020.
• Linear infrastructure is identified as a primary emerging threat to connectivity, with roads, highways, and irrigation canals bisecting corridors and increasing wildlife mortality through vehicular collisions.
• Mitigation measures such as wildlife underpasses have proven effective; in the Barandabhar Corridor, four underpasses constructed in 2016 were used by over 15 mammal species, significantly reducing vehicular wildlife collisions.
• The Karnali River Corridor, Nepal's only river and forest corridor, faces specific threats from illegal fishing and sand and gravel mining, which damage fish spawning sites and gharial nesting grounds.
• The Laljhadi-Mohana Corridor utilizes a zonation-based management approach, dividing the area into core, intensive management, and impact zones to balance biodiversity protection with community subsistence needs.
• Negative human-wildlife interactions, including crop depredation and livestock loss, remain a persistent challenge, addressed through the introduction of unpalatable crops like Mentha and the formation of youth-led Rapid Response Teams (RRTs).

APA

K., T., & S., T. (2021). CONNECTING CORRIDORS TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE NEPAL. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/468/5nxtq5ipb1_cfp_web.pdf

Chicago

K., Thapa,, and Tuladhar, S. CONNECTING CORRIDORS TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE NEPAL. WWF International, 2021. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/468/5nxtq5ipb1_cfp_web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=K. |first1=Thapa, |last2=S. |first2=Tuladhar, |title=CONNECTING CORRIDORS TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE NEPAL |publisher=WWF International |date=2021 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/468/5nxtq5ipb1_cfp_web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{k2021connecting, author = {K., Thapa, and S., Tuladhar,}, title = {{CONNECTING CORRIDORS TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE NEPAL}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/468/5nxtq5ipb1_cfp_web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }