Hari Gurung, chairman of the Khata Community Forest Coordination Committee, said that the small house insurance program has been operating for the past three years with the financial support of the Terai Environment and Conservation Program, Kohalpur, as elephants roaming through the Khata biological route have been destroying houses in the area.
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The Khata Protected Area (Khata Biological Route) located in Madhuvan Municipality-3 connects Bardiya National Park with the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in India. Wildlife moves between Nepal and India through this route. Since wildlife moves through this route, there is a lot of human damage along with food crops in the buffer zone.
Suresh Yogi of Madhuvan-3, Bhagaraiya said that before the announcement of the biological route, there was a lot of food crops here. ‘After the announcement of the corridor, wildlife has increased. If crops are planted, wildlife destroys them,’ he said. ‘If trees are planted, it takes time to grow, so I am earning money by farming fish as an alternative.’
Earlier, there were no safe enclosures for goat farming. As a result, leopards used to kill goats, said Sharmila Tharu of Madhuvan-3. ‘I had three pigs and four goats killed by leopards,’ she said. ‘Now that we have built a safe enclosure, the leopard has not been able to cause any damage.’ The leopard has not stopped coming to the settlement. Local Khusmani Tharu said that when she wakes up in the morning and looks around her house, she can see leopard footprints.’
Despite suffering losses to livestock and humans, the locals have not stopped conserving the forest. Karna Bahadur Tharu, a resident of Khata, said that it is necessary to conserve the forest as it is necessary for food and drink. ‘Wildlife has increased in the Khata protected area,’ he said. ‘The government needs to come up with a policy to prevent wildlife from entering the settlement.’ He said that there is a fear of wildlife as there is no complete fence in the area.’
The Khata Wildlife Trail, which the locals of this area have helped in conserving, is known worldwide. Therefore, he demanded to bring a program that would benefit the consumers. The government and NGOs have implemented alternative programs to help the locals earn their livelihood by reducing their dependence on forests and reducing human-wildlife conflict. Locals have started earning by running alternative professions. 
Samina Chaudhary of Madhuvan-3 account, who was previously confined to the kitchen, earns 25,000 rupees a month by sitting at home. She said that she learned sewing 13 years ago. ‘Even after learning sewing, there was a lack of machines and other materials due to lack of investment,’ she said. ‘The Account Coordination Committee has provided a machine, interlock and iron, and other materials, which are making things easier.’ She says that it costs 8,000 rupees to sew a pair of lehenga and cholia worn by women of the Tharu community. She said that it takes five days to sew a pair of lehenga and cholia.
Khata The elephants that move through the biological route have been destroying houses in this area, said Hari Gurung, chairman of Khata Community Forest Coordination Committee, which has been operating the micro-home insurance program for three years with the financial support of the Terai Land Boundary and Conservation Program, Kohalpur. ‘4,684 households in wards 1 to 5 of Madhuban, Rajapur Municipality-10 and some wards of Thakur Baba have been insured,’ he said, ‘Since the financial year 079/080, we have provided 794,084 damage relief to 30 households damaged by wild elephants and natural disasters.’ Micro-home insurance costs 95 rupees per household. Chairman Gurung said that 1,334,940 people have been supported by the Terai Land Boundary and Conservation Program so far.
There are 36 community forests and 3 religious forests under the Khata Community Forest Coordination Committee, said Tharu, who is also the vice-chairman. "We have already conducted skill-based training such as chips, sweet making, plumbing, tiling, hair cutting, driving, bicycle repair through the coordination committee to make unemployed youth self-employed and improve their living standards," he said. "We have also helped farmers who have been affected by wild animals damaging their crops in fish farming, turmeric, and mentha cultivation for alternative farming."
Farmers have not shown much interest due to problems in marketing mentha and turmeric. He said that they have been providing information about the behavior of wild animals in schools and communities. Baliram Chaudhary, ward chair of Madhuban Municipality-4, said that leopards have stopped killing goats and pigs after the construction of improved safe cages.
