Chitwan National Park

Last Updated
2023-12-13
Name of the Protected Area / Park / Reserve
Chitwan National Park
Country
Nepal
Status of the Protected Area
In Operation
UNESCO Classified
Yes
UNESCO Classification Information

Chitwan National Park was established in 1973 and established as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.

Carbon Offsetting Project
No
IUCN category of the Area /Park / Reserve
National Park
Name(s) of the Impacted Indigenous People(s) / Community / Villages
Tharu
Bote
Majhi
Darai
Kumal
Name(s) of the Support Groups/NGOs and Contact Details

Lawyers Association for Human Rights of Nepalese IP's (LAHURNIP)

Email: lahurnip.nepal@gmail.com

Phone: +977 1570 5510

National Indigenous Women Federation (NIWF)

Email: niwf2057@gmail.com 

Phone: 01 469 4192

Amnesty International

Phone: 1800 266 3789

Human Rights Watch

Phone: +1 212 290 4700

Indigenous Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)

Email: iwgia@iwgia.org 

Phone: +45 5373 2830

Administrative Authority of the Protect Area / Park / Reserve and Contact Details

Dil Bahadur Puria Pun (Chief Conservation Officer)

Ganesh Prasad Tiwari (Information Officer)

Email: tiwari.ganesh24@gmail.com or info@chitwannationalpark 

Phone: 985 509 2260 or 977 056 411024

 

National Conservation / Environment Agency or Ministry in Charge of the Protect Area / Park / Reserve

Ministry of Forest

Environment Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation 

Email: info@dnpwc.gov.np 

Phone: 01 532 0912 or 01 532 0850 

Major Public and Private Donors
The World Wildlife Fund-WWF
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The Global Environment Facility -GEF
The Zoological Society of London
Involved International Conservation NGOs, Foundations and Institutions
The World Wildlife Fund-WWF
The Wildlife Conservation Significance-WCS
The Zoological Society London
Donor's Information

In 2015-2019 and 2022, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, multinational species conservation fund, funded several Chitwan Park projects. These are listed under the numbers: F22AP00847, F22AP01029, F19AP00786, F17AP00875, F14AP00637, F16AP00829, F16AP00825, F15AP00804, and F15AP00340. The aim was animal conservation, monitoring, and anti-poaching activities in the park.[1] 

The GEF funded UNDP to implement “landscape-scale conservation of endangered tiger and rhinoceros populations in and around Chitwan national park” in 2000.[2]


 

 

Historical Background

According to the national census of 2011, Indigenous Peoples comprise 36% of the population in Nepal although Indigenous Peoples themselves claim this figure is actually 50%.[1] Even though Indigenous Peoples make up a significant portion of the population, they have been discriminated, marginalized, excluded, subjugated, dominated, exploited, and internally colonized by the dominate caste group.[2] In terms of this case study, none of the National Parks established on Indigenous land first received the consent of those Indigenous Peoples who are the rightful owners of the land to establish said park. [3] Chitwan National Park is at the foot of the Himalayas. It has rich flora and fauna and is home to one of the last populations of single-horned Asiatic rhinoceros and is also one of the last refuges of the Bengal Tiger.[4] The National Park was established in 1971 in areas traditionally used and inhabited by indigenous communities who were displaced to the Parks Bugger Zone (BZ). However, this BZ is outside of the traditional lands of the CNP, so the Indigenous Peoples were evicted from CNP now live on lands they have no connection to.[5] 
 

[1] Limbu et al., 1. 

[2] Limbu et al., 1.

[3] Limbu et al., 1.

[4] UNESCO, “Chitwan National Park.”

[5] Gill, “Conservation comes at a cost in Chitwan National Park.”

Categories of Human Rights Violations
Right to self-determination
Rights to land, territory and natural resources including access to means of subsistence, adequate food and adequate housing
Right to Consultation and Free and Prior Informed Consent
Social rights-including access to public services
Civil Rights
Cultural Rights
Latest Developments

There have been numerous reports of threats posed by animals living in the Buffer Zone such as loss of human life, injuries, and loss of domestic animals. Furthermore, crops that lie in the way of animals herds are crushed and ruined cutting off Indigenous Peoples food. Some victims told Amnesty International that park authorities brought seven elephants to graze on the land they had been farming which damaged their maize crops. Then they set fire to two houses and animal sheds and led the elephants to trample and crush the other houses.[1] 


 

[1] Amnesty International, “Nepal: Violations in the name of conservation” 18. 

Sources