Young people in the park area who have learned various skills are starting to get involved in wildlife conservation and are also becoming involved in professions such as baristas, cooks, and guides.
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The youth living in the Chitwan National Park, the main habitat of rare wild animals such as one-horned rhinoceros and tigers, have completed knowledge related to conservation as well as skill-based training for income generation. There are 21 intermediate user committees in Chitwan National Park. Four of them and 100 youth from one user committee in Parsa National Park have received such training.
Asha Mahato is a cook at Black Forest Bakery in Narayangadh. She will complete one year of working here next Baisakh. Asha's home is Parsadhap Dhewauli, a village near Meghauli in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-27. The village falls under the Meghauli Intermediate User Committee of Chitwan National Park.
Asha completed the 45-day training related to cooking and got a job after receiving her certificate. She also has parents, two brothers and a sister at home. Asha said that starting work after learning the skill has also helped her family. ‘My brothers are also working.’ My family has been very relieved since I started working. Our village is close to the park. It was believed that animals cause pain. Later, I learned the importance of animals. I also completed the training to provide employment,’ Asha said.
Dinesh Kumar Matho, 24, of Kawasoti-13, Tangri, Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East), is a nature guide. He is skilled in safely guiding tourists around the forest and informing them about all kinds of animals, including plants, birds, and small animals found in the forest. It has been a year since he started working. ‘There is a house next to the park.’ The training has made it possible for him to earn money by touring the park,’ he said.
There is a Community-Based Poaching Control Unit (CBAPU) under each Intermediate User Committee of the park. Youths sit in the CBAPU and conduct awareness programs to stop poaching of wildlife, and assist the park administration in preventing problems in the community due to wildlife. They provide timely information for the rescue of wildlife that has escaped from the park.
Among the Intermediate User Committees of Chitwan National Park, youths from Mrigakunj in Ratnanagar, Panchpandav in Madi, Meghauli in Paschim and Lamichaur User Committee in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Sustapur) and Manahari User Committee in Parsa National Park have completed the training. 15 and five active youth conservation workers aged below 30 years and above from one user committee have received the training.
The training was conducted by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal. WWF has trained youth to control illegal trade and trade in wildlife and their parts in Bagmati Province. Madhav Khadka, Head of Wildlife Trade Monitoring at WWF Nepal, who coordinated the project, said that the training was provided to both new and experienced people.
‘We have called those who are below 30 years of age Youth Champions. We have called those who are working in CBAPU between the ages of 30 and 40 Conservation Champions. We selected 15 Youth Champions and five Conservation Champions from each user committee,’ said Khadka. Out of which, 40 were young women. They received training in five different categories.
The largest number of participants completed the coffee barista training with 40 people. Similarly, 25 people completed the nature guide training, 25 people completed the cook training, 7 people completed the bakery training, and 3 people completed the baker training. Most of those who have completed the training have also started working.
Khadka says that they are skilled in all aspects because they have completed the training according to the course of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) and received certificates. WWF Nepal Director Ghanshyam Gurung says that illegal poaching and trade of wildlife is a big problem in the world and Bagmati Province in Nepal is very affected by such illegal activities.
‘The trade of wildlife and its parts is the fourth largest illegal trade in the world. This is a very serious issue. We need to make the youth aware of the poaching and trade of tigers and rhinoceroses. If those involved in conservation receive skill-based training, it will become a basis for their livelihood,’ Gurung said. Therefore, he said that a two-year project has been launched to provide them with knowledge about conservation and also employ them.
This two-year project will also end in March. But Khadka expressed hope that its impact on conservation will be positive. 'Those who have been trained have done their job and are also involved in conservation.' Our aim is to teach them skills so that not only their families and relatives but also their neighbors and villagers will take action against illegal trade and poaching. That too will be achieved,' he said.
